Alton Line

Alton Line

Principal stations (from north to south) Brookwood (for South Western Main Line) Ash Vale Aldershot Farnham Bentley Alton

The Alton Line is a railway line operated by South West Trains. Today Alton station is the terminus of a main line branch, although it was at one time the junction for three lines. The branch leaves the South Western Main Line at Pirbright Junction near Brookwood. The line was electrified (750v DC third rail) during the interwar years by Southern Railway.

The towns and villages served by the line are listed below.

• Ash Vale
• Aldershot
• Farnham
• Bentley
• Alton

Freight trains operated by EWS and steam trains from the Watercress Line (see below) are often seen on the Alton Line.

History

• 28 July 1852 first railway to Alton, from Farnham
• 2 October 1865 Alton, Aldershot & Winchester Railway opened between those three places; Alton station moved to new site. The section of this line between Alton and New Alresford is now the Watercress heritage railway
• 2 May 1870 connection from Farnham to Pirbright Junction opened.
• 1 June 1901 Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway opened; closed 1917-1924; closed completely 1933
• 1 June 1903 Meon Valley line from Alton to Fareham opened; closed to passengers 7 Feb 1955

Services

There are two trains per hour in each direction between Waterloo and Alton at off-peak times during weekdays, each taking between 75 and 78 minutes for the journey. Passenger trains that serve this line during off-peak hours also stop at the following stations (from north to south):

• Clapham Junction
• Surbiton
• West Byfleet
• Woking

Although timetables show the line as "Suburban", for the purposes of South West Trains Passenger Charter discounts and Void Day refunds for season tickets, most journeys from this line fall into the Mainline group. All journeys from Alton, Bentley and Farnham are Mainline journeys. Journeys from Aldershot and Ash Vale to London Terminals (ie. all London stations) and Zone R1256 Zones (a journey to London with Underground included) are Mainline. All other journeys from these two stations are suburban.

External links

• Alton Line Users Association (ALUA) which "has a long history of defending the interests of the line"

Railway lines in South-East England:
Main lines:		Arun Valley Line   Ashford via Maidstone East Line   Ashford-Ramsgate via Canterbury Line   Brighton Main Line   Chatham Main Line   East Coastway   Hastings Line   Channel Tunnel Rail Link   Kent Coast Line   London–Ashford–Dover Line   North Downs Line   Portsmouth Direct Line   South Western Main Line   Thameslink   West Coastway   West of England Main Line
Commuter lines:		Alton Line   Ascot-Guildford Line   Bexleyheath Line   Caterham Line   Catford Loop   Chessington Branch   Dartford Loop   Eastleigh-Fareham Line   Eastleigh-Romsey Line   Greenwich Line   Hayes Line   Hounslow Loop   Mid-Kent Line   New Guildford Line   North Kent Line   Oxted Line   Sheerness Line   Slough-Windsor & Eton Line   South London Line   Staines-Windsor & Eton Line   Staines to Weybridge Line   Sutton Mole Valley Line   Tattenham Corner Line   Waterloo-Reading Line   West London Line
Rural lines:		Brockenhurst-Lymington Line   Henley Branch Line   Island Line   Marlow Branch Line   Marshlink Line   Medway Valley Line   Redhill-Tonbridge Line