Should Southampton to Portsmouth be solely run by South Western Railway?

[nw1]

I would cut Southern services to 1tph to free up paths, and make the remaining Southern serve both Hove (for Brighton) and Gatwick Airport, as it did in the 90s when first introduced. To avoid increasing journey times to Gatwick, I'd also make it limited stop, e.g. after Havant call only at Chichester, Barnham, Worthing, Shoreham, Hove, and Haywards Heath - again much like the 90s. I realise this would also require some Coastway tweaking.

I'd keep Portsmouth-Cardiff, that is a very long standing service and it wouldn't be good to remove it now.

Much like SWR's original plans, I would add a second semi-fast service an hour, timed to leave Southampton around xx20 which would give reasonably good spacing with both the fast and the stopper. This could call at St Denys, Woolston, Netley, Swanwick, Fareham, Cosham, Fratton, PSS, PH.

This way you get 2 fastish tph from Southampton-Portsmouth, and also 2tph at the larger intermediate stations.

 

[sussexbythesea]

What about cutting the Southern services altogether replacing with an additional GWR Bristol/Great Malvern to Brighton every hour? The current daily GWR is well used, but replicates the Southern service, indeed running just behind it as far as Worthing. As a limited stop service that would maintain connectivity from Brighton/Worthing/Chichester to Southampton and beyond.

Send the current Southern services to Portsmouth & Southsea or Bognor Regis.

 

[nw1]

What makes you think it’s primarily about Gatwick? I suggest most people on it leaving Southampton are not going that far. In any case, the timetable was already worked out and publicised for a semi-fast Portsmouth to Southampton service, and it didn’t require any of the existing services to be removed.

I believe the idea that’s impossible is running a second all stations stopping service.

I'm not sure demand for Gatwick will be 'suppressed for some time'. I suspect it will be back spring/summer 2022, as long as the government aren't charging people the earth for unnecessary tests when they have already been tested in their origin country (but enough of that...)

Southampton-Gatwick has had direct services since 1990, and is something I've used a lot. Wouldn't be keen to remove it, though a diversion as a limited-stop via Hove might help combine the Gatwick and Brighton markets into one train, freeing up more space for an SWR semi-fast (see above).

 

[Wookiee]

Well there were occasional services between Reading and Portsmouth, however in the main it was a Basingstoke to Brighton service, but with some of them diverted to or from Portsmouth in the peaks. But Reading itself was only served 3 hourly.

In the 2007 timetable the first two arrivals at Reading, 0637 and 0937, came up from Portsmouth. The last departure at 2155 went back to Portsmouth Harbour, the other five Reading departures all went through to Brighton.

So it was never the sort of regular Reading <> Portsmouth service that people sometimes think it was.

Prior to NSE, there was a Sunday only service from Portsmouth to Reading, worked by 33/1s and TC stock. Those were also the pre-Operation Princess days when Portsmouth had its inter-regional link to Reading and beyond via Guildford.

 

[swt_passenger]

Prior to NSE, there was a Sunday only service from Portsmouth to Reading, worked by 33/1s and TC stock. Those were also the pre-Operation Princess days when Portsmouth had its inter-regional link to Reading and beyond via Guildford.

Well yes, but in the earlier discussion context we were referring to the SWT service immediately prior to 2007, and I was emphasising that although it was referred to as a Reading to Portsmouth by PTR 444 it was based around a Brighton to Basingstoke.

 

[K.o.R]

What about cutting the Southern services altogether replacing with an additional GWR Bristol/Great Malvern to Brighton every hour? The current daily GWR is well used, but replicates the Southern service, indeed running just behind it as far as Worthing. As a limited stop service that would maintain connectivity from Brighton/Worthing/Chichester to Southampton and beyond.

Send the current Southern services to Portsmouth & Southsea or Bognor Regis.

If it can be done by a third-rail bi-mode then sure, otherwise that is a lot of diesel under the wires, er, over the third rails.

 

[AM9]

If it can be done by a third-rail bi-mode then sure, otherwise that is a lot of diesel under the wires, er, over the third rails.

Agreed these calls for more diesel running over electrified routes should be ignored, there's far too much of it baked into the system already.

 

[jackot]

Yes, potentially once GWR get their 769’s (if they ever do) that could be an option, but I dont think most passengers travel all the way to Brighton from Bristol. Surely it’s better for Southern or SWR to operate from Southampton? Saying that, it does get a lot of use on the very limited timetable. I have used it from Salisbury, and it is more convenient that changing at SC.