SWR December 2022 Timetable Consultation

[boiledbeans2]

Dorking was limited stop in the pre-2004 timetable - it skipped Raynes Park and Motspur Park I think. I am very surprised that a half-hourly service to Epsom is thought to be sufficient, these trains were all busy during the day pre-pandemic. The quietest suburbans have always been the Chessingtons. What infastructure changes would be required to run Chessington as a shuttle from Motspur Park or Raynes Park?

Yeah, I've been on the 1tph Guildford - London via Epsom stoppers quite a few times over the last weekends.
In general, the Guildford - Epsom part is quiet. But the passenger numbers pick up dramatically after Epsom into London. By Motspur Park, the trains are standing room only.

And it's being made worse by SWR running 8-car trains instead of 10-car trains. Where have all the 10-car 455+455+456 trains gone? I see a lot of 8-car 455+456+456 recently.

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Well two 15 minutes apart is better than nothing.

After all Farncombe is going to be getting two trains 15 minutes apart.


You have given me an idea, which may be what you were thinking already. Why don't they run a shuttle service from Guildford to Woking to connect with a train to Clapham Junction? This wouldn't help people south of Guildford of course.

The issue at the moment isn't solely that there aren't two fast trains to Clapham Junction, it's also that none of the fast trains to skip Clapham Junction connect onto anything from Wolong that does atop at Clapham Junction unless you wait 21 minutes at Woking.

Not everyone wants to go into Waterloo.

Would it be possible to move one of the fast Portsmouth Habour trains so that it departed Guildford at x04, as that is the only time slot a fast train from Guildford can stop at Clapham Junction, in addition to x35?

So instead of x19, x35 and x49, you'd have x04, x19, x35 or x04, x35, x49

I can't see a massive return of people working in the office. Even if people go in part-time then I can't see the same level trains being needed. Obviously, this can't be known for sure.

If that is the case, how long should they give it before they do a recast? 2 years, 5 years, 10 years and in the meantime do people just put up with 1 train an hour and bi decent connection off any other train at Woking.

It took long enough to get the disused platforms at Waterloo station back into use. There was a time, in my opinion when Wimbledon station could have done with another footbridge. I don't know if that is the case now but either way, given Crossrail 2 might have been happening, nothing was done, as that might solve the issue.

So will it be the case that nothing will be done for Guildford services for quite some years as they are always waiting for something in the future?

Move one of the fast trains by 15 minutes from Portsmouth you’d create a 15/45 minute frequency from Portsmouth which creates a far bigger problem and a massive gap in London trains from a city much bigger than Guildford.

By solving one smaller problem you create a much bigger problem elsewhere.

You have given me an idea, which may be what you were thinking already. Why don't they run a shuttle service from Guildford to Woking to connect with a train to Clapham Junction? This wouldn't help people south of Guildford of course.

Because this would be quite expensive to run an additional service above the 3tph and the plans are about making efficiencies.

 

[infobleep]

Move one of the fast trains by 15 minutes from Portsmouth you’d create a 15/45 minute frequency from Portsmouth which creates a far bigger problem and a massive gap in London trains from a city much bigger than Guildford.

By solving one smaller problem you create a much bigger problem elsewhere.



Because this would be quite expensive to run an additional service above the 3tph and the plans are about making efficiencies.

I take your point about Portsmouth. I hasn't thought of that.

How does it work on a Sunday because the trains are 30 minutes apart from Guildford.

Is there sumolely nothing that can be done?

 

[HamworthyGoods]

I take your point about Portsmouth. I hasn't thought of that.

How does it work on a Sunday because the trains are 30 minutes apart from Guildford.

Is there sumolely nothing that can be done?

On Sundays there is only one fast and one slow train an hour from Portsmouth on Monday to Saturdays there are two fast trains an hour from Portsmouth.

To a degree you really need to hope far more passengers come back to the railway than expected and an increase in service is required back to pre-covid levels if you are after the previous connectivity.

 

[Bald Rick]

If that is the case, how long should they give it before they do a recast?

16 months. That’s what the consultation is about.

 

[Goldfish62]

Yeah, I've been on the 1tph Guildford - London via Epsom stoppers quite a few times over the last weekends.
In general, the Guildford - Epsom part is quiet. But the passenger numbers pick up dramatically after Epsom into London. By Motspur Park, the trains are standing room only.

And it's being made worse by SWR running 8-car trains instead of 10-car trains. Where have all the 10-car 455+455+456 trains gone? I see a lot of 8-car 455+456+456 recently.

I agree. 455+456+456 are a very common sight. It may have been fine back in January, but not so much now.

Notwithstanding the reduced service levels, is SWR tight for rolling stock given that eight 707s have gone to Southeastern?

 

[nw1]

A rather depressing read. Reminds me of previous 'cuts' timetables in 1985 and 1991.

It looks to my eyes like the Portsmouth Direct will only have three trains an hour in the peak as well as the off-peak, is that correct? (i.e. looks like the peak service will be basically the same as the off peak)

That seems incredibly poor peak provision for a busy commuter line, and is certainly the worst peak service on the line in living memory. (I have been aware of service patterns on this line since 1982, and have also seen historical timetables from the 1950s, the early 1960s, 1969, 1972 and 1981 - and it's worse than any of these. The previous worst was the four an hour between 1991 and 2004)

Maybe if the Direct is going down to three services off-peak (not so bad as peak), they could move them to a 20-min interval service to give more even spacing to Guildford and Haslemere, using the pattern of the late-nineties (e.g. xx00 fast, xx20 semi-fast, xx40 slow).

If they are truncating the Poole semi-fast at Southampton, why not use the opportunity to stop it at Swaythling and St Denys, giving these services two trains an hour on the main line, and providing a direct link towards London?

Surprised, in the light of such cuts, that they are still running two trains an hour off peak all year to Weymouth, can't see much demand for that for 9 months of the year. I guess doing this has low cost.

They talk of resilience, yet how did they manage to run an intense service for so long (the mainline peak service in the 1980s, and quite probably at any time post-Bournemouth electrification, was more intense than what is offered here) and now they can not?

Lastly I wish they wouldn't use cringe-inducing empty Government slogans like 'build back better'. They are a private company; they don't have to use Government lingo.

At the end of the day though I don't really blame SWR; I guess we are likely to suffer an extended period of economic hard times and there won't be the demand.

 

[JonathanH]

Although there were four trains in the high peak from London to Portsmouth on the direct in 1996, two were overtaken and some ended short at Haslemere.

However, the fact remains that passenger numbers don't justify the service that has been provided in recent years and maybe the frequencies of the early-1990s timetables are what will be justified for the foreseeable future.

 

[infobleep]

16 months. That’s what the consultation is about.

I thought it was about introducing changes in 16 months. I misunderstood.

 

[MontyP]

Yeah, I've been on the 1tph Guildford - London via Epsom stoppers quite a few times over the last weekends.
In general, the Guildford - Epsom part is quiet. But the passenger numbers pick up dramatically after Epsom into London. By Motspur Park, the trains are standing room only.

And it's being made worse by SWR running 8-car trains instead of 10-car trains. Where have all the 10-car 455+455+456 trains gone? I see a lot of 8-car 455+456+456 recently.

Epsom to Waterloo has always been very busy, in rush hour pre-pandemic I always tried to avoid these trains at Raynes Park as they were generally packed.

With only 2 per hour, Worcester Park will get a very poor service for the size of town and number of passengers (over 2million per year pre-pandemic). Whilst Epsom has the Victoria / London Bridge trains as well, Worcester Park is reliant on the Waterloo service.

 

[Goldfish62]

Lastly I wish they wouldn't use cringe-inducing empty Government slogans like 'build back better'. They are a private company; they don't have to use Government lingo.

Oh but they do!

Although SWR's legal status is a private company remember that the ONS reclassified TOCs as public sector last year. The whole cost of SWR's operation is funded by the taxpayer and the company doesn't get to keep a single penny of revenue.

These days TOCs are merely train operating agencies of the DfT and I suspect the DfT instructed SWR that certain wording was used in consultation.

 

[nw1]

Although there were four trains in the high peak from London to Portsmouth on the direct in 1996, two were overtaken and some ended short at Haslemere.

However, the fact remains that passenger numbers don't justify the service that has been provided in recent years and maybe the frequencies of the early-1990s timetables are what will be justified for the foreseeable future.

Admittedly I was thinking more about frequencies to Guildford and Haslemere (as the two key commuter stations on this line) rather than Portsmouth itself. I remember one of the four did terminate at Haslemere. 1991 was really a timetable of quite swingeing cuts; looks like 6 per hour had been the norm since at least the 1960s, and then we were down to four an hour. The early-nineties recession doubtless to blame... and it was all going so well in 1989 and 1990. Things did get better by 1997 though; still a relatively poor peak service but off-peak timetables had improved significantly by then (this isn't an argument for privatisation BTW... just a reflection that the mid-late nineties were economic good times)

Having read the thread in more detail, it sounds like there might be a fourth train in the peak after all, though the report is contradictory about this. That might be a Haslemere terminator perhaps. (Edit - or maybe not: "The London Waterloo to Haslemere stopping service in the peak and off-peak has been withdrawn to improve resilience of the timetable between London and Woking."). LIke another poster I'm confused about the Worplesdon services in the peak as it also says for the slow "from London Waterloo (peak): calling at Guildford then all stations"

Just hope things get better long term. I don't like the move that some are predicting towards home working beyond the end of the period of high Covid risk though; can't see it being good for the economy as a whole (people will spend less, not just at the railways but also at shops, pubs, cafes etc) and having attempted to work at home in the recent heatwave with an indoor temperature of 28C, I don't think it will be particularly good for your health (after Covid goes away) either... neither physical nor mental - socialisation at work is good for many people's mental health.

 

[Watershed]

I thought it was about introducing changes in 16 months. I misunderstood.

I think @Bald Rick is being a little disingenuous. The consultation is for a timetable that will come into force in 16 months' time, as you say. I suspect it will last rather longer than 16 months, because even if it turns out to be an inadequate service a week into the timetable, it always takes longer to increase services than to cut them.

 

[nw1]

I think @Bald Rick is being a little disingenuous. The consultation is for a timetable that will come into force in 16 months' time, as you say. I suspect it will last rather longer than 16 months, because even if it turns out to be an inadequate service a week into the timetable, it always takes longer to increase services than to cut them.

Incidentally does this mean we're stuck with the emergency timetable until Dec 2022? Or will we get the 'classic' post-2004 timetable back - for a short while - in spring/summer 2022?

On another matter, I see that despite there now being a separate Southampton to Bournemouth slow, they are still not giving Beaulieu Road an hourly service Mon-Sat.

Why? I realise that it isn't exactly the busiest station in the world, and we can count ourselves lucky it wasn't closed in the 1960s, but stopping the trains there every hour incurs no cost (as it's the same path whether it stops or not), and on Saturdays between say April and October, and Mon-Fri in July and August, an hourly service may actually be useful for visiting a nice part of the New Forest by rail - there's also a pub there too.

 

[PTR 444]

If they are truncating the Poole semi-fast at Southampton, why not use the opportunity to stop it at Swaythling and St Denys, giving these services two trains an hour on the main line, and providing a direct link towards London?

This is happening but during peak times only, contradictory to what was mentioned in post #2 of this thread.

 

[SE%Traveller]

Yeah GTR have also dropped the Brighton - Lewes and Brighton - West Worthing services SX apart from a few peak services. The Bedford - Littlehampton/Bedford - East Grinstead peak services have been massively reduced. The peak London Victoria - Caterham/Tattenham Corner services are gone. The 2 Gatwick Express trains per hour are gone although becasue of the Gatwick Station works not covid. The Moorgate - Welwyn Garden City/Steveage have been cut to 2tph off peak SX, and 2tph all day at weekends. The Milton Keynes Central - East Croydon services have mostly been cut back to Clapham Junction SX. The Thameslink 2tph Kentish Town - Orpington have gone on Saturdays, and the peak London Kings Cross - Welwyn Garden City services have gone, and 1tph of the London Kings Cross - Cambridge has been cut back to Royston. Some other peak services have also been cut. Quite a lot of reductions in reality.

The one advantage GTR have over SWR, at least ECML GTR services is the May 2022 ECML timetable change which promises an increase in services and new service patterns. But it wouldn't surprise me if some of these remain permanent, at least for the next 4 years.

On the 2TPH Kentish Town - Orpington Service they have never actually ran this service on a Saturday ever...

 

[PTR 444]

On another matter, I see that despite there now being a separate Southampton to Bournemouth slow, they are still not giving Beaulieu Road an hourly service Mon-Sat.

Why? I realise that it isn't exactly the busiest station in the world, and we can count ourselves lucky it wasn't closed in the 1960s, but stopping the trains there every hour incurs no cost (as it's the same path whether it stops or not), and on Saturdays between say April and October, and Mon-Fri in July and August, an hourly service may actually be useful for visiting a nice part of the New Forest by rail - there's also a pub there too.

I think the main issue with Beaulieu Road is lack of onward public transport connections. Yes, there is the New Forest Tour but that only runs during high summer. Perhaps if there was a shuttle bus operated by the TOC with through ticketing to Beaulieu Village and Hythe, there would be more of a case to give the station an hourly service.

 

[slicedbread]

That seems incredibly poor peak provision for a busy commuter line, and is certainly the worst peak service on the line in living memory. (I have been aware of service patterns on this line since 1982, and have also seen historical timetables from the 1950s, the early 1960s, 1969, 1972 and 1981 - and it's worse than any of these. The previous worst was the four an hour between 1991 and 2004)

There is a thought, take up the 3rd rail go back to the pre-electrification timetable and run it as a heritage line.

 

[Bald Rick]

I think @Bald Rick is being a little disingenuous. The consultation is for a timetable that will come into force in 16 months' time, as you say. I suspect it will last rather longer than 16 months, because even if it turns out to be an inadequate service a week into the timetable, it always takes longer to increase services than to cut them.

Apologies - especially to @infobleep - I misunderstood the question. This timetable recast is in 16 months, and is clearly intended to be the long term solution. If it is wrong, then minor changes could be made relatively quickly, another full recast would be two years away.

 

[Michaeco]

On the Portsmouth Direct, we would almost be back to where we should be, with one fast, one semi-fast and a slow. All you have to do is drop the Godalming stop out of the "fast". However, we need to see what the timings will be. London Waterloo to Pompey (Harbour) has gone from 1 hr 23 (BR) to 1 hr 33/38 (privatised) to ? (GBR).

 

[HamworthyGoods]

On the Portsmouth Direct, we would almost be back to where we should be, with one fast, one semi-fast and a slow. All you have to do is drop the Godalming stop out of the "fast". However, we need to see what the timings will be. London Waterloo to Pompey (Harbour) has gone from 1 hr 23 (BR) to 1 hr 33/38 (privatised) to ? (GBR).

With all the investment in the island line to provide a half hourly pattern connecting into a half hourly fast Waterloo service from Portsmouth is logical. It would be ridiculous to spend all the money moving the Isle of Wight off a 20:40 pattern to then do the opposite on the mainland!

 

[nw1]

I think the main issue with Beaulieu Road is lack of onward public transport connections. Yes, there is the New Forest Tour but that only runs during high summer. Perhaps if there was a shuttle bus operated by the TOC with through ticketing to Beaulieu Village and Hythe, there would be more of a case to give the station an hourly service.

True, but my point is that there is no cost to calling all the stoppers there (as those which do not stop still use the same path) so one might as well.

On the Portsmouth Direct, we would almost be back to where we should be, with one fast, one semi-fast and a slow. All you have to do is drop the Godalming stop out of the "fast". However, we need to see what the timings will be. London Waterloo to Pompey (Harbour) has gone from 1 hr 23 (BR) to 1 hr 33/38 (privatised) to ? (GBR).

(edited to make a bit clearer)

If they can only run three fast trains an hour towards Guildford, what about doing a variation of what they did in the 80s to provide a fourth at least as far as Haslemere: extend one Woking stopper an hour to Guildford and Haslemere (in the 80s it was Portsmouth), loop it there to allow a fast to overtake, and then call it at all stations to Haslemere.

Then with the remaining three, two could be Woking-Guildford-Haslemere-Petersfield-Havant-Fratton-PSS-PH, and the other much the same as the current Portsmouth stopper (i.e. no Milford or Witley stops, which would be covered by the above).

Note no Godalming stops in the fasts; if cuts are being made, do we really need them? Surely it's a case of most recently introduced, first to go. If these go, then we get back to genuinely-fast Portsmouth services as they were in the 80s and 90s.

Instead, perhaps the Portsmouth 'semi-slow' could run immediately behind one of the fasts out of Waterloo to avoid having to loop it at Haslemere. If Guildford isn't getting a 15-min service any more there is no need to constrain the 'semi-slow' to run exactly halfway between the fasts out of Waterloo.


For reference the 80s (well certainly every year from 1981-91; not sure about 1980/81) timetable was one fast and one semi-fast to Portsmouth, and a Portsmouth stopper which was looped at Guildford to allow the fast to overtake.

 

[HamworthyGoods]

True, but my point is that there is no cost to calling all the stoppers there (as those which do not stop still use the same path) so one might as well.



If they can only run three fast trains an hour towards Guildford, what about doing a variation of what they did in the 80s to provide a fourth at least as far as Haslemere: extend one Woking stopper an hour to Guildford and Haslemere (in the 80s it was Portsmouth), loop it there to allow a fast to overtake, and then call it at all stations to Haslemere.

Then with the remaining three, two could be Woking-Guildford-Haslemere-Petersfield-Havant-Fratton-PSS-PH, and the other much the same as the current Portsmouth stopper (o.e. no Milford or Witley stops, which would be covered by the above). If cuts are being made, do we really need the recently-introduced Godalming stops in the fasts? Surely it's a case of most recently introduced, first to go. If these go, then we get back to genuinely-fast Portsmouth services as they were in the 80s and 90s.

For reference the 80s (well certainly every year from 1981-91; not sure about 1980/81) timetable was one fast and one semi-fast to Portsmouth, and a Portsmouth stopper which was looped at Guildford to allow the fast to overtake.

Don’t forget there has been far more house buildings since the 1980s, especially with the development on the former Milford Hospital site. That’s means the smaller stations aren’t the sleepy halts they used to be, relegating places like Milford to an extension of the Woking stopper wouldn’t exactly be popular. What worked in the 1980s isn’t necessarily appropriate 40 years later.

Stations such at Petersfield and Godalming generate just as much traffic these days as Havant etc. Even stations such as Hilsea now generate all day and weekend traffic.

 

[Kite159]

Of course anybody from Guildford wanting Clapham Junction can easily travel on the stoppers via London Road

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Note no Godalming stops in the fasts; if cuts are being made, do we really need them? Surely it's a case of most recently introduced, first to go. If these go, then we get back to genuinely-fast Portsmouth services as they were in the 80s and 90s.

When the Godalming stops were introduced they didn’t actually effect end to end journey times as the frequency of the coastway service through Havant (now 5tph) meant trains from Waterloo used to wait outside Havant waiting a slot into Portsmouth.

Petersfield and Godalming have roughly the same annual station usage (around 1.4m), with Haslemere slightly higher at 1.7m, it’ll be interesting how in the ‘new world’ these figures change.

 

[jfollows]

For reference the 80s (well certainly every year from 1981-91; not sure about 1980/81) timetable was one fast and one semi-fast to Portsmouth, and a Portsmouth stopper which was looped at Guildford to allow the fast to overtake.

Attached from 1988-89 timetable. Off-peak down service pattern as you describe. (I lived in Clanfield, and used Petersfield mainly at weekends at the time.)

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Attached from 1988-89 timetable. Off-peak down service pattern as you describe.
View attachment 100418

Journey time on the hourly Portsmouth fast there end to end exactly 1hr 30m the equivalent xx30 from Waterloo in today’s timetable takes 1hr 32m - hardly a big difference!

Waterloo to Petersfield was a whole 1 minute quicker than today!

Realtime Trains - 1P31 1130 London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

But look at Milford, Witley journey times of around 90 minutes, nearly double the current 50 minutes. They aren’t the weyside halts they used to be.

 

[jfollows]

Journey time on the hourly Portsmouth fast there end to end exactly 1hr 30m the equivalent xx30 from Waterloo in today’s timetable takes 1hr 32m - hardly a big difference!

Waterloo to Petersfield was a whole 1 minute quicker than today!

Realtime Trains - 1P31 1130 London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

But look at Milford, Witley journey times of around 90 minutes, nearly double the current 50 minutes. They aren’t the weyside halts they used to be.

Interesting: Going back to 1967 the fast service (headcode 82, they didn't seem to believe in "81" at the time) with one less call (not Petersfield) took 1h36, so there had been an improvement over the passing 20 years by 1988/9.
For what it's worth, 1967 service pattern was a Basingstoke/Portsmouth split at Woking, all stations Woking-Bedhampton, and a stopper 14 minutes later from Waterloo which waited at Guildford (for 12 minutes) to run 30 minutes later all stations to Bedhampton also, overtaken by the "82" for Haslemere and Havant only.

 

[nw1]

Journey time on the hourly Portsmouth fast there end to end exactly 1hr 30m the equivalent xx30 from Waterloo in today’s timetable takes 1hr 32m - hardly a big difference!

Waterloo to Petersfield was a whole 1 minute quicker than today!

Realtime Trains - 1P31 1130 London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

But look at Milford, Witley journey times of around 90 minutes, nearly double the current 50 minutes. They aren’t the weyside halts they used to be.

But of course you would change at Guildford then so journey time is actually 49 minutes to Milford on that timetable. Point taken about these stations being busier than the 80s though.

Also, the year after (1989/90) was the year of introduction of the Greyhounds, and I seem to remember this brought in faster services. FWIW 1981 was also 90 mins Waterloo-Portsmouth (source timetableworld.com).

Going OT but that arrival from Plymouth at Portsmouth is of note. An interesting working which ran, IIRC, from May 1986-May 1989, this was run by a 50 and NSE Mark II coaches, and formed an additional up fast Portsmouth to London (with 50 and coaches - yes really) departing around 1630 from Guildford. It took the path beyond Guildford of a regular '82' semi-fast; the '82' in that hour being an '83' and looped at Guildford to continue on in the path of a '75' Guildford-Waterloo stopper. Presumably once at Waterloo it formed an additional peak service towards Exeter.

There was a corresponding similar down service, the 0922 from Waterloo IIRC, which then formed the Portsmouth TO Plymouth.

Interesting: Going back to 1967 the fast service (headcode 82, they didn't seem to believe in "81" at the time) with one less call (not Petersfield) took 1h36, so there had been an improvement over the passing 20 years by 1988/9.
For what it's worth, 1967 service pattern was a Basingstoke/Portsmouth split at Woking, all stations Woking-Bedhampton, and a stopper 14 minutes later from Waterloo which waited at Guildford (for 12 minutes) to run 30 minutes later all stations to Bedhampton also, overtaken by the "82" for Haslemere and Havant only.

Again OT but the historical timetables of the Direct is one of my particular interests...

I once had a 1972 timetable, got it from a Mid Hants open day, sadly long gone, but ISTR that pattern was a variation on the 80s pattern with two fasts an hour, one fast Guildford-Havant and the other calling Godalming, Haslemere and Petersfield. The third was the 80s-style looped stopper, the only option for Farncombe, Liphook and Liss. In contrast to the 80s, the semi-fast (God/Has/Pet) had a buffet (so CIG-BIG-CIG I would guess) while by the 80s about half the services were VEP, and none had a buffet.

The 1969 timetable, which I have got a taste of from the Aldershot and District bus booklet on timetableworld.com, has a pattern which sounds like '67, but seemed to only have one stopper south of Guildford. It had an xx50 Waterloo-Haslemere fast and an xx13 slow. Reading between the lines (seems to be a long wait at Woking) it looks like this latter was indeed detached from a Basingstoke, there is also an xx43 to Alton on the opposite half-hour. Also present was an xx53 Alton stopper, which judging by the timings called all from Surbiton to Woking. One might infer there was an xx23 Guildford stopper.

Guessing the Portsmouth/Basingstoke divider was Waterloo-Surbiton-Woking as they were in the 80s?

By 1972 the 80s-style Basingstoke/Alton half-hourly dividers were in place, so looks like they swapped over the slower Alton and the Portsmouth.

 

[jfollows]

Going OT but that arrival from Plymouth at Portsmouth is of note. An interesting working which ran, IIRC, from May 1986-May 1989, this was run by a 50 and NSE Mark II coaches, and formed an additional up fast Portsmouth to London (with 50 and coaches - yes really) departing around 1630 from Guildford. It took the path beyond Guildford of a regular '82' semi-fast; the '82' in that hour being an '83' and looped at Guildford to continue on in the path of a '75' Guildford-Waterloo stopper. Presumably once at Waterloo it formed an additional peak service towards Exeter.

There was a corresponding similar down service, the 0922 from Waterloo IIRC, which then formed the Portsmouth TO Plymouth.

OT but well-remembered!
1P40 15:30 Portsmouth Harbour to Waterloo D315 calling at Portsmouth & Southsea, Havant, Guildford (16:23) and Woking, arrived Waterloo 16:58.
1P15 09:22 Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour D315 calling at Woking, Guildford, Havant and Portsmouth & Southsea, arrived Portsmouth Harbour 10:46.

Guessing the Portsmouth/Basingstoke divider was Waterloo-Surbiton-Woking as they were in the 80s?

Yes, xx.13 from Waterloo, xx.29 from Surbiton, xx.42 arrival at Woking, xx.43 for Basingstoke, xx.48 portion for Portsmouth.
The stopper on the other half hour (from Guildford) was xx.27 from Waterloo, Surbiton but then all stations.
xx.43 from Waterloo for Bournemouth and Alton, splitting at Brookwood rather than Woking (well, why not?)