Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway

Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway
Section of vintage track representing the Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway, on the Viables Roundabout in Basingstoke.
Overview
Status	Closed
Owner	London and South Western Railway Southern Railway
Locale	Basingstoke Hampshire
Termini	Basingstoke Alton
Service
Type	Light rail
Operator(s)	London and South Western Railway Southern Railway
History
Opened	1901
Closed	January 1917, reopened August 1924, final closure 12 September 1932 (passengers) 1936 (freight)
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map Legend South West Main Line to Waterloo Basingstoke South West Main Line to Weymouth Thornycroft sidings Viables level crossing Cliddesden Bushywarren Lane crossing Bagmore Lane crossing Herriard Salter Hatch crossing (Spain Lane) Bentworth and Lasham level crossing Treloar's Hospital Platform (private) Treloar's Hospital siding Alton line to Brookwood Alton Butts Junction Watercress Line to Alresford Meon Valley Railway to Fareham

The Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway was opened in 1901, by the London and South Western Railway. It was the first English railway authorised under Light Railway legislation. It ran through unpromising, lightly populated terrain, and was probably built only to exclude competitors from building a line in the area. It had steep gradients and a line speed limit of 20 mph, later raised to 25 mph.

It never attracted much business and the hoped-for through traffic never materialised. When the War Office demanded recovered track for laying in France, during the First World War, the LSWR closed the line and lifted the track, in 1917.

After the war, local pressure mounted to reinstate the railway; this was resisted by the Southern Railway, which had taken over from the LSWR. The SR had no wish to spend considerable sums to reopen a railway that had lost money and had no positive prospects. A House of Lords Committee effectively forced the SR to resume operation, which it did in 1924. Losses mounted and business declined further, and the line was closed to passengers in 1932, with limited goods services continuing until 1936.

Before closure a film company staged a train crash with the co-operation of the LSWR, and the event appeared in a feature film.