South West Main Line

South West Main Line
South West Main Line
	A South Western Railway Class 701 approaching Clapham Junction
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Greater London; South East England; South West England;
Termini	London Waterloo; Weymouth;
Service
Type	Main line
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	South Western Railway; CrossCountry;
Depot(s)	Clapham Junction; Wimbledon; Northam; Bournemouth;
Rolling stock	Class 158 "Express Sprinter"; Class 159 "South Western Turbo"; Class 220 "Voyager"; Class 221 "Super Voyager"; Class 444 "Desiro"; Class 450 "Desiro"; Class 455; Class 458 "Juniper"; Class 701 "Arterio";
History
Opened	1838-1840
Technical
Line length	142 miles 64 chains (229.8 km)
Number of tracks	4 (Waterloo–Basingstoke); 2 (Basingstoke–Moreton); 1 (Moreton–Dorchester South); 2 (Dorchester South–Weymouth);
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	Third rail, 750 V DC
Operating speed	100 mph (160 km/h)
Route map
Route map
	South Eastern Main Line
	to Charing Cross & Dover Priory
	1854–1902
	1902–1941
	railway station (1838–1848) &
	locomotive works (1839–1860s)
	Chatham Main Line
	to London Victoria, Dover Priory & Ramsgate
	Brighton Main Line
	to London Victoria
	West London line
	to Willesden Junction
	Brighton Main Line
	to Brighton
	Waterloo–Reading line
	to Reading
	Sutton Loop Line
	to Streatham
	Tramlink
	to East Croydon
	Sutton Loop Line
	to Sutton
	Sutton and Mole Valley lines
	& Chessington branch line
	Kingston loop line
	to Twickenham
	Hampton Court branch line
	to Hampton Court
	New Guildford line
	to Guildford
	Chertsey branch line
	to Virginia Water
	Portsmouth Direct line
	to Guildford
	South
	North
	WWI to Deepcut
	WWII to Pirbright
	Alton line
	to Alton
	Ascot–Ash Vale line
	to Ascot & Ash Vale
	North Downs Line
	to Reading & Guildford
	West of England line
	to Salisbury
	198 yd
	181 m
	265 yd
	242 m
	199 yd
	182 m
	Mid-Hants Railway
	to Alresford
	Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway
	to Newbury
	West Coastway line
	to Fareham
	77¾
	† 78

The South West Main Line (SWML) is a 143-mile (230 km) major railway line between Waterloo station in central London and Weymouth on the south coast of England. A predominantly passenger line, it serves many commuter areas including south western suburbs of London and the conurbations based on Southampton and Bournemouth. It runs through the counties of Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset. It forms the core of the network built by the London and South Western Railway, today mostly operated by South Western Railway.

Operating speeds on much of the line are relatively high, with large stretches cleared for up to 100 mph (160 km/h) running. The line has four tracks for most of the length between Waterloo and Worting Junction, south west of Basingstoke, from which point most of the line is double track. A couple of miles from the Waterloo terminus, the line runs briefly alongside the Brighton Main Line west branch out of London Victoria, including through Clapham Junction – the busiest station in Europe by railway traffic.

The oldest part of the line, in the London Borough of Lambeth, was used from 1994 to 2007 by Eurostar trains running out of Waterloo International.