Netley Station Circa 1866

The Netley Railway was opened in March 1866 built by the London & South Western Railway (LSWR). This company had taken over the Southampton & Netley Railway Company in 1865, probably in order to prevent it extending the line to Fareham as part of the new route between Southampton and Portsmouth . The Act of Parliament mentioned the importance of the Royal Victoria Hospital as a source of traffic although most of the patients coming into the hospital were in fact landed by tender from ships moored in Southampton .  Discharged patients did travel by train.  The population of the then small village of Netley would provide an insignificant amount of traffic.

In 1882, the LSWR deposited plans for a line from Netley to Fareham , although it was not until 1889 that the line was eventually opened. Until this time travelers going from Southampton to Portsmouth had to go via Eastleigh  a distance of 27 miles, taking an average of one and a quarter hours.

In 1884, a new platform was constructed in the goods yard at Netley and the LSWR were authorized to provide a line towards the Royal Victoria Hospital , but terminating on the edge of the War Department land surrounding the hospital.

The Hospital Carriage shed and ambulance coaches 

Sixteen years later in 1900, during the Boer War in South Africa, the WD asked the LSWR  to complete the line down to the Royal Victoria Hospital terminus platform. From Netley Station the line entered the hospital grounds near the staff married quarters and continued past the Empire Rooms to the station to the North of the Chapel. The Covered platform, some 60m long was sufficient for four coaches.  The terminus consisted of a loop to enable a locomotive to run round its train to haul it back up to the main line, and a siding leading to a Ward Car shed which held four ambulance coaches.

In 1910, the Netley line was made double track, a relatively easy task as sufficient land was available, and the earthworks and bridges had been constructed for this eventuality when the line was originally built.  The existing track was lifted and new track laid with only minimal adjustment to the cuttings. One year later the doubling up was continued to Fareham , the last major alteration of the line until electrification.

During the First World War, the branch line from Netley to the Royal Victoria Hospital experienced a lot of traffic. Heavy trains of ambulance coaches, carrying hundreds of casualties, climbed the steep bank up to the station with a locomotive at each end.

In 1918, a branch line was created down to a seaplane base at Hamble. This line ceased to be used after the end of the First World War and became derelict until acquired by the BP Oil Company in 1925 for moving oil to and from its storage depot in Hamble. The line was subsequently abandoned, and although mostly still in place, lies derelict.

In 1923, the London & South Western Railway became part of the Southern Railway.

In 1943, the Hospital branch line was re-laid to enable heavier locomotives hauling up to 16 coaches.  Wet rails combined with the steep gradient frequently made progress difficult, and the journey from the Hospital to the main line could take as long as 45 minutes.

In 1948, the Southern Railway became part of British Railways.

The Netley Hospital branch line was officially closed in 1955.

The Goods Yard was closed in 1962 and the track completely removed. Industrial units now occupy the site, known as The Sidings Industrial Park.

In 1967, most of the track was removed and the station demolished.  Apart from a few lengths of track in the road to the north of the chapel, and the cuttings which are now public footpaths, little can be seen of the line today.

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Acknowledgement:  "The Southampton and Netley Railway" – Written by Edwin Course – Published by City of Southampton