The 12th July sees the 150^th anniversary of the opening of the branch line from Brockenhurst to Lymington. It was in 1856 that work started on a project to link the town quay at Lymington with the main Southampton to Dorchester line at Lymington Junction, 1.5 km west of Brockenhurst. At that time the main line towards Bournemouth ran via Ringwood – the current line via Sway was not opened until 1888.

The formal opening of the Lymington branch took place on July 12^th, 1858. The line belonged to the Lymington Railway from its inception until 1878 when it was absorbed into the giant London & South Western Railway, precursor of South West Trains (with the Southern Railway and BR Southern Region intervening.)

Initially the line, which cost £20,000 to build, served Lymington town only. Lymington’s population at the time was just over 4,000. The present Town station site became the terminus in 1860. In 1861 a railway jetty opened nearby, but ferries could only use it at high tide. (The first paddle steamer service had linked Lymington with the Isle of Wight as early as 1830.) In 1884 the line was extended to Lymington Pier station, crossing the river by means of an attractive 10-span viaduct which is still the principal architectural feature of the line today.

During its heyday in the 1950s and early 60s the line boasted local trains, a daily school train and freight services carrying coal, corn, cement and livestock, as well as goods for local shops and businesses. On Summer Saturdays there were through trains to and from Waterloo. Although as a BR economy measure goods facilities were later withdrawn, the line was fortunately able to resist the Beeching cuts of the early 1960s.

In 1967, steam trains were replaced by electric services and the track layout and signalling simplified at  Lymington Junction, Lymington Town and Pier. The tank engine  which hauled the very last steam train on the line in July 1967, No. 41312, is today still operational on the ‘Watercress Line’ between Alresford and Alton.

In May 2005 South West Trains relaunched the Lymington line as a ‘Heritage Line’, painting the stations in traditional colours with signage to match, and introducing a pair of refurbished 3-car ‘slam door’ electric units (CIG type) which were utilised on Southern Region in BR days. Named ’Farringford’ and Freshwater’ after the BR ferries which used to operate on the Lymington – Yarmouth route, one is painted in Southern green, the other in BR blue and grey. One unit is used at a time, the other acting as spare at Bournemouth depot which looks after them.

Today, as a special feature, South West Trains have kindly arranged for an electro-diesel locomotive to be coupled to the train, No 73109 Battle of Britain 50^th Anniversary.  

The most recent development on the line is the formation of a Community Rail Partnership to support the service in terms of raising awareness of the local railway and promoting the tourist potential of the line as a gateway to the New Forest as a whole.

Today will see the formal launch of the Partnership, which includes representation from Hampshire County Council, New Forest District Council, Lymington and Pennington Town Council, Brockenhurst Parish Council, New Forest National Park, Wightlink Ferries, Lymington Chamber of Commerce, Brockenhurst College, South West Trains and Network Rail.