Portsmouth line

Portsmouth Line
Portsmouth Line
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	LBSCR/LSWR;; Southern Railway;; British Railways;; Network Rail
Locale	Greater London; Surrey; West Sussex
Termini	Peckham Rye; Horsham;
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	South Western Railway; Southern; Thameslink;
History
Commenced	1847
Completed	1868
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	750 V DC third rail
Route map
Route map
	Crystal Palace line
	to Balham, to Beckenham Junction
	Sutton Loop Line
	to Wimbledon
	Wimbledon–West Croydon line
	to Wimbledon
	Wimbledon–West Croydon line
	to West Croydon
	Sutton Loop Line
	to Wimbledon

The Portsmouth line is a secondary main line originally built by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and the London and South Western Railway between 1847 and 1868. It leaves the South London Line (Atlantic Lines) at Peckham Rye, with connections to the Victoria branch of the Brighton Main Line at Streatham, and continues via Sutton, Epsom and Dorking to join the Mid-Sussex Line at Horsham.

As of 2022, the line is predominantly a commuter line and there are no scheduled services running along the entire route. The current service pattern can be divided into three sections. The first of these runs from Peckham Rye to Streatham (Southern), with trains then switching on to the Brighton Main Line towards Selhurst and Caterham; the second is the Streatham to Sutton section (Thameslink), part of the Sutton Loop Line, and the third runs from Sutton to Horsham (Southern), with trains originating from London Victoria and joining the Portsmouth line south of Streatham.