Lymington Branch Line

Lymington Branch Line

Principal stations

(South Western Main Line)
Brockenhurst
Lymington Town
Lymington Pier

The Lymington Branch Line is the railway line from Brockenhurst to Lymington in the United Kingdom. At Brockenhurst, trains connect with the South Western Main Line for mainline services to Bournemouth, Weymouth, Southampton and London Waterloo. At Lymington, the train connects with the ferry to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight. Services operated on this line are often called the "Lymington Flyer".

The Lymington branch is electrified at 750 V DC third-rail, and has three stations. The first is Brockenhurst, where trains depart from a bay platform. The next station is Lymington Town, followed shortly afterwards by Lymington Pier, where the line terminates.

Services on the line are currently operated by South West Trains, using stock outbased at Bournemouth depot. Stock used is currently restricted to Classes 411, 412, 421 and 423. Newer stock cannot yet be used on the line until the electrical supply has been upgraded.

In recent years, a dedicated unit has been allocated to the "Lymington Flyer". As Lymington Town station has short platforms, the unit used has been reduced to three carriages from the standard four car length. The staff at Bournemouth depot have unofficially named each unit, details of which are given below. Units are listed in chronological order.

Unit No.		Class	Type	Unit Name	Livery	Dates in service		Disposal
New	Previous	Class	Type	Unit Name	Livery	From	To	Disposal
1199	2326	411	3Cep	"Lucy"	South West Trains	01/2003	06/2004	Scrapped at Immingham RFT in 07/2004
1198	2314	411	3Cep	"Linda"	South West Trains	06/2004	12/2004	Preserved on Dartmoor Railway in 01/2005.
1499	1394	421	3Cig	"Lisa"	South West Trains	12/2004	(06/2005)	In service (Retained in reserve until 06/2005).
1497	1883	421	3Cig	Freshford	BR Blue/Grey	05/2005	-	In service.
1498	1888	421	3Cig	Farringford	BR Green	05/2005	-	In service.

Key:
In service
Withdrawn
Preserved
Scrapped

It was expected that by May 2005 at the latest, the operation of the line would have been taken over by the new Class 450 "Desiro" units. However, due to power-supply issues this will not happen.

South West Trains instead refurbished two 3Cig units that will be dedicated to services on the line. Work to the units included the fitting of central door locking and other safety features, to allow them to remain in service beyond the November 2005 deadline for the withdrawal of slam-door stock. The two units will be retained as a "heritage" operation for the foreseable future, and have been repainted into an approximation of their original liveries. The new "heritage" service was launched on 12 May 2005, when the two units were named in a ceremony at Brockenhurst railway station.

Railway lines in Great Britain:
<p style="font-size: 90%">High-speed main lines:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Channel Tunnel Rail Link – Channel Tunnel
<p style="font-size: 90%">'Classic' main lines:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Cross-Country – East Coast – Great Eastern – Great Western – Midland – West Coast
<p style="font-size: 90%">Other main lines:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Brighton – Chiltern – Chatham – Hastings – Highland – Kent Coast – London, Tilbury and Southend – North Wales – Portsmouth Direct – Settle-Carlisle – South Wales – South Western – Welsh Marches – Wessex – West Anglia – West of England
<p style="font-size: 90%">Secondary routes:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Airedale – Arun Valley – Ayrshire Coast – Caldervale – Cambridge-Norwich – Cotswold – Dearne Valley – East Coastway – Golden Valley – Glasgow South Western – Hallam – Harrogate – Harwich – Hope Valley – Huddersfield – Lea Valley – Leeds-Bradford – Medway Valley – North Downs – Pontefract – Robin Hood – Riviera – Wakefield – West Coastway – West Highland – York & Selby
<p style="font-size: 90%">Commuter lines:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Alton – Argyle – Bexleyheath – Birmingham Cross-City – Braintree – Caterham – Catford Loop – Chase – Dartford Loop – Gospel Oak-Barking – Hayes – Inverclyde – Ivanhoe – Maesteg – Mid-Kent – Morecambe – North Clyde – North Kent – North London – Northern City – Oxted – Romford-Upminster – Severn Beach – Sheerness – South London – St Albans Abbey – Sutton & Mole Valley – Tattenham Corner – Walsall – West London – Wharfedale – Whifflet
<p style="font-size: 90%">Rural lines:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Atlantic Coast – Avocet – Bittern – Buxton – Cambrian – Crouch Valley – Cumbrian Coast – Conwy Valley – Derwent Valley – Durham Coast – East Suffolk – Esk Valley – Far North – Felixstowe – Fen Line – Furness – Heart of Wales – Heart of Wessex – Island Line – Kyle of Lochalsh – Looe Valley – Lymington – Maritime – Marshlink – Marston Vale – Penistone – Ribble Valley – St Ives – Sudbury – Tamar Valley – Tarka – Tees Valley – Tyne Valley – Wherry – Windermere – Yorkshire Coast
<p style="font-size: 90%">Closed major routes:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Great Central – Honeybourne – Somerset & Dorset – Waverley – Woodhead

Categories: British railway lines | Transport in Hampshire