The Southsea Railway was a short railway branch line. It was built to give easier access from the jointly operated main line railway approaching Portsmouth to the Clarence Pier from which Isle of Wight ferries sailed. In 1879 the extension of the main line railway to Portsmouth Harbour station, where direct transfer from train to steamer was possible, eliminated most of the steamer business at Clarence Pier. Undeterred, promoters interested in developing Southsea projected the Southsea Railway, connecting a new Fratton station on the main line, with Southsea. The line was opened on 1 July 1885. Its independent promoters believed that it could be a main line terminus for London trains, and they constructed the line lavishly in consequence. The line helped the development of Southsea as an affluent residential district, but the short transit, and the complication of changing trains at Fratton to reach Portsmouth by train, diminished the attractiveness of the line. The later development of electric street running tramways in Portsmouth and Southsea, adversely affected its commercial viability. In 1903 railmotor operation was attempted to reduce costs, but the railmotor vehicles were unsatisfactory and the loss of the steamer passenger traffic meant that the line was beyond saving. It closed completely on 6 August 1914. History First railways in Portsmouth In 1845 the Brighton and Chichester Railway, an offshoot of the London and Brighton Railway, got authority to extend its line to Portsmouth. Those two companies later merged with others in 1846 to form the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. At the time the London and South Western Railway was also planning a railway into Portsmouth, at first from its Gosport line at Fareham. The two companies agreed to work together, and the line within Portsea Island was made joint. It opened on 14 June 1847. The Portsmouth station was a terminus, at the east side of Commercial Road. First tramway In later decades, leisure travel to the Isle of Wight became increasingly important, and the Portsmouth station was about a mile ( km) from the ferry berth at Broad Street, and from Victoria Pier. Getting from the station to the ferry with luggage was difficult in the extreme, due to traffic congestion. Southsea Pier, on the south side of Portsea Island was opened in 1861 and soon renamed Clarence Pier. It was hoped that the pier made the transfer from train to ferry easier, as