the L&SR, running through Fareham and Cosham. A Parliamentary Bill was presented in 1837 for a Portsmouth Junction Railway, friendly to the L&SR, to construct it. At this time there was considerable resentment among citizens of Portsmouth against Southampton, and this played against the idea of a branch line to Portsmouth off the Southampton main line: Portsmouth would get a roundabout route to London. The Corporation opposed the Bill in Parliament, and it failed. The L&SR now put forward a branch from Bishopstoke to Gosport, close to Portsmouth but on the west side of the waterway known as Portsmouth Harbour. Requiring only 15 miles (24 km) of new line, this was an affordable proposition. An Act had lately been passed for a ferry, referred to then as a floating bridge, across the harbour between Portsmouth and Gosport. The L&SR obtained Parliamentary authorisation for its Gosport branch on 4 June 1839; section 2 of the Act authorised changing the company name to the London and South Western Railway (LSWR); this was a deliberate move to ameliorate tension between the towns of Portsmouth and Southampton. The Gosport line opened on 29 November 1841. For the time being, Portsmouth had its railway, although not the direct line it sought. The Railway Mania In 1844 money supply in the United Kingdom had become easier, and for the first time railway schemes were attractive investments. This meant that the established companies were no longer secure in their own territory, as challenging new schemes promoted locally were proposed. This led to the Railway Mania of 1845 when huge numbers of railway schemes, not all of them well thought out, were put before the public. Woking to Guildford The London and Southampton line ran through Woking, and on 10 May 1844 the Guildford Junction Railway was authorised to construct a six-mile branch from there to the important manufacturing town of Guildford. The authorised share capital was £55,000. The company was backed by the LSWR; it opened four days late (because of doubts about the stability of the tunnel at Fareham) on 5 May 1845. An Act of 21 July 1845 authorised the company's absorption by the LSWR, and this was put into effect on 4 August 1845. The transfer cost the LSWR £75,000. It was the first part of the eventual Portsmouth Direct Line to become operational, although there is no evidence that this was the long-term