closed in 1827, after seawater from the canal contaminated some of Portsmouth's fresh water wells. In 1845 parts of this section were sold to the Chichester to Portsmouth Branch Railway company with another section being sold to the company in 1851. The former canal walls are still clearly visible between Fratton and Portsmouth city centre today. Canal barges also had an alternative route to and from Portsmouth via Portsbridge Creek, avoiding the need to move through Portsea Island. The railway line through Fratton was planned by the Brighton and Chichester Railway as part of the Chichester to Portsmouth Branch Railway, approved in 1845. The line was completed in 1847, the Brighton and Chichester railway merging with several other companies to form the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1846, who went on to operate the line. Fratton railway station was planned and built to serve as an interchange station between Portsmouth and the new one-and-a-quarter mile (2 km) long Southsea Railway branch line, built to serve the fashionable Victorian seaside resort of Southsea. It was built with an additional island platform to the south of the station's three main platforms, which specifically served the Southsea Railway and was reached by a staircase leading from the main overhead footbridge. This island platform and staircase was removed after the Southsea Railway was closed, its former location now has a modern train washing facility built over it. Originally, an alternative interchange station for the Southsea Railway was to be built at Copnor, Portsmouth - at the purposely built Station Road - but was never was, with Fratton being the later preferred location. Ironically, Station Road still survives in Copnor today. The unbuilt station site, near today's Copnor Bridge, has since been developed with a short row of terraced houses, a bus stop and a public lavatory block. Fratton railway station and the Southsea Railway were jointly opened on 1 July 1885 by Lady Ada Mary Willis (née Neeld), wife of General Sir George Willis, the Lieutenant Governor of Portsmouth. Fratton railway station was used as the interchange station to the Southsea Railway branch line, whose original 1885 terminus at Southsea station was built on Granada Road, Southsea, replaced by East Southsea in 1904. On 4 July 1905, Fratton railway station's name was changed to Fratton & Southsea. In 1891, the main Portsmouth Town engine sheds were moved to the railway sidings at