Fratton railway station is a railway station in the city of Portsmouth, on Portsea Island in the United Kingdom. It was opened in the Fratton area of Portsmouth on 1 July 1885 as an interchange station between the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and the short-lived Southsea Railway branchline. Fratton railway station and the Southsea Railway were jointly opened on 1 July 1885 by Lady Ada Mary Willis, wife of General Sir George Willis, the Lieutenant Governor of Portsmouth. On 4 July 1905, Fratton railway station's name was changed to Fratton & Southsea to promote its Southsea Railway branchline link to the seaside resort of Southsea. After the Southsea Railway branchline was closed on 6 August 1914, the name of the station was eventually changed back to Fratton on 1 December 1921. The Southsea name was later reused in 1925 to rename Portsmouth's main Portsmouth Town station to Portsmouth & Southsea, as Portsmouth would be elevated from a town to city status in 1926. One mile to the east of Fratton railway station is Fratton Park, built in 1899 as the home football ground of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park's naming was purposely influenced by its proximity to the convenient Fratton railway station, although the stadium is actually located in the Milton district of Portsmouth. Today, Fratton station is located on the Portsmouth Direct Line which runs between London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour. Fratton is one of the four railway stations on Portsea Island. Due to its location as the last south-bound stop before the main Portsmouth & Southsea railway station, Fratton has been adopted in naval slang as a euphemism for the withdrawal method of contraception, "to get off at Fratton". Platforms Normally, platforms 2 and 3 serve and , with platform 1 serving all other destinations. Platforms 2 and 3 are also signalled to allow northbound passenger departures. Between 1885 and 1914, a separate island platform at Fratton station served as the interchange platform to the short-lived Southsea Railway branchline. The island was accessed from a staircase built on the south-east side of the main footbridge. This island was demolished after the Southsea Railway was closed. A modern train washing machine structure is now located on the site. History The line through Fratton and into central Portsmouth was laid on the abandoned dry canal bed of the unsuccessful Portsmouth and Arundel Canal, which was opened in 1823 and