1909 halts were built at Westham and Wyke Regis and on 1 July the long-awaited improved rail service started with 13 trains each way between Weymouth and Portland, with an additional nine rail motors. Only the rail motors were able to serve the new halts at Westham and Wyke Regis, and they did not run on Sundays so those places did not have a train service on that day. After the Grouping The Railways Act 1921 created four new large railway companies, and the LSWR was absorbed into the new Southern Railway. The Weymouth and Portland Railway and the Easton And Church Hope companies were allowed to continue in existence. In June 1927 there was a joint officers' conference of the Southern and Great Western companies examining the running costs of the line. Carrying the local stone out and coal in was very expensive due to the steep gradients but it was considered that the contributory value of the traffic due to long hauls on the main line compensated for that. However the passenger traffic was all very short distance, and closing the eastern section to passengers and replacement by railway-owned buses was considered, but not implemented. The line was being operated jointly by the Southern Railway (as successor to the LSWR) and the Great Western Railway, but in 1931 the branch was brought into line with other pooling arrangements between the two companies, and the Southern Railway took over the entire operation of passenger services on the line. Owing to a combination of air raid damage and its low potential as a passenger carrying line the Easton section from Portland was closed to passenger traffic from 11 November 1940, although the service was restored during the summer months from 1941 to 1944. Nevertheless the decline in passenger carryings was inexorable, and it was announced that the Portland lines would be closed to passengers on 3 March 1952. After the closure Melcombe Regis station was occasionally used for trains on the main line arriving at Weymouth, when platform availability was inadequate. Goods traffic was not immune to the decline, and the last goods train ran on 9 April 1965, clearing last wagons, the goods service having closed on 5 April. Topography Gradients The Easton and Church Hope line fell steeply from Sheepcroft, at a ruling gradient of 1 in 40. Locations Weymouth Junction; Melcombe Regis; opened 30 May 1909; closed