miles away, to the north, with a station at Woking (at the time named Woking Common). A branch line to Guildford was opened in 1845, and this was extended to a Godalming station by a nominally independent company, opening in 1849. In addition, the LSWR opened a Farnham branch line from Guildford via Tongham to Farnham, also in 1849. Another railway route opened in 1849, the Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway. In the Guildford area it relied on running powers over the LSWR lines, from Shalford Junction south of Guildford, through Guildford station, and then as far as Ash Junction on the Farnham line. These running powers had been authorised by Parliament. The Reading Guildford and Reigate Railway was an affiliate of the South Eastern Railway (SER), whose main focus was from London into Kent and East Sussex. However the connection it now had to Reading gave the possibility of an alliance with the Great Western Railway, which ran through Reading on its main line between London and Bristol, with connecting lines to South Wales and (under construction) to the West Midlands. In the early decades of the nineteenth century, access to tidal water was a significant benefit to a population centre, enabling heavy materials to be brought in and taken away by coastal shipping. In the case of Guildford this had been achieved since 1816 by the Wey and Arun Canal. The canal proprietors saw that they were losing business to the railways and they decided that conversion of part of their canal to a railway would be worthwhile. The sixteen miles between Guildford and Pulborough could be converted for about £8,000 a mile, and would give access to the navigable section of the River Arun, and to the English Channel at Littlehampton. They met with the directors of the LBSCR in August 1859, evidently hoping for financial collaboration, but the LBSCR invited them to develop their idea into a more definite proposal. They failed to do so. Guildford and Horsham Direct Railway promoted Another scheme of a railway between Guildford and Horsham was being formulated at the same time, and a Bill was submitted to Parliament in the 1860 session, for a Horsham and Guildford Direct Railway (H&DGR). As the proposal presumed a connection with the LBSCR at Horsham, and no negotiation had taken place on the matter, the LBSCR opposed the Bill at first, to protect its