The planned railway would run across largely empty country between Newbury and Winchester before running down the eastern side of the Itchen Valley, closely paralleling the LSWR's main line on the western side, before crossing the LSWR rails on an overbridge just north of the boundary of the future site of the Eastleigh Works at Allbrook, then winding around the high ground north of Southampton to approach the city from the west to run into new terminus at Bargate (the planned station site is now occupied by the Westquay shopping centre) and there was authorisation for a line to run 0.42 miles south of this station to the Royal Pier, where steamers for the Isle of Wight and Cherbourg departed.