the london and south western railway came to liphook in 1859. the portsmouth direct line was built after the 1840s 'railway mania'. originally the lswr route from london to portsmouth was via a branch from southampton to gosport, where passengers then went on the chain ferry across portsmouth harbour. this lasted until the london, brighton and south coast railway extended their london-brighton line to portchester. initially the lswr constructed a branch from woking to guildford in 1845 then godalming in 1849, but were reluctant to extend it to havant. thomas brassey, a railway contractor, was granted act of parliament to construct a single track in 1853 (doubling was completed on 1 march 1878 ). the first train arrived in liphook on 24 january 1859, but a dispute between the lswr and the lbscr meant full service was not initiated until 7 may.