London to Portsmouth by train. London Waterloo railway station & South Western Railway train review.

[@MrRQBQ]

As a child in the 1950s I used to live in Portsmouth. Today most city centre businesses have moved to new sites on the outskirts which are much more accessible. However, this has had an adverse affect on Portsmouth & Southsea train station which no longer has the same amount of footfall. When I lived in Portsmouth the station had 8 platforms, but now because of the lack of commuters, the capacity has been reduced to just 4.

[@rogercarrell]

An interesting tour. I was a Nine Elms and, later, Basingstoke fireman in the 1960s. Some good memories here especially the time I (accidently) flooded the concourse at Waterloo Station in 1962!

[@Trainviking]

Haha so maybe the water in Waterloo has a different mening now 😉.

[@juulvlog]

Duimpje omhoog!!!

[@DailyAviaton]

Great video

[@Trainviking]

Thank you

[@Brrunoc1]

When travelling from Harwich to Waterloo, one option is to get off at Stratford and take the Jubilee to Waterloo, The other which I use is to get of at Liverpool Street, walk 500 meters to Bank and take the Waterloo & City line to Waterloo. Both these options mean you only take one underground train to Waterloo.

[@Trainviking]

Ooohh I haven't thought about that.

[@bubba842]

The bus station is kind of new. There was no building when I used to live in Portsmouth 15 years ago. It used to just be outside bus stops.

[@Trainviking]

I guess so too. The bus station looked new and well taken care of. Hopefully the railway station will have some improvements soon as well.

[@ztmsl]

Excellent video. Made a similar trip last year, enjoyed it a lot. I can't help to notice the pronunciation of Portsmouth is a bit off: 'portsmuf' in Dutch.

[@Trainviking]

Hahaha I can't hide that I'm Dutch (and actually I'm not even doing my best to hide it.

[@luisstransport]

Great trip report

[@bartveen6038]

weer een leuke video !

[@ameerali.ouarda]

They operate 444’s on that route which has an intercity carriage layout from the door arrangement to the seats being 2-2 and more airline style seating.

[@Trainviking]

Oh really? Maybe I was unlucky than?

[@grassytramtracks]

​@@Trainviking They run 3+2 seat 450s quite often so its not that unlikely

[@AymanTravelTransport]

@@Trainviking yeah, on the Portsmouth route they use a mix of both the 444 (Intercity 2+2 style) and 450 (Commuter 2+3 style) as it's more of a Regional Express type of service than Intercity, but the route to Southampton (where you'll almost always find the 444) is closer to Intercity, especially the longer express service that carries onto Bournemouth and Weymouth.

[@kevinellis8869]

The Portsmouth line commuters were very upset when SWR concentrated the 444 sets on the Southampton-Bournemouth-Weymouth line a few years ago, they had 2+2 seating throughout.

[@Trainviking]

I can imagine. In a way, it's good trains can accommodate more passengers, however I guess there can be a wat in the middle (for example trains that do have a section in a 2 + 3 seating, or special trains for during peak hours). We'll I don't know... It's nit bad bad bad but I've seen a lot of trains that are better.

[@doveronefoxtrot4417]

The trains used to be inter City, with corridor class. Now they are commuter trains, with no catering, and from the outside, they look like children's toys. A real upgrade... Not.

[@relentlessphenix5665]

Not sure if you rememeber, but what time did you get to the bus station?

[@Trainviking]

Ooohh honestly I don't know anymore.