East Southsea was the name of two terminus railway stations of the 1.25 mile^[1] Southsea Railway, which linked the Southsea seaside resort with the Portsmouth Direct Line at Fratton railway station.^[2] The later 1904 station replaced an earlier, larger, grander station building, which opened as Southsea in 1885 and was renamed East Southsea in 1896.^[3]

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East Southsea
The line crossed a bridge here at Old Bridge Road and terminated shortly afterwards
General information
Location	Southsea, City of Portsmouth England
Grid reference	SZ651983
Platforms	3 (1885-1904), 1 (1904-1914)
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Opened	1 July 1885; 138 years ago (1885-07-01)
Closed	6 August 1914; 109 years ago (1914-08-06)
Original company	Southsea Railway

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v t e Railways in the Portsmouth area
Legend
Portsmouth Direct Line to London Waterloo via Guildford West Coastway Line to Brighton & London Victoria West Coastway Line to Southampton Central Portchester Havant M27 Bedhampton Cosham A3(M) Farlington Halt A27 Portsbridge Creek HMNB Portsmouth Admiralty Line Hilsea Portsmouth & Southsea Fratton Portsmouth Harbour Southsea Railway 1885–1914 Gosport Ferry to Gosport Wightlink to Ryde Pier Head Jessie Road Bridge Halt Albert Road Bridge Halt East Southsea

By 1914, the threat of the First World War loomed. The final nail in the Southsea Railway's coffin was a government directive issued shortly after the declaration of war^[1] to the effect that railways unable to support themselves would cease operations at the earliest opportunity; and, as the line clearly fell into this category, the last train ran on 6 August 1914.^[7] The original 1885 East Southsea station at Granada Road was used as a munitions store during the war.,^[3] while the rail line itself served as an additional overflow siding from Fratton railway station's goods yard.

After the war, the Southsea Railway and its stations lay abandoned. Partial removal of the line was sanctioned by Section 55 of the Southern Railway Act 1923. The original 1885 East Southsea station at Granada Road was converted into a road vehicle garage business,^[3] until it was fully demolished and cleared in the 1970s.^[10]

On 4 July 1905, Fratton railway station's name was changed to Fratton & Southsea to promote its Southsea Railway branchline link to the seaside resort of Southsea.^[11]

After the demise of the Southsea Railway, Fratton & Southsea station reverted to its original Fratton name on 1 December 1921.^[12]

The Southsea name was later transferred to Portsmouth's main Portsmouth Town railway station in 1925^[12] creating the present-day Portsmouth & Southsea railway station name.

The site of East Southsea's original terminus station is now occupied by a late twentieth century residential cul-de-sac named Chewter Close, just to the north of Granada Road in Southsea.^[13] The original 1885 terminus station building was located at the northern end of today's Chewter Close until its demolition in the 1970s. A mural commemorating the station was unveiled on the northernmost wall in Chewter Close on 26 August 2011.^[14] This wall was not part of the original East Southsea station building, as the wall was built after the railway line closed and was built as a boundary wall between the rear gardens of newer inter-war period houses that became Parkstone Avenue and the garage business that occupied the original station building. The smaller, later 1904 East Southsea station site is now occupied by modern houses close to the junction of Chewter Close and Granada Road.

• List of closed railway stations in Britain