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In 1863, the Andover and Redbridge Railway Company was in financial difficulty and it was acquired by the London and South Western Railway. Construction of the line took until 1864 to complete but permission was not given to start operating immediately because the government inspector who undertook the commissioning survey made it a condition that the rails had to be replaced with ones more substantial. The railway finally opened in 1865 after the remedial work had been carried out.

One of the practical problems experienced during the first 20 or so years of operation was derailment. This inconvenient and no doubt expensive distraction was mainly due to the line having several sharp bends – in part as a result of the track being laid directly over the former canal bed. This unsatisfactory situation needed to be resolved and the catalyst for bringing that about was the opening in 1882 of the line between Andover and Swindon via Marlborough, which created a direct route to Southampton.

The fortunes of the Andover and Redbridge railway improved significantly due to the increase in its traffic and, as a consequence, it was decided that the line should be straightened and converted from a single to a double track. This work was completed in 1885.