Notes:  The south-west was early opened up by the Great Western Railway, reaching Bristol in 1841, Plymouth in 1848, and Swansea in 1852. The London & South-western Railway reached Southampton in 1840, and later extended along the south coast to Dorchester in 1847, and then with a competing line to Exeter in 1860. The Taunton direct line, a faster route to Devon and Cornwall which avoided Bristol, was only completed in 1906 by connecting existing lines.