The Southampton and Dorchester Railway opened its line to Dorchester on 1 June 1847. The Company was friendly to the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) so Dorchester had a direct connection to London over that line. At the time there was intense rivalry between the LSWR and its allies, and the Great Western Railway (GWR) and its associated companies. Because the track gauges of the two groups were different, the competition was characterised as the "gauge wars"; the GWR used the broad gauge and the LSWR used the narrow gauge, which later became known as standard gauge.