The East London line is part of the London Overground, running north to south through the East, Docklands and South areas of London. It was previously a line of the London Underground.
Battersea is a district of South West London, England, within the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is located on the south bank of the River Thames, 2.9 miles (4.7 km) southwest of Charing Cross.
Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street, the main line station is a terminus of the Brighton main line to Gatwick Airport and Brighton and the Chatham main line to Ramsgate and Dover via Chatham. From the main lines, trains can connect to the Catford Loop Line, Dartford Loop Line, and the Oxted line to East Grinstead and Uckfield. Southern operates most commuter and regional services to south London, Sussex and parts of east Surrey, while Southeastern operates trains to south east London and Kent. Gatwick Express trains run direct to Gatwick. The Underground station is on the Circle and District lines between Sloane Square and St. James's Park, and the Victoria line between Pimlico and Green Park. The area around the station is an important interchange for other forms of transport: a local bus station is in the forecourt and Victoria Coach Station is nearby.
Streatham Hill railway station is one of three stations serving the district of Streatham, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is 5 miles 57 chains (9.2 km) measured from London Victoria. The wooden station building at street level faces the busy Streatham High Road (A23) at the junction with Leigham Court Road. Services are operated by Southern.
Battersea Park is a suburban railway station in the London Borough of Wandsworth, south London. It is at the junction of the South London Line and the Brighton Main Line, 1 mile 23 chains (2.1 km) measured from London Victoria.
New Cross Gate is a railway station in New Cross, London, on the Brighton Main Line and the London Overground. It is 2 miles 70 chains (4.63 km) down the line from London Bridge and is about 600 m (660 yd) west of New Cross station. It is in Travelcard Zone 2, and is operated by London Overground.
Grosvenor Bridge, originally known as, and alternatively called Victoria Railway Bridge, is a railway bridge over the River Thames in London, between Vauxhall Bridge and Chelsea Bridge. Originally constructed in 1860, and widened in 1865 and 1907, the bridge was extensively rebuilt and widened again in the 1960s as an array of ten parallel bridges.
The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its apex, practically the whole coastline of Sussex as its base, and a large part of Surrey. It was bounded on its western side by the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR), which provided an alternative route to Portsmouth. On its eastern side the LB&SCR was bounded by the South Eastern Railway (SER)—later one component of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR)—which provided an alternative route to Bexhill, St Leonards-on-Sea, and Hastings. The LB&SCR had the most direct routes from London to the south coast seaside resorts of Brighton, Eastbourne, Worthing, Littlehampton and Bognor Regis, and to the ports of Newhaven and Shoreham-by-Sea. It served the inland towns/cities of Chichester, Horsham, East Grinstead and Lewes, and jointly served Croydon, Tunbridge Wells, Dorking and Guildford. At the London end was a complicated suburban and outer-suburban network of lines emanating from London Bridge and Victoria, and shared interests in two cross-London lines.
Battersea was a railway station on the West London Extension Railway located on Battersea High Street in Battersea, south-west London. It opened on 1 October 1863 and closed on 21 October 1940 after air raid damage during the Blitz of World War II.
The Brighton Main Line is a British railway line divided in the north into two sections running from London Victoria and London Bridge to Brighton. It is about 51 miles (81 km) long, and is electrified throughout. Nearly all passenger trains are provided by Govia Thameslink Railway which operates the Southern, Gatwick Express and Thameslink brands. A small section has Great Western Railway services, currently sole operator of the line from Gatwick Airport to Reading, Berkshire known as the North Downs Line. The many Sussex services to Central London use the line and generally its branches as do south London, East Surrey and Tonbridge, Kent services.
Forest Hill railway station serves Forest Hill in the London Borough of Lewisham, south London. The station adjoins a road which serves as part of the A205 South Circular Road.
Norwood Junction railway station is a National Rail station in South Norwood in the London Borough of Croydon, south London and is in Travelcard Zone 4. It is 8 miles 55 chains (13.98 km) down the line from London Bridge.
Nine Elms is an area within Battersea in South West London and in the far north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Wandsworth, between the SW8 side of Battersea proper and Vauxhall.
Grosvenor Road station was a railway station in London located at the north end of Grosvenor Bridge on the approach tracks to Victoria station.
South Cross Route (SCR) was the designation for the southern section of Ringway 1, the innermost circuit of the London Ringways network, a complex and comprehensive plan for a network of high speed roads circling and radiating out from central London designed to manage and control the flow of traffic within the capital.
The West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway (WELCPR) was an early railway company in south London between Crystal Palace station and Wandsworth, which was opened in 1856. The line was extended in 1858 to a station at Battersea Wharf which was misleadingly named Pimlico. Throughout its brief existence the railway was operated by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) to which it was leased in 1858 and sold in 1859. This relatively short line was of considerable importance to the history of railways of south London as it was the first line to create a corridor from the south and east towards Westminster and led to the development of London Victoria railway station.
The West London Railway was conceived to link the London and Birmingham Railway and the Great Western Railway with the Kensington Basin of the Kensington Canal, enabling access to and from London docks for the carriage of goods. It opened in 1844 but was not commercially successful.
The Wimbledon and Croydon Railway was a railway between those places built to serve the heavily industrialised area of the River Wandle Valley. It followed the course of the earlier Surrey Iron Railway, and opened on 22 October 1855. It was worked by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, which bought it outright in 1858. In the latter half of the twentieth century, the industrial use declined, and passenger numbers suffered also. The line closed in May 1997.
The Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway was an early British railway company which was incorporated by Act of Parliament 23 July 1858. to build a railway line connecting the existing London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) terminus in Battersea to a new terminal at London Victoria station in Westminster. This involved constructing the Grosvenor Bridge over the river Thames. The company later leased its lines and stations to the LB&SCR and the London Chatham and Dover Railway (LC&DR) but continued in existence until December 1922 when it was briefly amalgamated with the South Eastern Railway, UK as a result of the Railways Act 1921, which created the Big Four on 1 January 1923.
This article deals with the development of the London suburban railway lines of the London and South Western Railway (LSWR). For the wider view of the LSWR in general, see London and South Western Railway.
