The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter and Plymouth, and to Padstow, Ilfracombe and Bude. It developed a network of routes in Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire, including Portsmouth and Reading.
Epsom railway station serves the town of Epsom in Surrey, England. It is located off Waterloo Road and is less than two minutes' walk from the town's high street. It is 14 miles 18 chains (22.9 km) down the line from London Waterloo.
The Portsmouth Direct line is a railway route between Woking in Surrey and Portsmouth Harbour in Hampshire, England. It forms the principal route for passenger trains between London, Guildford and Portsmouth; connections are made to the ferry services which operate between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. The final section of line from Havant to Portsmouth is shared with other passenger routes.
Raynes Park railway station serves the district of Raynes Park in the London Borough of Merton. It is 8 miles 51 chains (13.9 km) south-west of London Waterloo and is situated between Wimbledon and New Malden on the South West Main Line. The next station along on the Mole Valley branch line is Motspur Park.
The Sutton and Mole Valley lines were constructed between 1847 and 1868 by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, the London and South Western Railway and the LBSCR-sponsored Horsham, Dorking and Leatherhead Railway.
The Epsom Downs Branch is a railway line in the United Kingdom. The line runs from Sutton to Epsom Downs and is about 3+3⁄4 miles (6.0 km) long. The line starts at Sutton in the London Borough of Sutton. It is double track for about 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) until it reaches the approach to Belmont where it becomes single track. The line continues from Belmont through Banstead and terminates at Epsom Downs in Surrey. The "Downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs.
Leatherhead railway station is in Leatherhead, Surrey, England. It is managed by Southern, with services provided by them and South Western Railway. It is 18 miles 2 chains (29 km) from London Waterloo.
Dorking railway station is a railway station in Dorking, Surrey, England. Located on the Mole Valley line, it is 22 miles 8 chains (35.6 km) down the line from London Waterloo. The station is one of three that serve the town of Dorking, alongside Dorking Deepdene and Dorking West stations. Dorking and Dorking Deepdene stations are within walking distance of each other and interchange between them on a through ticket is permitted.
The New Guildford line, presently operated by South Western Railway, is a commuter line between London Waterloo and Guildford. It branches off the South West Main Line at Hampton Court Junction, just south-west of Surbiton. On timetables, trains on this route are advertised as going to Guildford via Cobham.
The Midhurst Railways were three branch lines which were built to serve the market town of Midhurst in the English county of West Sussex. The three lines were the Petersfield Railway, from Petersfield; the Mid-Sussex Railway extended by the Mid-Sussex and Midhurst Junction Railway, from Hardham Junction (Pulborough); and from Chichester. The Petersfield Railway opened in 1864, the promoting company having been absorbed by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1863. The Mid-Sussex lines reached Midhurst in 1866, after being absorbed by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) in 1862. The two lines did not connect, and there were two separate stations close by one another. The Chichester line took much longer to complete, and was opened in 1881, and a new LBSCR station was opened, replacing the first station. In 1925 the former LSWR line was connected to that station.
The Cranleigh line was a railway line in England that connected Guildford in Surrey, with Horsham in West Sussex. Construction of the line was started by an independent company, the Horsham and Guildford Direct Railway, but management failures delayed construction, and the company was taken over by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR). The LBSCR completed the construction of the line and it was opened in 1865; it was nearly 16 miles in length.
The Wimbledon–West Croydon line was a railway line in south London. It was opened in 1855 by the Wimbledon and Croydon Railway (W&CR) over part of the trackbed of the Surrey Iron Railway. It closed in May 1997 and now forms part of the Tramlink network.
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.
The Portsmouth line is a secondary main line originally built by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and the London and South Western Railway between 1847 and 1868. It leaves the South London Line at Peckham Rye, with connections to the Victoria branch of the Brighton Main Line at Streatham, and continues via Sutton, Epsom and Dorking to join the Mid-Sussex Line at Horsham.
The Wimbledon and Dorking Railway (W&DR) was an early railway company in southern England. It was independently promoted with the intention of penetrating into West Sussex, but it only succeeded in getting authorisation as far as Epsom. It joined the Epsom and Leatherhead Railway there, and opened in 1859.
The Epsom and Leatherhead Railway (E&LR) was a railway company in Surrey, England. Promoted independently, it opened its short line in 1859 and was worked by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR). It was transferred to the joint ownership of the LSWR and the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) in 1860. Those companies operated passenger trains to Waterloo and London Bridge station respectively. In 1867 the LBSCR built an extension line from Leatherhead to Dorking, with the declared intention of continuing to the Sussex coast. A new Leatherhead station was built on the new line, and the LSWR was obliged to build its own independent, new Leatherhead station; this was a terminus for some years.
The Horsham, Dorking and Leatherhead Railway (HD&LR) was an early railway company in southern England. It planned to fill in a gap in the network of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, shortening the route from London to coastal towns from Littlehampton to Portsmouth. It only obtained Parliamentary authorisation to build from Horsham to Dorking, and it sold its company to the LBSCR, which completed the construction, and itself built the remaining section from Dorking to Leatherhead.
The Portsmouth to Brighton Railway was built by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and its immediate predecessor in several stages.
The Mid-Sussex railways were a group of English railway companies that together formed what became the Mid-Sussex line, from Three Bridges through Horsham to Littlehampton, in southern England. After 1938 the Southern Railway operated a regular electric train service ran from London to Bognor Regis and Portsmouth using the marketing brand "Mid-Sussex Line", leading to an informal consensus. The Mid-Sussex Railway company ran from Horsham to Petworth, and the Mid-Sussex Junction line of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) extended from the Petworth line to Littlehampton. The Three Bridges to Horsham branch of the LBSCR was at first the sole access from the north to the Mid-Sussex railways, although a line from Leatherhead was used later.
The Electrification of the LSWR refers to the installation of electric traction on the London and South Western Railway surface network, and its successor the Western Section of the Southern Railway, in England. The LSWR started a programme of electrification in response to rising costs and loss of traffic to street tramways; the first installation was to Kingston, Richmond, Hounslow, Hampton Court and Shepperton, starting in 1917. The third rail DC system was used, as it was assessed to be considerably cheaper to install and maintain than the overhead systems then in use. The rolling stock was constructed by the conversion of relatively new coaches built for suburban steam-hauled operation. The LSWR generated its own electric power at a new power station near Wimbledon. A frequent regular-interval timetable was implemented and the system was a considerable success.
