The Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway (TM&WR) was a railway company jointly operated by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) and the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) in Surrey (now south-west London).
The Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway (TM&WR) was a railway company jointly operated by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) and the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) in Surrey (now south-west London).
The TM&WR comprised two lines:
At Wimbledon the TM&WR shared the WCR station, a little to the southwest of the main LSWR station. On the arrival of the TM&WR the LBSCR facilities were expanded to two platforms, 5 and 6. Tooting Junction station was sited across the divergence of the Wimbledon and Merton branches, with a pair of platform faces for each. On opening Lower Merton station had platforms only on the Tooting line.
It was double track throughout, including the doubling of the WCR from Lower Merton to Wimbledon, which had previously been single.
The Wandle Valley had long established industries that prompted the building of the Surrey Iron Railway, later developed into the WCR. [1] The Merton Abbey copper mill and supporting trades were close to that corridor but not directly served by the WCR.
In the 1860s the LBSCR was expanding its South London suburban network, and proposed the TM&WR to link their Peckham Rye to Sutton route with the LSWR, and attract goods traffic from the Merton Abbey industries. It was established as an independent company by Act of Parliament in 1864, but vested jointly in the LSWR and LBSCR a year later. It opened on 1 October 1868, concurrently with the Peckham Rye-Sutton line. [2] Initial LBSCR services ran from London Bridge both ways round the loop. After a year the LSWR began a service from Kingston to Ludgate Hill (near Blackfriars) via Tooting, beginning a long association between the Wimbledon branch and the LCDR City line.
In 1870 a platform was added to Lower Merton station for the Croydon line, and it was renamed Merton Park. In 1889 the LSWR relocated Wimbledon station to the other side of Wimbledon Bridge for the opening of the District Railway branch. The TM&WR and W&CR were then brought into the shared station with an island platform next to the South West Main Line, at roughly the location of what is now platforms 9 and 10. Also in 1889, Haydens Lane station was renamed Haydons Road.
In 1894 Tooting Junction was relocated to the other side of Mitcham Road, with just two platform faces for all services, although the original station building remained until the 1980s. By the early 20th century the LBSCR was running services from Wimbledon to London Bridge via both sides of the loop, and from Tooting to Victoria using the LSWR mainline between Wimbledon and Clapham Junction. [3]
After The Great War the TM&WR and connected LBSCR & LSWR lines were merged into the Southern Railway. The rapid expansion of electric trams in South London diverted passenger traffic away from these small suburban lines. [4] LCC Tram No's 2, 4, 10 and 30[ verification needed ] paralleled various sections of the TM&WR and WCR, and running on the streets they were more useful for local travel. In 1926 the City & South London Railway extended their underground line to Morden, with stations at Colliers Wood and South Wimbledon, close to Merton Abbey and Merton Park stations respectively. The C&SLR provided a direct service to the City and West End (via the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway), with stations more conveniently placed for commuters.
The TM&WR and WCR system was left only with passengers connecting to the mainlines, and goods traffic from Merton Abbey and Waddon Marsh. The Merton Abbey branch was closed to passenger traffic in 1929. As new works opened in the Merton Abbey area freight continued to be profitable, with coal inward and finished products out; private sidings were added to the branch to handle the traffic.
In 1934 the Merton Abbey branch was singled, the connection at Tooting was broken and the goods service operated via Merton Park only. After the Second World War several of the factories closed. The steady rise of road transport eroded what was left of the goods traffic. The nationalised railway could not support such an underused line, and the branch was closed completely and lifted in 1975.
The remaining Wimbledon branch kept its passenger service from Holborn Viaduct via Herne Hill and Tulse Hill, continuing the LBSCR practice. From 1930 it ran through to the Wimbledon and Sutton Railway (WSR) and thence to West Croydon. That service was not an outstanding success, and later the WSR service was diverted at Sutton to return to Streatham via Mitcham Junction, forming the Sutton Loop Line still operating today.
From the 1960s service frequencies were scaled back; by the 1980s the weekday off-peak service was 2tph each way, 1tph on Saturdays, and no Sunday service.
In the late 1980s the Sutton Loop was taken over by Thameslink. The unexpected popularity of this new cross-London service led to weekend services being restored and new longer trains being provided. For many years the Thameslink services were supplemented with some Southern services to London Bridge during weekday rush-hours, but these no longer run.
In the 1990s the Merton Abbey industrial area was re-developed as a retail park. Part of the Merton Park - Merton Abbey - Tooting Junction trackbed became Merantun Way, diverting the A24 trunk road to bypass Merton High Street. The site of Merton Abbey station is now occupied by a roundabout midway along Merantun Way and a petrol station.
In 1997 the WCR was converted to a grade-separated tram line (the Croydon Tramlink), and the site of Merton Park station is now occupied by a tram stop of the same name.
London Trams, previously Tramlink and Croydon Tramlink, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It began operation in 2000, the first tram system in the London region since 1952. It is managed by London Trams, a public body part of Transport for London (TfL), and has been operated by FirstGroup since 2017. Tramlink is one of two light rail networks in Greater London, the other being the Docklands Light Railway.
Mitcham Junction is a National Rail station served by Southern and Thameslink trains, and a Tramlink stop. It is in the London Borough of Merton and is in Travelcard Zone 4.
Wimbledon is a National Rail, London Underground, and Tramlink station located on Wimbledon Bridge, Wimbledon in London, and is the only station in London that provides an interchange between the London Underground and Tramlink. The station serves as a junction for services from the Underground's District line and National Rail operators, as well as Tramlink services. The station is in Travelcard Zone 3. It is 7 miles 19 chains (11.6 km) from London Waterloo on the South West Main Line.
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The Isle of Wight Railway was a railway company on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom; it operated 14 miles of railway line between Ryde and Ventnor. It opened the first section of line from Ryde to Sandown in 1864, later extending to Ventnor in 1866. The Ryde station was at St Johns Road, some distance from the pier where the majority of travellers arrived. A tramway operated on the pier itself, and a street-running tramway later operated from the Pier to St Johns Road. It was not until 1880 that two mainland railways companies jointly extended the railway line to the Pier Head, and IoWR trains ran through, improving the journey arrangements.
Sutton railway station is in the London Borough of Sutton in South London and is the main station serving the town of Sutton. It is served by Southern and Thameslink trains, and lies in Travelcard Zone 5, 14 miles 75 chains down the line from London Bridge, measured via Forest Hill.
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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.
Merton is an ancient parish historically in Surrey, but which has since 1965 been part of Greater London. It is bounded by Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Morden, Cheam and Cuddington to the south and (New) Malden to the west. The 1871 Ordnance Survey map records its area as 1,764.7 acres (7.1 km2).
Merton Park tram stop is a stop on the Tramlink service in the London Borough of Merton.
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.
The Kingston loop line is a railway line built by the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) in South West London. It was built in two stages; at first from Twickenham to Kingston, opened in 1863; travel from Kingston to London by that route was a rather circuitous trip. Later the line was extended from Kingston to Wimbledon in 1869. The line ran independently alongside the Southampton main line from Malden to Wimbledon, connecting there to other lines which gave access to Ludgate Hill in the City of London, as well as to Waterloo
Merton Park railway station was a railway station in Merton, Surrey, serving both the West Croydon to Wimbledon Line and the Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway. Closed in 1997, part of the site now serves as a tram stop on the Wimbledon branch of the Tramlink network.
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.
The Sutton Loop Line, also known as the Wimbledon Loop, is a railway line that diverges from the Portsmouth Line at Streatham South junction and rejoins it near Sutton station. Trains leave southwards from Streatham to enter the loop and then return going northwards. The short section between West Sutton station and West junction is known as the "Wall of Death", possibly due to the very steep concrete walls to the cutting on both sides and the sharpness of the curve which resemble the motorcycle ride at a funfair.
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.
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