City and South London Railway - Establishment

Establishment

In November 1883, notice was given that a private bill was to be presented to Parliament for the construction of the City of London & Southwark Subway (CL&SS). The promoter of the bill, and engineer of the proposed railway, was James Henry Greathead, who had, in 1869–70, constructed the Tower Subway using the same tunnelling shield/segmented cast iron tube method proposed for the CL&SS. The railway was to run from Elephant and Castle, in Southwark, south London, under the River Thames to King William Street in the City of London. The tracks were to be in twin tunnels 3.1 metres (10 ft 2 in) in diameter.

The bill received Royal Assent as the City of London and Southwark Subway Act, 1884 on 28 July 1884. Section 5 of the Act stated:

"The works authorised by this Act are as follows:

"A subway commencing ... near ... Short Street at the ... junction ... with Newington Butts and terminating at King William Street ...

"The subway shall consist of two tubes for separate up and down traffic and shall be approached by means of staircases and by hydraulic lifts."

In 1886, a further bill was submitted to Parliament to extend the tunnels south from Elephant and Castle to Kennington and Stockwell. This received assent on 12 July 1887 as the City of London and Southwark Subway (Kennington Extensions, &c.) Act, 1887, allowing the construction of the extension to be added to the work on the original route, which had begun in 1886. The tunnels on this section were of a slightly larger diameter – 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in). Before the railway opened, a further bill received assent, granting permission to continue the line south to Clapham Common. The act was published on 25 July 1890 as the City and South London Railway Act, 1890, also effecting a change of the company's name.