Sutton & Mole Valley Lines - History of The Route

History of The Route

The railway lines used by this service were the result of several schemes:

  • 1847: West Croydon to Sutton and Epsom railway opened by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR)
  • 1856: Epsom and Leatherhead Railway authorised.
  • 1857: Wimbledon and Dorking Railway authorised under the auspices of the London and South Western Railway, reached no further than Epsom. This is why services are run by South West Trains.
  • autumn 1857: rival schemes to connect Shoreham Harbour with Horsham and Dorking. The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) was eventually successful on 1 August 1859.
  • 1 February 1859: Epsom and Leatherhead Railway opened
  • 4 March 1859: Wimbledon and Dorking Railway opened
  • 1 July 1861: Shoreham - Horsham opened
  • 17 July 1862: Horsham, Dorking and Leatherhead Railway (LBSCR sponsored) authorised. Opened in two sections:
11 March 1867: Leatherhead to Dorking
1 May 1867: Dorking to Horsham
  • 1865 Epsom Downs Line opened.
  • 1868 The mainline route from London to Sutton via Hackbridge opened.
  • 1901 Route from London Victoria to Sutton via Norbury Electrified AC
  • 1938 Route London - Horsham fully Electrified DC and new signalling installed.
  • 1978 The Portsmouth Harbour/Bognor Regis express services are diverted away from the line to serve Gatwick Airport and the route is downgraded including the removal of the passing loops at Cheam station. A peak hour service continues on this route, stopping at Sutton and Dorking.
  • 1984 Dorking and Sutton both lose their peak hour 12 coach fast train services to London and the south coast.
  • 1997 Thameslink 2000 is announced with promises of a dedicated King's Lynn to Guildford service via London Bridge & West Croydon and an upgraded Wimbledon Loop service to St Albans with 12 coach trains.

Read more about this topic:  Sutton & Mole Valley Lines

Famous quotes containing the words history of, history and/or route:

    We said that the history of mankind depicts man; in the same way one can maintain that the history of science is science itself.
    Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)

    It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.
    Henry James (1843–1916)

    By a route obscure and lonely,
    Haunted by ill angels only,
    Where an eidolon, named Night,
    On a black throne reigns upright,
    I have reached these lands but newly
    From an ultimate dim Thule—
    From a wild weird clime that lieth, sublime,
    Out of space—out of time.
    Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)