Later History
Between 1836 and 1840, the line carried over 1¼ million passengers a year, benefiting it is thought from a developing tourist trade.
On 5 June 1839, the London and Croydon Railway opened. It shared the line between Tooley Street as far as a junction at Corbetts Lane (close to what is now Rotherhithe Road). It built its station between the existing station and Tooley Street. It is not clear when the station became known as London Bridge.
It is believed that at Corbetts Lane there was installed first fixed signal used to control a junction. A white disc was installed, to be operated by the pointsman. This, or at night, a red light, showed that the route was set for Croydon. If the disc was edge on, or a white light showed, the junction was set for Greenwich.
In 1840, two further acts were obtained, one for laying additional lines as far as the junction at Corbetts Lane and for improvements and extensions to the stations at London Bridge. These were watched closely by a committee formed by the Croydon line, the Brighton line and the proposed South Eastern Railway. At this time the Greenwich and the Croydon Lines exchanged places to prevent crossing each other at Corbetts Lane. A resited station at Spa Road opened in 1842.
By 1843, annual passenger numbers had risen to over 1½ million, with an average fare per head of 6.5d. In 1844 numbers had risen to over 2 million although the average fare had dropped to 5.2d. Greenwich trains ran every 15 minutes, Croydon trains were hourly. The company was never financially successful however due to the need to repay the very high capital expenditure in building the line.
The increasing congestion of the lines approaching London Bridge, and dissatisfaction with the high tolls charged by the London & Greenwich, caused the South Eastern and the London & Croydon to build a new terminus at Bricklayers Arms which opened in 1844, transferring most of their services, and reducing their fares accordingly. This reduction in toll revenues brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy. Prior to the opening of the Bricklayers Arms terminus it had approached the South Eastern Railway (SER), with a suggestion that they should either buy or lease the Greenwich line. The SER took some time to respond, and in the meanwhile the company received a similar offer from the London and Brighton Railway and also negotiated reduced tolls with the London and Croydon Railway. Eventually the SER agreed to lease the London and Greenwich line from 1 January 1845, which thereafter became known as the Greenwich Line.
The London and Greenwich Railway company continued in existence until January 1923 but its activities were restricted to receiving the annual rent from the SER and distributing it to shareholders.
Read more about this topic: London And Greenwich Railway
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“When the coherence of the parts of a stone, or even that composition of parts which renders it extended; when these familiar objects, I say, are so inexplicable, and contain circumstances so repugnant and contradictory; with what assurance can we decide concerning the origin of worlds, or trace their history from eternity to eternity?”
—David Hume (1711–1776)
“There is one great fact, characteristic of this our nineteenth century, a fact which no party dares deny. On the one hand, there have started into life industrial and scientific forces which no epoch of former human history had ever suspected. On the other hand, there exist symptoms of decay, far surpassing the horrors recorded of the latter times of the Roman empire. In our days everything seems pregnant with its contrary.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)