|
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 London and Southampton Railway opened its main line progressively from 1838 and a year later changed its name to the London and South Western Railway. It was immediately successful, especially for passenger traffic, and the company quickly extended south-west and west to Gosport, Dorchester and Salisbury. At the same time it energetically and prospectively developed or acquired branch or loop lines in the territory to Windsor, Wokingham, Epsom and Guildford and beyond. The "suburban area" is taken in this article to include the LSWR lines in what is now Greater London, Surrey and small parts of Berkshire extending to Twickenham, Ascot and Windsor in the north, and Epsom and Leatherhead in the south, as well as suburban development on the main line as far as Weybridge and the Chertsey loop. When the lines were promoted, places served on these lines were recorded such as in the Victoria County History of Surrey in 1910-1912 as rural villages, London suburbs or towns. ==The first main line== The London and Southampton Railway opened its main line between the two named places progressively from 1838, completing the route on 11 May 1840. The London terminal was at Nine Elms. Passenger traffic was extremely buoyant, and racegoers overwhelmed the capacity of the Company's trains in the second week of operation. The Company had been frustrated over early intentions to reach Bristol, and harboured the objective of securing territory west of Southampton, but it did not neglect the potential of local traffic closer to London, and early timetables show two types of passenger train service: throughout from London to Southampton, in many cases omitting station calls nearer to London, but also local trains from London to Weybridge.〔R A Williams, ''The London & South Western Railway, Volume 1: The Formative Years'', David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1968, ISBN 0-7153-4188-X, Chapter 2〕 The London terminal at Nine Elms on the River Thames afforded onward travel to central London by river steamer and taxi carriage. The location was never intended as a permanent London passenger terminal; an extension eastwards was contemplated in 1836, and was decided upon in 1844. Nonetheless contemporaries note that with few rival railways in its sector "The London passenger found it more convenient than other companies' stations. He might leave it by road and frequently dip his hand for Turnpike tolls, or for 3d choose the steamer ''Citizen'', or the opposing ''Bridegroom'', to reach the capital by river, cursing his choice when the rival vessel arrived and cleared the other queue while his own waited half an hour."〔Williams, chapter 6〕 The stations as far as Weybridge were * Nine Elms; * Wandsworth, about half a mile (nearly 1 km) south-west of the present Clapham Junction station, fronting onto Battersea Rise; * Wimbledon; somewhat to the west of Wimbledon Hill Road and of the present station; * Kingston; on the east side of King Charles Road, about half a mile (nearly 1 km) east of the present Surbiton station;〔Gilks, writing in 1958, puts the first station on the west side of Ewell Road but this seems to be a mistake; he appears to justify this from the location of the (former) Railway Tavern, which was in the angle of Ewell Road and Lamberts Road, and from South Terrace, which he says was "probably the approach road for the old station and the circular stone steps which now begin the path from there to the present station contrast strongly with the rest of the path and may well mark the original entrance"〕 * Ditton Marsh; renamed Esher & Hampton Court in 1840; now Esher; * Walton; renamed Walton and Hersham in 1849; now Walton-on-Thames; * Weybridge The London and Southampton Railway changed its name to the London and South Western Railway on 4 June 1839.〔Williams, Volume 1, page 122〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「LSWR suburban lines」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|