Home > London and South Western Railway

After railway privatisation the name was evoked for South West Trains who operate over much of the old London & South Western routes.

History

Prior to opening in 1840, the L&SWR had been named the London and Southampton Railway . It did not adopt the most direct route between the two cities, but built a mainline running west to Basingstoke, from where a branch was to have run to Bristol.

The company's first LondonLondon is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England, and with over seven million inhabitants in the Greater London area, is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe (after Moscow). From being Londinium the capital of the Roman province of Bri terminus was at Nine Elms , sometimes known as VauxhallThis article is about the town of Vauxhall, for Vauxhall the auto manufacturer, see Vauxhall Motors. Vauxhall is an area of London in the London Borough of Lambeth. On the south bank of the River Thames, across the water from the Tate Britain art gallery,, in the suburban parish of BatterseaMetropolitan Borough of Battersea, part of the old County of London, England, circa 1965 Battersea is an area of London lying on the south bank of the River Thames. Vaguely triangular in shape, its northern boundary is circa 2. 5 miles of the Thames, as i. Some trains ran through to VictoriaVictoria station is a London Underground and railway station in London, in the City of Westminster. The eastern side, comprising platforms 1 8 services Kent, and the western side comprising platforms 9 19 is the terminus for lines running from Surrey and via Battersea ParkBattersea Park is a suburban railway station in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is by Battersea Park itself, and is not far from Battersea Power Station. It is between Victoria and Clapham Junction. Services are operated by Southern. Queenstown Road on the London, Brighton, and South Coast RailwayEarly days The London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway or LB&SCR was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1923. It was more commonly known as "the Brighton line". It was formed on July 27 1846 by the amalgamation of the London & Brighton. The LSWR subsequently built a more central London terminus at Waterloo stationWaterloo is a major train station and transport interchange located in the Waterloo district of London, which was itself named after the Battle of Waterloo in which Napoleon was defeated near Brussels. Somewhat ironically, it is now London's gateway for t and a new through Vauxhall stationVauxhall station is a London Underground and railway station located at Vauxhall Cross, by the Vauxhall Bridge in Vauxhall. It is on the Victoria Line between Pimlico and Stockwell. It is on the border between zones 1 and 2. The Victoria line platforms op in 1848. The Southern Railway built a new through station at Southampton Central in 1933. The Southampton terminus remained in use until 1966 and the L&SWR's classical building of 1840 (designed by William Tite)survives.

The original stations on the main route are Vauxhall, Queenstown Road Battersea , Clapham Junction, Earlsfield , Wimbledon , Raynes Park , New Malden , Berrylands , Surbiton , Esher, Hersham , Walton-on-Thames, Weybridge, West Weybridge , Byfleet & New Haw , Woking, Brookwood, Farnborough, Fleet, Winchfield , Hook , Basingstoke, Micheldever , Winchester, Shawford , Eastleigh, Southampton Airport, Swaythling , St Denys and Southampton.

Subsequently, a number of branch lines were added, and the L&SWR took over some adjoining companies including the London to Portsmouth line via Guildford.

The L&SWR adopted third rail electrification of its suburban routes after the First World War. This subsequently became the standard for the entire Southern Railway supposedly because of the influence of Sir Herbert Walker , a former L&SWR man.