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The major constituents of the Southern Railway were the London and South Western Railway, the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway and the combined systems of the South Eastern Railway and the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, called the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. These plus a number of smaller concerns gave the Southern a route mileage of 2,186.

In the area south and east of London the Southern Railway was a virtual monopoly, while its lines to the South-West were largely in competition with the Great Western Railway.

Unlike the three other railway systems remaining after Grouping (the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, the London and North Eastern Railway and the Great Western, the Southern Railway was a predominantly passenger-oriented railway. The number of passengers carried by the Southern were over a quarter of the nation's total. This is partly because the area covered by the railway encompassed the most populated areas of the nation and much of the commutable zone around London.

The density of much of the Southern's trackage and traffic made it a natural candidate for electrification, and much of the South-Eastern section of the railway was electrified using a side-mounted, top-contact third rail system at 600 volts DC. Originally, only electric multiple unit cars used the electrical power, but later on a number of electric locomotives and electric/diesel hybrids were developed.

Chief Mechanical Engineers of the Southern Railway, responsible for locomotives and rolling stock, included R. E. L. Maunsell and then, from 1937Events January January 1 Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua January 11 The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States. January 19 Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours,, O. V. S. BulleidOliver Vaughan Snell Bulleid ( September 19, 1882 April 25, 1970) was a British railway and mechanical engineer best known as the Chief Mechanical Engineer(CME) of the Southern Railway between 1937 and the 1948 nationalisation, developing many well-known.

The name SouthernSouthern is the latest name of the train operating company that took over from Connex on the routes to South London, Surrey and Sussex from Victoria and London Bridge. The company was originally known as South Central, but on 30 May 2004, the franchise wa has been revived as a rebranding of South Central, which operates a significant portion of the former Southern Railways routes to South London, Surrey and Sussex from Victoria and London Bridge.

The name "Southern Railway" can still be seen above the eastern entrance to Victoria Station.

See Also:

• Locomotives of the Southern RailwayThe Southern Railway took a key role in expanding the 750v dc third rail electrified network begun by the London & South Western Railway. As a result of this, and its smaller operating area, its steam locomotive stock was the smallest of the 'Big Four' co