London Bridge Railway Station

London Bridge is the oldest railway station in London. The current station originated as two separate stations and, because of that, it has both through and terminal platforms.

1836 Opened as Tooley Street by the London and Greenwich Railway on 14 December 1836.

1839 The London and Croydon Railway joined it on 5 June, running into their own station, which had a wooden trussed pitched roof, 56 ft by 212 ft, and was situated just to the north of the Greenwich line's station.

1840 The "Greenwich" increased the number of lines to accommodate the needs of the South Eastern Railway, the London and Croydon Railway and the London and Brighton Railway. Because of the relative positions of their lines, the Greenwich company and the Croydon company agreed to swap stations at London Bridge.

1842 The widening of the lines was completed

1844 The swapping of stations was implemented.

1845 The South Eastern Railway leased the "Greenwich" lines.

1846 The "Croydon" was joined with the "London and Brighton" as the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway

1850 The joint station was demolished

1850/1 The "Brighton" line's new terminus was completed at London Bridge.

1853 The South Eastern Railway's lines along with the "Croydon" lines were demolished and rebuilt.

1861 The Terminus hotel opened (turned into offices for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1892; demolished in 1941).

1864 The original "Greenwich" platforms were demolished and new high-level through platforms opened 11 January 1864.

1866 The station was extended

The 1866 LBSCR station had a single-span trussed-arch roof measuring 88 ft by 655 ft, designed by J. Hawkshaw and F. D. Banister.

1925 The station was unified by the Southern Railway

1978 British Rail undertook large-scale rebuilding, and a new station opened on 15 September 1978. The redevelopment was undertaken by N. D. T. Wikeley, regional architect for British Rail Southern.

See Also

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Sources of Information

• [1] Wikipedia
• History of the Southern Railway, by C. F. Dendy Marshall, 1968