The story
Origins of the company
There had been proposals for a railway between London and Dover in 1825, 1832 and 1835, but they came to nothing due to opposition from landowners or the difficulties of bridging the River Medway near its mouth. On 21 June 1836, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed a local act the South Eastern Railway Act 1836 (6 & 7 Will. 4. c. lxxv) incorporating the South Eastern and Dover Railway, which shortly afterwards changed to the South Eastern Railway.
Choice of route from London to Dover
At the time of inauguration there were two potential rail pathways south from London, and the Speaker of the House of Commons had said no further pathways would be permitted. The SER therefore considered routes to Dover from the proposed London and Southampton Railway line at Wimbledon, or from the existing London and Greenwich Railway (L&GR) at Greenwich. The former left London in the wrong direction and then on a roundabout route. The latter provided a useful way for a northern route via Gravesend, Rochester, and Canterbury, except that lengthening the line beyond Greenwich was blocked by opposition from the Admiralty, and this route would involve tunnelling through the North Downs.
The engineer of the new line, William Cubitt, was also engineer of the London and Croydon Railway (L&CR), which planned to use L&GR lines as far as Corbett's Lane in Bermondsey before turning south towards Croydon. A new connection on this line near to Norwood could provide access to a southerly route to Dover via Tonbridge, Ashford and Folkestone. This was less direct than the northerly route but passed through easier country. It involved one significant 1,387-yard (1,268 m) tunnel through the Shakespeare Cliff near Dover. This was the route first chosen by the SER at its inauguration.
During parliamentary discussions on the proposed route of the London and Brighton Railway (L&BR) during 1837, pressure was put on the SER to divert its proposed route so it could also share the L&BR mainline between Jolly Sailor (Norwood) and Earlswood Common, and then travel eastwards to Tonbridge. Under the scheme proposed by Parliament, the railway from Croydon to Redhill would be built by the L&BR but the SER would have the right to refund half the construction costs and own that part of the line between Merstham and Redhill. The SER gave way to this proposal as it reduced the construction costs, although it resulted in a route 20 miles (32 km) longer than by road, running south for 14.5 miles (23 km) and then turning east. It also meant that its trains from London Bridge passed over the lines of three other companies: the L&GR to Corbett's Lane Junction, the L&CR as far as 'Jolly Sailor', and the L&BR to Merstham.
Early management of the company 1843–1855
In September 1845 the SER appointed James Macgregor (sometimes spelled McGregor or M'Gregor) to a new post combining the roles of Chairman and Managing Director. He exercised absolute power over the company for the next nine years, until he was ultimately forced to resign in 1854 and leave the Board in 1855. Macgregor's lack of accountability, his opaque and at times dubious working methods led to a number of strategic errors in the building of new lines and in the company's relations with its neighbours, which would have an adverse impact on the company for decades to come.
Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway
The SER supported the formation of the Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway under the Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. clxxi), a scheme to build a line connecting the London to Brighton main line at Redhill with the Great Western Railway (GWR) main line at Reading, and agreed to operate its services. The new line was completed 4 July 1849, and in 1852 was absorbed by SER under the South Eastern and Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railways Amalgamation Act 1852 (15 & 16 Vict. c. ciii). Both the LBSCR and London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) regarded this line as a significant incursion into their areas of operation. Likewise the acquisition of a line so remote from its main area of operation, and of doubtful profitability, caused heated discussion and the resignation of several directors, who felt that the company should rather secure its territory and develop services in Kent, as the LBSCR was doing in Sussex. It would also ultimately bring about Macgregor's downfall. Nevertheless, in 1858 the GWR, L&SWR, and SER made a three-year agreement to share traffic and provide a connecting line between their stations at Reading. As of 2015 the line forms part of the North Downs Line.
Early relations with the London Brighton and South Coast Railway
During the first years, relations between the SER, L&CR and L&BR were cordial, with the companies pooling locomotives and forming a joint locomotive committee. However, all three considered they were disadvantaged by this arrangement and in 1845 gave notice of withdrawal. The merger of the L&BR and L&CR to form the LBSCR in July 1846 created a powerful rival to the SER in areas of east Sussex and east Surrey not yet connected to the railway. Relations between the two companies were bad from the outset, especially at those sites where they shared facilities, such as the approaches to London Bridge, East Croydon, and Redhill. Also the SER had long wanted to build a line to Brighton, and the LBSCR had inherited plans for a line into mid-Kent from the L&CR, and from Bulverhythe (St Leonards) to Ashford via Hastings from the L&BR. Matters were further complicated in 1846 when the SER was empowered to build a line from its existing branch at Tunbridge Wells to Hastings.
Unsuccessful discussions took place regarding a merger of the two companies, but eventually an agreement on 10 July 1848 (ratified in Parliament in 1849) abolished tolls for using each other's lines and prevented further eastward expansion by the LBSCR beyond Hastings and westward further expansion by the SER. Under this agreement the LBSCR, would share the line from Bulverhythe to Hastings and transfer to the SER its rights to build a line to Ashford but at the same time it retained the right to use the Bricklayers Arms branch and construct its own 15-acre (61,000 m2) goods depot on the site for a rent of one shilling (£0.05) per year.
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The 1848/9 agreement did not prevent further squabbling between the two companies, notably with the opening of the railway from Ashford to Hastings in 1851. The LBSCR had originally sought to build it and then had attempted to delay its completion by the SER. In retaliation, the SER attempted to deny LBSCR access to its station at Hastings. The matter was resolved in court in favour of the LBSCR, but victory was short-lived as the following year the SER opened its lines from Tunbridge Wells, reducing the distance by rail to Hastings from London.
Closing the capital account
Macgregor's greatest strategic mistake was his failure to address the concerns of the proposers of the East Kent Railway, which ultimately led to the creation of an important rival in northern Kent and also for the Continental rail traffic.
Between 1844 and 1858, the SER had a monopoly of rail transport in Kent, but served the north of the county poorly. The SER line from Strood into London had opened in 1849. A plan to continue this line as far as Chilham where it would join the Ashford to Canterbury Line, was rejected by Parliament in 1847 due to financial considerations and never resurrected. One group of SER directors were anxious to 'close the capital account' and build no more lines, even though this might leave the field open to rival projects, as would later prove to be the case. As a result, there was no planned service to the north Kent towns to the east of the River Medway. Likewise SER routes to Margate, Deal, and Canterbury were circuitous and other towns had no railway at all. As a result of the railway's unwillingness to act, plans for an independent line from the SER station at Strood to Faversham and Canterbury were made following a public meeting at Rochester in 1850.
Factionalism and bad management 1854–1866
Following Macgregor's resignation in 1854, there followed a decade of factionalism among the directors and equally poor management, described by Samuel Smiles the company Secretary as 'not so much business as speech-making, that seemed to be the work of the Board.' It was during this period that there was a continuing failure to deal with underlying problems in the company, and its relationships with its neighbours together with further strategic errors which weakened what might otherwise have been a profitable enterprise. One nickname for the SER in the 1860s was the Rattle and Smash Railway.
East Kent and London Chatham & Dover Railways
The East Kent Railway (EKR) from Strood to Canterbury, proposed in 1850 was approved by the East Kent Railway Act 1853 (16 & 17 Vict. c. cxxxii), and also for an extension to Dover in 1855, but it failed to secure running powers over the SER line into London: instead the SER reluctantly agreed to handle London traffic from the line. Many SER directors were convinced the line would never be built, or would go bankrupt, and so took no interest in the scheme or in suggestions that the line should amalgamate with their railway. They were proved wrong.
In 1856 the EKR again unsuccessfully sought running powers over the SER into London, and then obtained powers to build its own route via St Mary Cray railway station and Bromley South railway station. The EKR secured running powers over the LBSCR lines into Pimlico and, after 1860, to Victoria Station. The EKR became the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) in 1859 and completed its rival route to Dover on 22 July 1861. By July 1863 the LCDR had its own independent route to Victoria, and in 1864 its own terminus on the edge of the City of London at Ludgate Hill. For 36 years it would be an important competitor of the SER both for Continental and also local traffic in Kent.
A further serious strategic mistake was the refusal of the SER to accept the terms of the contract for the cross-channel carriage of mails in 1862, as this stipulated the use of Dover rather than Folkestone. This enabled the LCDR, which had only reached Dover in 1861, to secure the contract and the following year would give it leverage when it came to negotiating the Continental Traffic Agreement.
Continued bad relations with the London Brighton and South Coast Railway
A new and protracted dispute with the LBSCR took place between 1855 and 1862 over the Caterham branch line, which was built by an independent company in SER territory but connected to the railway network at the former LBSCR station at Purley. The SER refused to allow the line to be leased to the LBSCR, which in turn refused to re-open its station, delayed opening of the line for a year, and made the Caterham company bankrupt. The SER took over the line in 1859, but the LBSCR made life difficult for passengers to London.
The SER objected to the LBSCR agreement with the East Kent Railway to provide access over its lines to its Pimlico station and later the jointly owned Victoria station (see below), and also for handling that company's freight traffic at 'Willow Walk', (a part of the Bricklayers Arms goods facility). Further difficulties between occurred at East Croydon railway station in 1862. With completion of the LBSCR line to Victoria station, extra platforms were needed to accommodate the service. The platforms were treated by the LBSCR as a separate station, named "New Croydon", with its own ticket office, and ran exclusively LBSCR services. This enabled the railway to offer cheaper fares from New Croydon to London than the SER which only had use of East Croydon station. The SER responded by gaining an act of Parliament giving approval to build its own line from New Beckenham to a new station at Croydon (Addiscombe Road), which opened 1 April 1864.
Relations with the LBSCR reached a low point in 1863, when the general manager and secretary had to report the history of relations between the companies since the agreement of 1848–9. This set out the history although from the SER perspective.
A branch from Lewisham to Beckenham opened in 1857, becoming the temporary terminus of the East Kent Railway. Following the dispute with the LBSCR over New Croydon (see below) an extension of this line to Addiscombe (Croydon) was opened in 1864.
Continental Traffic Agreement (1863)
The SER and the LCDR agreed to pool Continental traffic receipts between Hastings and Margate, together with local receipts to Dover and Folkestone. It then re-allocated them to a formula which gave the SER two-thirds of the receipts in 1863, gradually reducing to one half in 1872. The agreement appeared to unduly favour the LCDR, particularly after 1870. It did not prevent competition as the railways could claim additional funds from the pool if they carried more than their proportion of customers. Both companies sought to get round the agreement – the LCDR by establishing a Continental service from Queenborough on the Isle of Sheppey, which was outside the scope of the agreement. Similarly, the SER built a local station at Shorncliffe on the edge of Folkestone, which it claimed was not part of Folkestone, and from which it charged lower fares.
Following establishment of a LCDR service from Queenborough to Flushing, Netherlands in 1876, the SER was allowed to build the Hundred of Hoo Railway from its line near Gravesend to a new port on the across the Medway from Queenborough, called Port Victoria. The line opened in September 1882.
Improvements to the main line
In 1860 the LCDR had a more direct route to Dover than the SER, and both the company's rivals had access to a London terminus in the prosperous West End of London while the SER only had its terminal on the south side of the river Thames at London Bridge.
Charing Cross and Cannon Street Stations
The SER converted part of London Bridge to through platforms and extended to near Waterloo, over Hungerford Bridge to a station at Charing Cross which opened on 11 January 1864. When the LCDR built a line to Ludgate Hill railway station in the City of London in 1865, the SER built a new bridge over the Thames and a city terminus at Cannon Street railway station, which opened 1 September 1866. These extensions were difficult to operate and were congested at peak times.
On 16 August 1866 the SER agreed with the London and North Western Railway to build a joint line between Euston railway station and Charing Cross, with interchange of traffic, but the scheme was abandoned as a result of the 1867 financial crisis.
Orpington cut-off and Dartford Loop
The SER therefore constructed the direct line via Sevenoaks to Tonbridge. It involved crossing the North Downs by summits and long tunnels at Knockholt and Sevenoaks. The latter was the longest tunnel in southern England at 3,451 yards (3,156 m). This cut-off line, 24 miles (39 km) long, reached Chislehurst on 1 July 1865, but took three more years to reach Orpington and Sevenoaks (2 March 1868). The new main line opened on 1 May 1868 when the line reached Tonbridge.
Construction of the main line provided the opportunity to build an improved route to Dartford from Hither Green via Sidcup. This opened 1 September 1866.
East London Railway
In 1865 the SER joined a consortium of six railways to form the East London Railway, which used the existing Thames Tunnel to connect Wapping on the north bank of the Thames with Rotherhithe on the south. The other partners were: the Great Eastern Railway (GER), the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR), the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR), the Metropolitan Railway, and the District Railway. Over the next four years it was converted to railway use and connected with existing lines.
The line was principally used for freight across London but the SER introduced a service between Addiscombe and Liverpool Street from April 1880 until March 1884. From March to September 1884 the service ran from Addiscombe to St Mary's Whitechapel Road.
From Wikipedia’s article on South Eastern Railway (England), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3