List of constituents of the Southern Railway

The Southern Railway in the United Kingdom was one of the "Big Four" railway companies set up after the 1923 Grouping. This list sets out the constituents of the Company.

Constituent companies

• The London and South Western Railway (LSWR) route mileage 1020 miles (1642 km)
• The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) 457.25 miles (736 km)
• The combined systems of the South Eastern Railway and the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, under the South Eastern & Chatham Railways' Managing Committee (SECR) 637.75 miles (1026 km). These concerns had formed a working union to operate their services under a Managing Committee on 1 January 1899.^[1][2]

Subsidiary companies

Independently operated lines

• Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway 12 miles (19 km)
• Isle of Wight Railway 15.25 miles (24 km)
• Isle of Wight Central Railway 28.5 miles (46 km)
• Bere Alston and Callington section of the Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway 9.75 miles (16 km)

Non-working companies

• Originally leased to or worked by LSWR
  • Bridgewater Railway 7.25 miles (12 km)
  • Lee-on-the-Solent Railway 3 miles (5 km)
  • North Cornwall Railway 52.5 miles (84 km)
  • Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway (portion used by LSWR) 2.25 miles (4 km)
  • Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway (except Bere Alston and Callington section as above) 19.5 miles (31 km)
  • Sidmouth Railway 8.25 miles (13 km)
• Originally leased to or worked by LBSCR
  • Brighton and Dyke Railway 4.75 miles (8 km)
  • Hayling Railway 5 miles (8 km)

Originally leased to or worked by SER or LCDR

• Cranbrook and Paddock Wood Railway 11 miles 24 chains (18.19 km)
• Crowhurst, Sidley and Bexhill Railway 4 miles 40 chains (7.24 km)
• London and Greenwich Railway 3.75 miles (6 km)
• Mid Kent Railway (Bromley to St Mary Cray) 2.5 miles (4 km)

Other railways

• Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway (in which the Great Western Railway and the London and North Western Railway were also parties)
• Lynton and Barnstaple Railway: not covered by the Railways Act 1921, but absorbed by the LSWR. Narrow gauge - 1 ft 11 ¹⁄₂ in (597 mm) - 19.25 miles (31 km)
• Several light railways, including the Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway, though other candidate lines remained independent, such as the Kent and East Sussex Railway

Joint companies

• In 1923, now comprised wholly in the SR:
  • Croydon & Oxted Railway 12.5 miles (20 km (was SE&CR))
  • Dover & Deal Railway 8.5 miles (14 km) (was SE&CR)
  • Epsom & Leatherhead Railway 3.75 miles (6 km) (was LBSCR/LSWR joint)
  • Portsmouth & Ryde Railway (the ferry) 8.5 miles (14 km) (was LBSCR/LSWR joint)
  • Tooting, Merton & Wimbledon Railway 5.75 miles (9 km) (was SE&CR)
  • Woodside & South Croydon Railway 2.5 miles (4 km) (was LBSCR/ SE&CR joint)
• In 1923, in association with other companies:
  • East London Railway 5 miles (8 km) (1/3 share with London and North Eastern Railway and Metropolitan Railway)
  • Easton & Church Hope Railway 3.5 miles (6 km) (jointly with Great Western Railway (GWR))
  • Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway 105 miles (168 km) (with London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSR))
  • West London Extension Railway 5.25 miles (8 km) (shares with GWR and LMSR)
  • Weymouth & Portland Railway 5.5 miles (9 km) (jointly with GWR)

See also

• List of railway companies involved in the 1923 grouping

References

The information in this article taken from the Railway Magazine for February 1923, except as follows:

1. Dendy Marshall, C.F.; Kidner, R.W. (1963) [1937]. History of the Southern Railway (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. pp. 314, 345, 355. ISBN 0-7110-0059-X.
2. Nock, O.S. (1971) [1961]. The South Eastern and Chatham Railway. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 125. ISBN 0-7110-0268-1.