Origins
The valley of the River Wandle was heavily industrialised in the eighteenth century—the most industrialised in the south of England—and to convey minerals and agricultural products the Surrey Iron Railway was built, opening in 1803; it was a horse-drawn plateway in which the rails were L-shaped in cross-section, guiding ordinary wagon wheels. The Surrey Iron Railway was not successful, however, and after a long period of dormancy it closed in 1846.
Wimbledon became connected by railway to London when the London and Southampton Railway opened in 1838. The following year Croydon was connected to London Bridge when the London and Croydon Railway opened to a station at the site of the present-day West Croydon station. In the following years the London and Southampton Railway was renamed the London and South Western Railway (LSWR), and the London and Croydon Railway merged with other companies to form the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR).
There was pressure for a railway linking the towns and serving the industry in the area, and on 8 July 1853 the Wimbledon and Croydon Railway obtained an Act of Parliament to build an 11-mile line from Wimbledon to Epsom, joining the LSWR and the LB&SCR at the ends. The scheme was modified to form a 5¾ mile line from Wimbledon to (West) Croydon. The line opened on 22 October 1855.[3][4]
Operation
Initially, it was operated under contract by its engineer George Parker Bidder, but in 1856 it was leased to the LB&SCR, which purchased it outright in 1866.[4] After construction of the line from Merton Park to Tooting in 1868 the section from Wimbledon to Merton Park became joint LSWR/LB&SCR.
At first the passenger train service was six weekday and two Sunday trains each way. This gradually increased over the years, with some trains extended from Croydon to Crystal Palace Low Level in the steam era.[4]
On 1 October 1868 the LB&SCR opened its new line from Peckham Rye to Sutton, which intersected the Wimbledon and Croydon line, joining it and leaving it again by two sharp curves either side of the new Mitcham Junction station.[4]
Push and pull working of passenger trains started in 1919, and the line was electrified on the third rail system on 6 July 1930.[4]
On 1 January 1923, under the 1921 grouping, it became part of the Southern Railway. In the latter half of the twentieth century, the industrial use declined, and passenger numbers suffered also.
Upon the privatisation of British Rail, during the last year of the line being part of the Railtrack network passenger services were operated by Connex South Central. The last public train ran on 31 May 1997 and the line closed on 2 June 1997 for most of it to be converted into the Croydon Tramlink network. A railtour consisting of two sets of 4VEPs was the last train to run on the line after the regular services, as well as on the Addiscombe Line later that evening.[5]