Wimbledon and Sutton Railway

Route of the Wimbledon & Sutton Railway on an early 1920s map, showing stations approved in 1910

The Wimbledon and Sutton Railway (W&SR) was a railway company established by an Act of Parliament in 1910 to build a railway line in Surrey (now south-west London) from Wimbledon to Sutton via Merton and Morden in the United Kingdom. The railway was promoted by local landowners hoping to increase their land's value through its housing development. It was initially planned that services on the railway would be operated by the London Underground's District Railway (DR) as an extension of its existing service from Wimbledon.

Delays in finding the funding, opposition from the two mainline companies that the line was intended to connect, and World War I, led to the start of construction work being delayed until 1927. The line was completed and opened in January 1930, although the planned extension of the DR was not implemented and the service was provided by the Southern Railway. The opening of the line stimulated residential development as planned. Still, competition from the London Underground's City and South London Railway, which had its terminus at Morden, meant that the line did not achieve the hoped-for passenger numbers.

Today, the railway is part of the Sutton Loop Line from Streatham through Wimbledon to Sutton.


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