South-Western Railway has its terminus in the Waterloo Road, which has been placed in connection with the London Bridge Station. The main lines of the company extend to Portsmouth in one direction, Dorchester in another, and Exeter in a third; while there is a multitude of branches—from Wimbledon to Croydon, from Wimbledon to Epsom and Leatherhead, from Wandsworth to Richmond and Windsor, from Barnes to Hounslow, from Staines to Reading, &c. There is no good hotel whatever near the Waterloo or Vauxhall Stations—a defect which seems to need a remedy.
Victoria and Crystal Palace Railway is a concern in which so many companies have an interest, that it is not easy to define the ownership. The Victoria Station, within a quarter of a mile of the Queen’s Palace, Pimlico, is very large, but certainly not very handsome. The Grosvenor Hotel, attached to it, may rank among the finest in the metropolis. The Brighton, the Chatham and Dover, and the Great Western, are accommodated at this station, where both the broad and narrow gauges are laid down. The railway leads thence, to join the Brighton at Sydenham and Norwood, by a railway-bridge across the Thames; it has stations at Battersea, Wandsworth, Balham, Streatham, Norwood, and the Crystal Palace; and throws off branches to meet the lines of the other three companies above named.
London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway has for its terminus a portion of the great London Bridge Station, contiguous to which a hotel has been constructed. It also has termini at Victoria and Kensington. The line leads nearly due south to the sea at Brighton, and then along the sea-coast, from Hastings in the east to Portsmouth in the west. There are also several branches to accommodate Surrey and Sussex. Taken altogether, this is the most remarkable pleasure-line in England,—the traffic of this kind between London and Brighton being something marvellous.
South-Eastern Railway has another portion of the large but incongruous London Bridge Station in its possession. The seaside termini of the line are at Margate, Ramsgate, Deal, Dover, and Hastings. The Greenwich and North Kent branches are important feeders; while there are others of less value. The company have spent a vast sum of money in extending their line to the north of the Thames—by forming a city station in Cannon Street, with a bridge over the river midway between London and Southwark Bridges; and a West-end Station at Charing Cross, with a bridge over the river at (what was till lately) Hungerford Market. There is also a connection with the South-Western terminus in the Waterloo Road. The company have been forced to pay a sum of £300,000 for St. Thomas’s Hospital, as the only means of insuring a convenient course for this extension—a striking instance of the stupendous scale on which railway operations are now conducted.
London, Chatham, and Dover Railway is a very costly enterprise. It may be said to start from two junctions with the Metropolitan, has a large station near Ludgate Hill, (involving great destruction of property,) crosses the Thames a little eastward of Blackfriars Bridge, and proceeds through Surrey and Kent to Sydenham, Bromley, Crays, Sevenoaks, Chatham, Sheerness, Faversham, Herne Bay, Margate, Ramsgate, Canterbury, Dover Pier, &c. It also comprises a curvilinear line from Ludgate to Pimlico, with stations at Blackfriars, Newington, Walworth, Camberwell, Loughborough Road, Brixton, Clapham, Wandsworth Road, and Battersea; and a branch to Peckham, Nunhead, and the Crystal Palace.
Blackwall Railway, with which is associated the Tilbury and Southend, has its terminus in Fenchurch Street. The station is small and unattractive; but it accommodates a wonderful amount of passenger traffic. The original line extended only from London to Blackwall, with intermediate stations at Shadwell, Stepney, Limehouse, West India Docks, and Poplar. An important branch from Stepney to Bow establishes a connection with the Great Eastern Railway valuable to both companies. At Stepney also begins the Tilbury and Southend line, passing through Bromley, Barking, and numerous other places. Accommodation is provided, a little way from the Fenchurch Street Station, for a large amount of goods traffic. The line is now leased in perpetuity to the Great Eastern Company.
Great Eastern Railway has its terminus in Bishopsgate Street, or rather Shoreditch, and a large depôt and station at Stratford. The Shoreditch station is large. This terminus, however, will shortly be removed to Broad Street, City. The lines of this company are numerous, and ramify in many directions towards the east, north-east, and north. Its terminal points (with those of the associated companies) at present are—Peterborough, Hunstanton, Wells, Yarmouth, Aldborough, and Harwich; with less distant termini at Ongar and North Woolwich.
North London Railway, consisting wholly of viaduct and cutting, has its terminus at Broad Street, Finsbury. All its stations are considered to be in London. It joins the London and North-Western near Primrose Hill, and the Blackwall at Stepney. It has intermediate stations at Camden Road, Caledonian Road, Islington, Cannonbury, Kingsland, Dalston, Hackney, Victoria Park, and Bow. Trains run every quarter of an hour, in both directions, at fares varying from 2d. to 4d.; and the number of passengers is immense.
Metropolitan Railway, from Finsbury to Paddington, is a very remarkable one, nearly all tunnel, and requiring the carriages to be constantly lighted with gas. It runs from Westminster Bridge, viâ Pimlico, Brompton, Kensington, Notting Hill, and Bayswater, to Paddington, where it joins the Great Western. It then goes under Praed Street and the New Road to King’s Cross. There it joins the Great Northern, and thence goes on to Holborn Bridge, Smithfield Dead Meat Market, and Moorgate Street. Since the opening of the Metropolitan District Extension Railway, you can go at present (July, 1870) from the Mansion House, under the Northern Thames Embankment, before described, to Westminster Bridge, &c. There are stations near the Mansion House, the terminus; at Blackfriars, the Temple, Charing Cross, and Westminster.
Steamers and Steamboat Piers have been already referred to.