Editing Brighton Main Line (section)

===London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (1846{{endash}}1922)===
A branch line from Sydenham to {{rws|Crystal Palace}} was opened on 10 June 1854 by the [[West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway]] (WELCPR). The company extended its line to Balham on 1 December 1856 and to {{rws|Pimlico}} in March 1858.{{sfn|Turner|1978|pp=57-58}} A west{{endash}}south spur linking Crystal Palace and Norwood Junction stations was opened in 1857, allowing trains from Brighton to reach the Pimlico terminus. The LB&SCR purchased the WELCPR in 1859.{{sfn| Turner|1978|pp=117-118}} In 1860, the [[Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway]] constructed [[Grosvenor Bridge]] across the [[River Thames]], opening Victoria station on 1 October that year.{{sfn|Baker|1989|pp=78-79}}{{efn|The [[Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway]] was authorised by act of parliament on 23 July 1858. The new terminus station, {{rws|London Victoria}}, was built on the site of the former [[Grosvenor Canal]] basin.{{sfn|Turner|1978|p=119}}}}

Although LB&SCR trains could access Victoria station via Crystal Palace,{{sfn|Turner|1978|p=126}} John Rastrick advised that a shorter route to the [[West End of London]] would be "most desirable".{{sfn| Turner|1978|pp=117-118}} The company therefore decided to build a "cut-off" line between Croydon and Balham via Streatham Common. The proposal was authorised by parliament on 3 July 1860{{sfn|Turner|1978|p=126}} and the new double-track line opened on 1 December 1862 with intermediate stations at Thornton Heath and Streatham Common.{{sfn|Turner|1978|p=129}}{{efn|An independent proposal for a line linking {{rws|East Croydon}} to {{rws|Wandsworth Common}} had been presented to parliament in 1851, but had been withdrawn the following year.{{sfn| Turner|1978|pp=60-61}}}} A further act of parliament was passed on 18 July 1864 authorising a link between the Victoria and London Bridge arms of the Brighton Main Line that allowed trains to travel between Norwood Junction and Thornton Heath without a reversal.{{sfn|Turner|1978|p=132}} Selhurst station, on the Victoria arm, opened on 1 May 1865 and South Croydon opened that September.{{sfn|Baker|1989|pp=41-42}}

A third track had been laid between New Cross and Croydon in August 1844 for [[atmospheric railway|atmospheric trains]].{{sfn|Turner|1978|p=38}} This method of train propulsion was abandoned by the LB&SCR in 1847,{{sfn|Oppitz|1988|pp=25-26}} but the extra track was retained to provide additional capacity for northbound locomotive-hauled trains. A fourth track, used for southbound services, was added to this section of line by 1854.{{sfn|Turner|1978|p=50}}

[[File:Purley, Red Hill & Stoats Next RJD 130.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The Quarry Line was built at the end of the 19th century to bypass the station and junctions at Redhill.]]
Between Stoats Nest and Redhill, the Brighton Main Line was owned by the SER.{{sfn|Oppitz|1988|pp=17-18}} Congestion at the junctions at the south end of Redhill station prompted the LB&SCR to propose a two-track bypass of this section of line. The new line, which included two new tunnels and extensive cuttings, was authorised by parliament on 20 July 1894.{{sfn|Turner|1979|pp=114-115}} A second act, permitting minor changes to the route, was given royal assent on 20 July 1896.{{sfn|Turner|1979|p=118}} The Quarry Line, as the bypass became known, opened to freight services on 5 November 1899 and to passenger trains on 1 April the following year.{{sfn|Oppitz|1988|pp=100-101}}

Five stations opened on the Brighton Main Line in the 1870s and 1880s. Brockley opened on 6 March 1871 to serve a new area of residential development.{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1988a|loc=Fig. 53}} Norbury was built on a speculative basis, with one third of the cost being contributed by developers, and opened on 1 January 1878.{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1987|loc=Fig. 80}} Similarly, the cost of Honor Oak Park station, which opened on 1 April 1886, was also part-paid by developers.{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1988a|loc=Fig. 59}} On 1 August that year Wivelsfield opened and trains began calling at Coulsdon South on 1 October 1889. The final station to be built on the line in the 19th century was Purley Oaks, which opened on 5 November 1899.{{sfn|Baker|1989|pp=41-42}}

Work to quadruple the Brighton Main Line continued in the first decade of the 20th century. Two additional tracks were brought into use between Streatham Common and Windmill Bridge Junction (north of Croydon) in July 1903.{{sfn|Baker|1989|p=122}}{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1987|loc=Fig. 76}} The line between Redhill and Three Bridges was quadrupled in 1907{{sfn|Oppitz|1988|pp=100-101}}{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1988b|loc=Fig. 113}} and from Three Bridges to the southern limit of four-tracking at Balcombe Tunnel Junction in 1911.{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1988b|loc=Fig. 116}}

[[File:Electric_railway_journal_(1911)_(14572219409).jpg|thumb|right|Overhead line electrification at {{rws|Balham}} in 1911]]
The first parts of the Brighton Main Line to be electrified, were the approaches to London Bridge and Victoria stations. The chosen system used overhead wires, energised to 6,700 V AC, and multiple units equipped with [[pantograph (transport)|pantographs]] for current collection. The new infrastructure allowed electric trains to start running between the two termini via the [[South London Line]] on 1 December 1909.{{sfn|Brown|2009|p=10}}{{sfn|Turner|1979|p=174}}{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1988a|loc= Fig. 7}} On 12 May 1911, the electrification was extended from Battersea Park to Crystal Palace via Balham{{sfn|Oppitz|1988|p=28}} and to Norwood Junction and Selhurst on 3 March 1912.{{sfn|Turner|1979|p=178}}

[[File:The British Army on the Home Front, 1914-1918 Q30511.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Soldiers at {{rws|London Victoria}} station during the First World War]]
During the First World War, the Brighton Main Line was the target of two [[Zeppelin]] attacks. The line at the south end of East Croydon station was damaged on 13 October 1915{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1988b|loc= Fig. 3}} and Streatham Common station was hit by a bomb in September 1916.{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1987|loc= Fig. 83}} Salfords station was opened on 8 October 1915 initially for the use of workers at the nearby [[Monotype Imaging|Monotype Corporation]] factory. It continued to operate as a private halt after the war and was not opened to the general public until 1932.{{sfn|Jackson|1999|p=138}}