Editing Brighton Main Line (section)

===London and Brighton Railway (1837{{endash}}1846)===
In the early 1830s, several different routes for a railway between London and Brighton were proposed. [[John Rennie the Younger]] favoured a line via Merstham and Horley, while the engineers [[Robert Stephenson]] and [[Nicholas Wilcox Cundy|Nicholas Cundy]] preferred longer, but cheaper routes via [[Dorking]] and [[Shoreham-by-Sea]].{{sfn|Turner|1977|p=28}}{{sfn|Turner|1977|pp=30-31}}{{sfn|Turner|1977|pp=72-74}} The [[London and Brighton Railway]] (L&BR) company, formed to promote Rennie's more direct route,{{sfn|Baker|1989|p=28}} received parliamentary approval for its scheme on 15 July 1837.{{sfn|Oppitz|1988|pp=14-15}}{{sfn|Turner|1977|pp=21-23}} The line was to leave the L&CR about a mile from its southern terminus, to head southwards towards Brighton. The L&BR purchased the defunct [[Surrey Iron Railway|Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway]] in order to use part of its abandoned trackbed for the new railway.{{sfn|Baker|1989|pp=30-31}}

[[File:The North entrance of the Clayton Tunnel - geograph.org.uk - 1577506.jpg|thumb|right|The northern portal of [[Clayton Tunnel]] is constructed in the style of a medieval castle.{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1986|loc=Fig. 75}}]]
The first construction contracts were let in 1838 and the first track was laid at Hassocks on 4 February the following year.{{sfn|Turner|1977|pp=132-134}} The engineer was [[John Urpeth Rastrick]] and the stations were designed by [[David Mocatta]]. In total, around 6000 [[navvy|navvies]] are thought to have worked to build the railway.{{sfn|Baker|1989|pp=30-31}} The line, which required five tunnels and a viaduct over the Ouse valley, cost £2.63M (around £57,000 per mile). Completion was delayed due to bad weather during the winter of 1840-41 and the first section, from Croydon to Haywards Heath, did not open until 12 July 1841.{{sfn|Turner|1977|pp=137-139}} The initial timetable included four trains each way on weekdays between the capital and Haywards Heath, with intermediate calls at Redhill, Horley and Three Bridges (calls were made at other stations on request). The journey time was two hours from London and a [[stagecoach|coach]], taking a further two hours to reach Brighton, was provided for onward travel.{{sfn|Turner|1977|pp=163-164}}

The final section of the Brighton Main Line, between Haywards Heath and Brighton, opened on 21 September 1841.{{sfn|Turner|1977|pp=137-139}} The initial service on the whole line was six trains per day in each direction, with most trains taking {{frac|2|1|4}} hours to complete the journey and one non-stop service in each direction taking {{frac|1|3|4}} hours.{{sfn|Baker|1989|p=40}} The station at Merstham opened on 1 December 1841, but was closed two years later. A station was opened at Stoats Nest (later Coulsdon North) in the spring of 1842 to cater for racegoers at [[Epsom Racecourse|Epsom]].{{sfn|Turner|1977|pp=165-166}} Work to widen the shared section of the L&GR viaduct was completed on 10 May that year.{{sfn|Turner|1977|p=167}} The new L&CR London Bridge station, designed by [[Henry Roberts (architect)|Henry Roberts]], opened in 1844.{{sfn|Baker|1989|pp=48, 50}} Since the new terminus was not designed to handle freight, a spur line primarily for goods trains was built to {{rws|Bricklayers Arms}} and opened on 1 May that year.{{sfn|Baker|1989|pp=46-47}}{{efn|Although {{rws|Bricklayers Arms}} was primarily intended to handle freight, it also provided a stopping place for coaches and so passenger trains were also run to the station although London Bridge remained the primary terminus for the capital.{{sfn|Baker|1989|pp=46-47}}}}

[[File:Redhill_jct_station.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|{{rws|Redhill}} station {{circa|1853}}: The station was moved to its current location by the [[South Eastern Railway (England)|South Eastern Railway]] in 1844.{{sfn|Oppitz|1988|pp=44-45}}]]
The [[South Eastern Railway (England)|South Eastern Railway]] (SER) company was formed to promote a railway from London to [[Dover Priory railway station|Dover]]. Under the terms of the act of parliament passed on 21 June 1836, the company was empowered to build a line that left the L&CR at Penge,{{sfn|Turner|1977|pp=23-24}} but the following year, parliament permitted the company to instead form a connection to the L&BR at Redhill.{{sfn|Turner|1977|pp=33-34}} The Redhill to {{rws|Tonbridge}} section of the SER opened on 26 May 1842.{{sfn|Turner|1977|p=172}} In 1839, anticipating that disputes might arise over the use of the line north of Redhill, parliament instructed the L&BR to sell the Coulsdon{{endash}}Redhill section to the SER. A price of £340,000 was agreed and the transfer of ownership took place in July 1845.{{sfn|Oppitz|1988|pp=17-18}}

On 27 July 1846, parliamentary authority was granted to merge the L&CR and L&BR to form the [[London, Brighton and South Coast Railway]] (LB&SCR).{{sfn|Turner|1978|p=1}}