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London and Birmingham Railway
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- This is about the 19th century railway company. For the 21st century train operating company, see London Midland.
The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 until 1846, at which date it became a constituent part of the London and North Western Railway. The 112 mile (180km) long railway line that the company built between London and Birmingham was, when it opened in 1838, one of the first intercity railway lines in the world, and the first railway line to be built into London.
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Encyclopedia
- This is about the 19th century railway company. For the 21st century train operating company, see London Midland.
The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 until 1846, at which date it became a constituent part of the London and North Western Railway. The 112 mile (180km) long railway line that the company built between London and Birmingham was, when it opened in 1838, one of the first intercity railway lines in the world, and the first railway line to be built into London. It survives to the present today, as the southern section of the West Coast Main Line.
The line was engineered by Robert Stephenson. It started at Euston Station in London, and travelled north-north-westward until reaching Rugby, where it turned west to Coventry and thence to Birmingham.
In Birmingham the line terminated at Curzon Street Station, which it shared with the Grand Junction Railway (GJR), whose platforms were adjacent, thus providing a link to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR), and allowing onward travel by rail from London to those cities.
History
Early plans
The idea of building a railway line from London to Birmingham had been mooted as early as 1823 when a company was formed by John Rennie to build such a line. Rennie proposed to build a line between the two cities via Oxford and Banbury (the route later used by the Great Western Railway).
Soon afterwards another rival company was formed by Francis Giles who proposed to build a line via the Watford Gap and Coventry. The two companies were unsuccessful in achieving backing for their schemes, and in the autumn of 1830 the two companies decided to combine their efforts.
The joint company appointed Robert Stephenson as chief engineer, and he soon decided in favour of the route through Coventry, largely because he feared flooding from the River Thames at Oxford.
The L&BR
The prospectus for the London and Birmingham Railway offered the following inducements to potential investors:
The company was created with an initial capitalisation of £5,500,000. Much of the subscribed funds came from Lancashire, where great profits were being made in the cotton industries of Manchester.
The Company's first application for an Act of Parliament to construct the line was rejected in 1832, largely due to pressure from landowners and road and canal interests. However in May the following year, a second act was approved and the line received royal assent. Construction began in November of the same year.
Opening
The line was initially supposed to open at the same time as the Grand Junction Railway which entered Birmingham from the north. However enormous troubles with the construction of the Kilsby Tunnel in Northamptonshire delayed the opening.
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