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Southern Railway (Great Britain)
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The Southern Railway in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1923 and 1947, was geographically the smallest of the four railway systems created in the Grouping ordered by the Railways Act 1921.
OverviewConfined to the south of England, it owned no track north of London. In the area south and south-east of London it had a virtual monopoly, while some of its lines to the south-west were in competition with the Great Western Railway.
Unlike the three other railways established by the Grouping (the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, the London and North Eastern Railway and the Great Western Railway), the Southern was predominantly a passenger railway. Despite its small size it carried more than a quarter of the UK's passenger traffic because its area included many of the dense commuter lines around London, serving some of the most densely populated parts of the country. In addition, because South London's geology (unlike that of the rest of the capital city) was largely unsuitable for underground railways the Southern Railway faced little competition from underground lines, encouraging an even more dense railway network.
The Southern was particularly successful at promoting itself to the public. Following poor publicity in 1924, John Elliot was appointed public relations manager. He was instrumental in creating the strongly positive image that the Southern enjoyed prior to World War II. The campaign was built upon increasing publicity for its modernisation programmes, coupled with the promotion of the benefits of the south and south-west as holiday destinations. "Sunny South Sam" became a character fixed firmly in the public mind as embodying the service of the railway, whilst slogans such as "live in Kent and be content" encouraged commuters to move out from London, and thus further patronise the Southern's services.
The Southern inherited a range of related activities from its constituent companies, including hotels, bus operations, and a number of docks -- most notably at Southampton. The Southern continued to invest heavily in these facilities, and Southampton overtook Liverpool as the country's main port for Transatlantic liners.
During World War II the Southern found itself at the front line. Before hostilities, 75% of its traffic was passenger with just 25% being freight; during the war, roughly the same number of passengers was carried but they made up only 40% of total traffic, freight traffic growing around six-fold to make the remaining 60%. A desperate shortage of freight locomotives was remedied by Chief Mechanical Engineer Oliver Bulleid, who designed a remarkable 0-6-0 locomotive, the Q1, the most powerful such engine to operate in Britain. Forty of these machines transformed the Southern's ability to haul heavy freight. The volume of military freight and soldiers moved by the primarily commuter railway was a breathtaking feat.
Constituent companiesThe major constituents of the Southern were:
- The three Isle of Wight railways [a total of 55.75 miles (90 km)], and
- Railways leased or worked by the constituent companies.
Together, the Southern had 2186 route miles (3518 km).
For the complete list, see List of constituent companies of the Southern Railway
Other assets- Locomotives: 2390; coaching vehicles: 10,800; freight vehicles: 37,500; electric vehicles 460; rail motor cars: 14
- 38 large turbine or other steamers; and a number of other vessels
of canals
- Docks, harbours etc at Southampton, Newhaven, Plymouth, Folkestone, Dover, Littlehampton, Whitstable, Strood, Rye, Queenborough, Port Victoria, Padstow
- 10 large hotels
- London termini, including Waterloo (the largest London railway station), Victoria, Charing Cross, Cannon Street and London Bridge (the oldest London terminus).
RoutesThe main routes of the Southern were divided into three sections:
The Southern's network stretched into Devon and Cornwall, known derisively as the Southern's "Withered Arm" because the GWR had a better grip on this territory.
Electrification
The Southern was probably the most innovative of the Big Four companies, and the main evidence of that was its commitment to electrification - compare the Southern's legacy with the absence from the Great Western Railway of even a single electrified route.
The intensively-used commuter system in a relatively small geographical area made the Southern a natural candidate for electrification - the LSWR and the LBSCR had already introduced it for some of their lines in the London area before the grouping. However, the two schemes were incompatible, with the LBSCR adopting a 6600 V AC overhead system (similar to that used by the Midland Railway for their Lancaster to Morecambe trial section), and the LSWR a 660 V DC third rail standard. After the Grouping a comparison of the two systems was made and the LSWR standard was adopted for the whole system.
Most of the area immediately south of London was converted, together with the long-distance lines to Brighton, Eastbourne and Portsmouth. Starting in 1931, this was one of the world's first modern mainline electrification schemes. Only the suburban part of the former SECR routes was electrified by the Southern, although the long-distance Kent routes were next in line for electrification, which would have been followed by the electrification of the Southampton/Bournemouth route. World War II interrupted these plans, and these lines were electrified only in the late 1950s and late 1960s respectively. Originally only electric multiple unit trains were used, but later electric locomotives and electro-diesel hybrids were developed.
Nationalisation The war-devastated company was nationalised along with the rest of the British railway network in 1948, incorporated into the newly formed single country-wide operation British Railways, but largely surviving as the Southern Region. Many of its lines in London and Kent had been damaged during the war and much of the rolling stock was either damaged or badly in need of replacement. At the time of nationalisation the Southern had started a vigorous programme of rebuilding and renewal.
See also
External links- - extensive source of information concerning the Southern Railway, its predecessors and successors
- - collection of Southern Railway promotional material
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