Shepperton branch line

The Shepperton branch line is a railway line connecting Shepperton to the Kingston loop railway line by a triangular junction between and stations. The line crosses from eastern Surrey into Greater London, England. It opened in 1864, and was chiefly used for residential travel, but it was not until electrification in 1916 that a frequent and comfortable train service was provided. The outer (western) end of the branch still retains a semi-rural air. Kempton Park Racecourse was opened on a site alongside the line in 1878, and platform facilities were grudgingly provided, for members only at first. However racegoers later provided a lucrative business revenue; special arrangements were made before and after World War II to enable travel to and from the course by very large numbers of people in a short space of time on race days. For some time Hampton Waterworks was dependent on the line for the delivery of coal. The line continues in use today as a moderately busy suburban line. The London and South Western Railway opened its Kingston branch line from Twickenham on 1 July 1863. At this stage the Kingston line was a single-ended branch, but on 1 January 1869 an extension railway was constructed to what is now New Malden station on the Surbiton main line, forming a circular loop line. In 1861 a Metropolitan & Thames Valley Railway (M&TVR) had been proposed. Its supporters had agreed on the desirability of constructing a railway to connect the towns of Isleworth, Richmond, Twickenham, Hampton, Sunbury, Shepperton and the valley of the River Thames via the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the LSWR. Such a line would, they said, enable London workers from the overcrowded and unhealthy portion of the City of London to easily reach and live in healthier and more inviting localities. The line would be built on the mixed gauge (with rails for both the broad gauge, and what became the standard gauge, then known as narrow gauge). The promoters wanted to connect to the LSWR at all practicable points, and they said they would negotiate with the with the GWR for the building or leasing of the railway.