East London Line Phase 2

The paper describes the civil engineering works needed to bring back into use a section of railway originally opened in 1871 as part of the East London Railway providing steam hauled services through Brunel’s Thames tunnel. When the railway was first built, there was a flat junction with the main line, after which the tracks passed beneath a succession of older railway viaducts, climbed up onto a bridge over the Grand Surrey Canal and thence continued on embankment to join the suburban line to Clapham Junction. The train service was withdrawn in 1911 and the tracks dismantled two years later. Fortunately the ownership of the track bed was retained and in the 1990’s proposals could be developed for a southern extension of the East London Line to reconnect with the suburban rail line and so allow trains to run through to Clapham Junction once more.