Page "London, Brighton and South Coast Railway" Paragraph 53

Although the proposed Surrey and Sussex Junction Railway had been abandoned in 1867, there remained a demand from the citizens of the rapidly growing town of Croydon for a rail link to the South East to towns such as East Grinstead, Tunbridge Wells, and the East Sussex coast.

Likewise, the SER was looking for an additional relief route in the same general direction for its Tonbridge and Hastings services.

The two railways therefore collaborated with a proposal for a joint line between South Croydon, on the main Brighton line, and Oxted.

Beyond Oxted, the LB & SCR would build its own lines to link with the " Bluebell line " at East Grinstead, and its existing line to Tunbridge Wells.

The SER trains would join the former main line between Redhill and Tonbridge.

Authority for the construction of these lines was granted in 1878 and they were opened for traffic in 1884.