Surrey Iron Railway

The Surrey Iron Railway ( SIR) was the first public railway line in the world. It led from Wandsworth to Croydon via Mitcham in Surrey (now all districts in the south of London). It was opened on 26 July 1803 and was exclusively for the carriage of goods. The responsible engineer was William Jessop, the gauge was 4 feet and 2 inches (1270 mm).

In the 19th century, numerous railway lines were built for horse-drawn vehicles in the UK already. However, these were always part of a canal project and were used to transport mined minerals to loading areas to waterways. The original plan from 1799 also saw between Wandsworth and Croydon before a channel. However, the water removal from the nearby streams and the river Wandle would have had the closure of numerous driven by water power mills and factories result.

The Surrey Iron Railway was not intended for a railway in the modern sense, as they worked as a toll road: There was no fixed timetable and everyone could train to the payment of a toll traveled with his own horses and chariots. The 14.5 km long route began at a dock on the River Thames and followed the river Wandle after Croydon; a short branch line ran from Mitcham after Hackbridge. As Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway route in 1805 was extended from Croydon Purley and Coulsdon over to the quarries at Merstham (this section was in operation until 1838).

The proliferation of faster and more powerful steam locomotives meant the end of the horse-drawn tram; 1846, the SIR was shut down. The Wimbledon and Croydon Railway opened in 1855 part of the way back, which was eleven years later integrated into the network of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. In a significant part of the erstwhile SIR route today runs the Tramlink tram.