The Southern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948 until 1992 when railways were re-privatised. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s. The region covered south London, southern England and the south coast, including the busy commuter belt areas of Kent, Sussex and Surrey. The region was largely based upon the former Southern Railway area.
The Region
The Southern Railway was still comparatively profit-making despite World War II, thanks to its extensive third rail DC electrification and the intensive service patterns this allowed for. However, large-scale investment was required in the infrastructure of all of the "Big 4" companies, including the Southern.
The Transport Act 1947 provided for the nationalisation of all heavy rail systems in the UK to allow for this investment and, in theory, to improve the rights of railway workers. The railway companies were amalgamated into British Railways, part of the British Transport Commission, and six geographic and administrative regions were created out of the previous four companies. The Southern Railway, being relatively self-contained and operated largely by electric traction, was incorporated almost intact as the new Southern Region. The acting General Manager of the Southern Railway, John Elliot became the first Chief Regional Officer of the Southern Region.
The Southern Region also inherited some independent light railways, namely the East Kent Light Railway, the Kent and East Sussex Railway and the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway.
The Southern Region served southern London, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, and some areas of Dorset, Wiltshire and Berkshire. There was also an unelectrified service to parts of Devon and Cornwall, deep in what was largely Western Region territory, known colloquially as "The Withered Arm". The Southern Region also assumed operating responsibility for the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway (although the provision of motive power fell to the London Midland Region). There were three operating divisions: Eastern, Central and Western which correspond approximately to the three current franchise areas.
London
The Region's chief stations in Central London were: Waterloo, the largest terminal in London Victoria Charing Cross Blackfriars Cannon Street Holborn Viaduct (later replaced by City Thameslink) London Bridge
Other major stations in London included: , which has long claimed to be Britain's busiest railway station and one of the busiest in Europe Wimbledon and Richmond in south west London Balham, Lewisham and New Cross Gate in the south east East Croydon in the southern area
Outside London
Outside Greater London the main stations were: , , , and in Sussex , Gillingham, Ramsgate, Folkestone, Ashford and in Kent Southampton, Portsmouth, and in Hampshire , and in Dorset Guildford, , and in Surrey in Wiltshire in Devon (the SR platforms relocated from Reading Southern to Reading General) and Windsor and Eton Riverside in Berkshire
Southern and Western Regions had important interchanges at Reading and Exeter St Davids.
Line and station closures
Underused stations such as those between East Grinstead and Lewes (a few of them later reopened with the Bluebell Railway), and most of the Isle of Wight's lines were closed in the 1950s.
The Beeching Axe severely cut route mileages of most regions but the Southern escaped major losses in the London area due to high passenger numbers on its frequent suburban services. The Axe did, however, close some country routes including the Cuckoo Line, the Cranleigh Line, the Steyning Line, the New Romney branch line and the Bexhill West Branch Line, plus goods yards including Deptford Wharf and Falcon Lane.
The lines in Devon and Cornwall were reclassified to the Western Region and the Southern's luxury trains, including the Atlantic Coast Express and the Brighton Belle, ceased in the 1960s and 70s.
The Snow Hill tunnel between Blackfriars and Farringdon closed in the 1960s, then later reopened as part of the earliest proposals of the Thameslink Programme. At the same time, Holborn Viaduct in central London closed in 1990, replaced with City Thameslink occupying the same site at an underground level. In the late 1990s, the Addiscombe Line and the West Croydon to Wimbledon Line in south London were closed as these routes were replaced by the Croydon Tramlink.