Wimbledon Chase station

Image: © Marathon Taken: 22 Aug 2012

The Wimbledon to Sutton line was first proposed in the early 1880s with the intention of stimulating house building across the clay pastures between the two towns, which up until then had remained largely untouched. Lack of enthusiasm or downright opposition from established railway companies, particularly the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway, prevented any progress until after the First World War. The LBSCR went to such lengths to prove there was no need for a railway north of Sutton that when a Parliamentary committee in 1910 was considering a Bill for the line they produced a lady who explained that she had once tried to hail a bus which used to run between Wimbledon and Sutton. The conductor was so surprised that he failed to signal to the driver to stop, and the driver turned round to see what the lady was waving at. The line finally opened in 1930, nearly 50 years after it was first proposed. The Wimbledon to Sutton line was designed for electric trains, with many inclines and sharp curves, although it hardly justified the drivers' nickname for it: "Wall of Death". Wimbledon Chase, along with other stations on the line has a single central platform. A First Capital Connect train for Luton is just leaving.

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