London and Birmingham Railway

London & Birmingham Railway

London & Birmingham Railway coat of arms on the original Euston station gates displayed at the National Railway Museum in York
Overview
Dates of operation	1833–1846
Successor	London and North Western Railway
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

v t e London and Birmingham Railway
Legend
1837 – July 1846
Birmingham Curzon Street Hampton-in-Arden Coventry Brandon Rugby Kilsby Tunnel ( 1 mi 656 yd 2.21 km ) Crick Weedon Blisworth Roade Wolverton Denbigh Hall ( closed 1838 ) Bletchley ( opened 1838 ) Leighton Aylesbury Junction ( opened 1839 ) Tring Berkhamsted Boxmoor Kings Langley ( opened 1839 ) Watford Tunnel Watford Harrow Willesden Camden London Euston
stagecoach shuttle April–September 1838 stationary steam engine (ticket platforms from 1844)

The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR).

The 112-mile (180 km) railway line which the company opened in 1838, between London and Birmingham, was the first intercity line to be built into London. It is now the southern section of the West Coast Main Line.

The line was engineered by Robert Stephenson. It started at Euston Station in London, went north-west to Rugby, where it turned west to Coventry and on to Birmingham. It terminated at Curzon Street Station, which it shared with the Grand Junction Railway (GJR), whose adjacent platforms gave an interchange with full connectivity (with through carriages) between Liverpool, Manchester and London.