Rails Around London

First mooted in 1971, the completion of an inner suburban circular railway was finally achieved as part of Transport for London’s Overground network with a link between the East London and South London lines opened in 2012.

Since then, the new connections provided by this service have generated much new traffic along the lines absorbed by it. The new facility included the reopening of the West London line to passengers between Willesden Junction and Clapham Junction, where trains in both directions terminate.

This book tells the story of the campaigning, planning and building of the line over a period of almost 40 years. Extensive research of official documents show various options considered to bring new life to run-down and underused lines that in many cases ran through large populations and developing areas.