London and Birmingham Railway

The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846. The railway line that the company built and owned between London and Birmingham, which opened in 1838, was one of the first intercity railway lines in the world and the first railway line to be built into London.

The line was built by the famous engineer Robert Stephenson. It started at Euston Station in London, and traveled north until it reached Rugby, where it turned west through Coventry and then to Birmingham.

Initialy, trains from Euston were cable- hauled up the relatively steep incline to Camden, where a steam locomotive was attached. The orginal engine shed, a roundhouse, still stands at Camden, having been, for most of its life, a warehouse and more recently an arts centre.

The Birmingham end of the line terminated at Curzon Street Station, which it effectively shared with the Grand Junction Railway (GJR), whose platfoms were adjacent, providing a link to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR), and thus through travel from London to those cities.

In 1846 the L&BR was merged (along with the Grand Junction, which had already absorbed the L&MR) into the London and North Western Railway.

The line is still operating as a major part of the West Coast Mainline.