London Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR)

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. The LB&SCR invested in cross-channel ferry services, initially from Shoreham to Dieppe. Following the opening of the line to Newhaven in 1847, it improved Newhaven harbour, building a wharf and dredging the channel. A Newhaven-Dieppe service was established in 1847, but discontinued soon afterwards. In 1850 it established a Newhaven-Jersey ferry service, and in 1853 it reinstated the Dieppe service. An Act of 1862 gave the LBSCR power to own and operate its own steam vessels. In 1863 the French Western Railway (Chemins de Fer de l’Ouest) agreed to operate the Newhaven-Dieppe passenger service jointly, advertised as the “shortest and cheapest” route to Paris. The LB&SCR was formed by a merger of five companies in 1846, and merged with the L&SWR, the SE&CR and several minor railway companies in southern England under the Railways Act 1921 to form the Southern Railway from 1 January 1923. The Southern Railway was nationalised in 1948, becoming the Southern Region of British Railways and all shipping activities were brought under the Sealink umbrella.