History of the UK Rail Network — Mini Mania (1861-70)


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Notes:  A second mini-mania saw a large number of new lines constructed. The LCDR reached Dover; London gained a plethora of new termini: Victoria, Charing Cross, Cannon Street, Blackfriars (all giving better access to central London from the south), and St Pancras, the Midland Railway finally having their own line into London. The railway reached the small village of Bournemouth, tranforming it into a fashionable seaside resort. Meanwhile mid-Wales was getting connected, a second true direct route opened between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and a (rather more) direct line connected Inverness with Perth and the South, and lines were begun to open up the north-west of Scotland.