SOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY - 1855
The SER largely lost interest in expanding into North and East Kent, even though this had now become 'home territory' as a consequence of the agreement with the LB&SCR.
Nevertheless the Southeastern appreciated that their route to the coast was very circuitous. In 1855 they submitted a proposal for a more direct line from Lewisham to Tonbridge.
As can be seen from the maps it passed to the east of Bromley, with a connection to the proposed West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway line from Beckenham to Farnborough. It then continued between Orpington and St. Mary Cray to enter the Darenth Valley, which afforded the easiest way to the south, through the only gap in the north downs.
This second map shows a close-up of the alignment in the area from Bromley southward past Farnborough and Orpington, then via Lullingstone and Otford..
Once through the gap in the Downs the line would have continued south to join the earlier line just to the east of Tonbridge, and also to the east of the line as eventually built.
The proposal was abandoned, possibly because, there was no immediate competition to the company's dominance in Kent, and the Southeastern was already involved in a number of schemes to build further lines deeper into the county, stretching their financial resources. However the board of the Southeastern was also at the time very divided, so it is possible simply that they could not come to an agreement how to proceed.
It proved to be a very costly mistake as it left the door open to the East Kent Railway to open their own through route to London a decade later. This utilised in part the same gap in the north Downs through the Darenth Valley, which obliged the Southeastern to respond by taking a more expensive route through the tunnels at Polhill and Sevenoaks. See Completing the Main Lines.
Returning to the London area, two proposals from smaller companies were approved and got the necessary funding, resulting in two lines being built from the London direction to what is now Beckenham Junction.