Mortlake railway station Mortlake railway station Mortlake railway station is in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, in south London, and is in Travelcard Zone 3. It is down the line from . The station and all trains serving it are operated by South Western Railway. Postal district and boundary changes over many years mean that Mortlake now serves the area known as East Sheen as well as the area of Mortlake, both of which share the postcode. Mortlake is the closest station to the finish of the Oxford-Cambridge University Boat Race. The building next to Mortlake Railway Station, now occupied by
The Boat Race 1846 was rowed on the ebb tide, from Mortlake to Putney. For the first time in the history of the race, both boats used outriggers. Cambridge "rowed in an outrigger built by Searle, 60 ft in length, 2 ft 8 in in breadth", while Oxford's boat was "expressly built for this match by King of Oxford" and 58 ft 6 in long. Both crews had professional coaches: Oxford used John Noulton while Cambridge were trained by Robert Coombes, a champion sculler. It marked the start of the debate over the use of professional coaches which was not resolved until the 1852