19th-century London (1819), Waterloo Bridge (1817), the Hungerford Bridge (opened in 1845 as a footbridge, and converted in 1859 into a combination footbridge/railway bridge for Charing Cross Station), and Tower Bridge (1894). Further upriver, the new bridges included Lambeth Bridge (1862), which replaced a centuries-old cross-river ferry service, Vauxhall Bridge (opened 1816), Victoria Bridge (opened in 1858 and later renamed the Chelsea Bridge), and Wandsworth Bridge (1873). The impetus for this building was London's massive population growth, which put a constant strain on existing communications between the north and south banks. London Bridge remained the city's busiest artery for the entire century,
London Bridge station as a "West End terminus". This line opened on 1 May 1844 and most of the services from these two companies were withdrawn from London Bridge, leaving only the Greenwich and Brighton companies using London Bridge station. The Greenwich company was on the brink of bankruptcy and so was forced to lease its lines to the SER, which took effect from 1 January 1845. The next year the two companies, along with other small railways, merged to form the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR). Consequently, there were only two companies serving London Bridge. The LB&SCR used the unfinished