Wimbledon, London Spencers attempted to get parliamentary permission to enclose the common as a new park with a house and gardens and to sell part for building. Following an enquiry, permission was refused and a board of conservators was established in 1871 to take ownership of the common and preserve it in its natural condition. Transport links improved further with railway lines to Croydon (Wimbledon and Croydon Railway, opened in 1855) and Tooting (Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway, opened in 1868). The District Railway (now the London Underground District line) extended its service over new tracks from Putney in 1889. In the
Romford–Upminster line Romford–Upminster line The Romford–Upminster line is a railway branch line in Greater London that connects , on the Great Eastern Main Line, to , on the London, Tilbury and Southend Line and London Underground. The route is in length and there is one intermediate station at . The line is part of Network Rail Strategic Route 7, SRS 07.09, and is classified as a rural line. The line is single-track throughout, electrified at 25 kV AC, has a loading gauge of W6, and a maximum speed of . As of May 2015 services are operated by London Overground, with two