London's First Railways Proposals for the first London railway line, linking London Bridge and Greenwich, were mooted in 1831 and the line was finally opened in 1835. Trains departed hourly. The fare was sixpence. Travellers enthused about the comfort and speed. Meanwhile, work had already begun on the London to Birmingham railway, and Euston Station opened in 1837. Virtually all London's main termini were completed within the next forty years. Huge areas of farmland and housing had to be destroyed. The immense upheaval attracted various artists, in particular Thomas Bury and John Bourne, whose aquatints and lithographs are justly famous. Transport in the central metropolis was improved by the construction of the first Underground line, the Metropolitan, from Paddington to Farringdon, in 1863. Thanks to the new railways Londoners were now able to live at a greater distance from their place of work, and London grew from a compact city into a vast, sprawling metropolis.