 The South Eastern Railway ( SER ) completed its main line from London to Dover , Kent in 1844 , branching off the rival London , Brighton and South Coast Railway 's ( LBSC ) line at Redhill . Construction of a single line branch from Tunbridge ( modern spelling " Tonbridge " [ Note 2 ] ) to Tunbridge Wells , a fashionable town where a chalybeate spring had been discovered in 1606 , began in July 1844 . At the time , Parliament had not given assent for the railway . The Act of Parliament enabling the construction of the line had its first reading in the House of Commons on 28 April 1845 . The bill completed its passage through the House of Commons and the House of Lords on 28 July , following which Royal Assent was granted on 31 July by Queen Victoria . 
