Opened in November 1854 by the London Necropolis Company, the Necropolis Railway sought to solve London's growing problem of overcrowding in its cemeteries. The LNC had recently opened a new cemetery at Brookwood, 37km south-west of London, which was then the largest cemetery in the world and designed to be large enough to accommodate all the deaths anticipated in London for centuries to come.
The first London Necropolis Railway Station was built to serve as its London terminus - next to Waterloo Station the terminus was designed specifically for the use of mourners - a private road allowed for a discreet entrance and exit, and to prevent the need for hearses to stop on the public roads, whilst a windowless wall at the western end maintained privacy from those using the mainline station next door.
The first terminus eventually started to prevent growth at Waterloo, so in 1902 a second station was opened around the corner, which served until demolished in the Blitz in 1941 - never being rebuilt, the Railway closed shortly after the end of the Second World War.
Trains ran along the mainline to Brookwood, where a junction allowed them to be pulled by horses into the two sections of the cemetery, one serving Anglians and the other serving Non-Conformists.