The South Eastern Railway (SER) was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 to 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent. The SER absorbed or leased other railways, including the London and Greenwich Railway and the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. Most of the company's routes were in Kent, eastern Sussex and the London suburbs. There was also a long cross-country route from Redhill, Surrey to Reading, Berkshire.