It is 62 miles 8 chains (62.10 mi; 99.9 km) down the line from London Charing Cross via Redhill.

The first sections, from Reading to Farnborough North, which included a station at Wokingham, also from Dorking West to Redhill, were opened on 4 July 1849.

The London and South Western Railway (LSWR) worked the SW&WJR and was authorised to run over the SER to Reading.

On 1 January 1939 the SR extended its Waterloo – Virginia Water electric service to Wokingham and Reading.

[6] In 1973 British Railways replaced Wokingham's station building with one built with CLASP prefabricated concrete sections.

Platform 2 ("down") has recently undergone a further extension to accommodate longer trains and the addition of a signal at the London end.

In 2017, various defects were found in the bridge's structure and Network Rail started restoration work in 2021 after initially having a planning application rejected.