Sentence:  In 1851 the Great Northern Railway had reached London and began operating into a terminus at Maiden Lane, just north of the New Road <small>[later renamed Euston Road]</small>. In 1854 they moved up to the New Road itself, with the opening of King's Cross station, east of Euston. The railways were <WSD>alighting</WSD> on the New Road like birds perching on a branch (the Midland Railway would open St Pancras, between Euston and King's Cross in 1868), and Pearson took note. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  or (at) To descend and settle, lodge, rest, or stop.