Forest Hill railway station

Forest Hill railway station serves Forest Hill in the London Borough of Lewisham, south London. The station adjoins a road which serves as part of the A205 South Circular Road.

Forest Hill
Forest Hill
Location of Forest Hill in Greater London
LocationForest Hill
Local authorityLondon Borough of Lewisham
Managed byLondon Overground
OwnerNetwork Rail
Station codeFOH
DfT categoryC2
Number of platforms2
AccessibleYes
Fare zone3
National Rail annual entry and exit
2014–15 4.661 million[1]
2015–16 5.264 million[1]
2016–17 5.423 million[1]
2017–18 5.222 million[1]
2018–19 5.292 million[1]
Key dates
5 June 1839Opened as Dartmouth Arms
1845Renamed Forest Hill
Other information
External links
WGS8451.439°N 0.053°W / 51.439; -0.053
London transport portal

The station is managed by London Overground, with Overground and Southern trains serving the station. Thameslink services also pass through the station. It is 5 miles 50 chains (9.05 km) down the line from London Bridge, between Honor Oak Park and Sydenham, in Travelcard Zone 3. There are four tracks through the station, although only the slow lines (the two outer tracks) have platforms.

There are two entrances, the main one being on platform 1 at the bottom of the South Circular Road, and a side entrance on platform 2 on Perry Vale. The ticket office is placed in the main entrance, although there are ticket machines outside both entrances.

History

The station was opened by the original London & Croydon Railway (L&CR) on 5 June 1839, as Dartmouth Arms (the name of the local inn).

The line was also used by the London and Brighton Railway from 1841 and the South Eastern Railway (SER) from 1842. In 1844, the station was chosen by the L&CR as the northern terminus for Phase 1 of an experimental atmospheric railway to West Croydon. A pumping station was also constructed at the station.[2] The L&CR and the L&BR merged to form the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) in July 1846; the following year "atmospheric" working was abandoned. In 1845 the station became Forest Hill for Lordship Lane.[3][4]

A 1908 Railway Clearing House map of lines around the Brighton Main Line between South Croydon and Selhurst/Forest Hill, as well as surrounding lines

The LB&SCR moved the Down platform during the early 1850s when the line was quadrupled, and extended the island platform around 1864.[5]

The LB&SCR station buildings were badly damaged by bombing during World War II but were patched up and survived until British Rail demolished them in 1972 and built a much smaller CLASP system-built prefabricated station building that remains in use to this day. The short narrow island platform serving the fast lines was demolished in the early 1960s.

Services

Forest Hill is served by 12 trains in each direction off peak, with additional Southern services at peak hours. Southern operates 4 to 8 car trains throughout the day, with 10 carriage trains at peak hours.

Off-peak frequencies are:

Platform Frequency
(per hour)		 Destination Service Pattern Operator Line
1 4 Highbury & Islington All stations via
Shoreditch High Street[6]		 London Overground East London
4 Dalston Junction London Overground East London
4 London Bridge All stations[7] Southern Metro
2 4 Crystal Palace All stations[6] London Overground East London
4 West Croydon All stations[6] London Overground East London
2 London Victoria
(Mon-Sat)		 All stations via Clapham Junction[7] Southern Metro
2 Caterham (Mon-Sat) All stations via East Croydon[7] Southern Metro
2 West Croydon
(Peaks & Sun only)		 Sydenham then fast to Norwood Junction[7] Southern Metro
2 Tattenham Corner
(Sun only)		 All stations via East Croydon[7] Southern Metro

Proposals

In a rail meeting in Sydenham, Southern said Thameslink trains may stop here[8] after the Thameslink Programme is completed in 2018.[9]

Connections

London Buses routes 122, 176, 185, 197 and 356 serve the station.[10][11]

References
  1. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
  2. Turner, John Howard (1978). The London Brighton and South Coast Railway 1 Origins and Formation. Batsford. pp. 249–250. ISBN 0-7134-0275-X.
  3. Chronology of London Railways by H.V.Borley
  4. Forgotten Stations of Greater London by J.E.Connor and B.Halford
  5. Howard Turner, John (1978). The London Brighton and South Coast Railway 2 Establishment and Growth. Batsford. pp. 43, 245. ISBN 0-7134-1198-8.
  6. "East & Inner South London Line timetable" (PDF). Transport for London. 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  7. "Southern timetables". Southern. 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  8. Forest Hill Society response to Combined Southern and Thameslink Franchise
  9. Thameslink Programme
  10. Forest Hill station/Dartmouth Road
  11. Forest Hill Station/London Road - Bus
Preceding station   London Overground   Following station
East London Line
towards Crystal Palace or West Croydon
National Rail
Honor Oak Park   Southern
Caterham Line		   Sydenham
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.