Elmers End is a railway station and tram terminus in Elmers End,

south London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

, England. It lies in the

London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is a London Borough, borough in London, England. It is the largest and southeasternmost borough in London, and borders the county of Kent, of which it formed part until 1965. The borough's population in the 2021 ...

and is down the line from

London Charing Cross Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a London station group, central London railway terminus between the Strand, London, Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South ...

History

Early years (1857-1922)

The Mid Kent line was built by the Mid-Kent and North Kent Junction Railway (MK&NKJR) and was opened on 1 January 1857 as far as Beckenham Junction. From opening, the line was worked by the South Eastern Railway (SER). Seven years later, the MK&NKJR built an extension from a new junction station at New Beckenham to Croydon (Addiscombe Road). The railway through Elmers End was opened by the SER on 1 April 1864. The Hayes Line opened on 29 May 1882 to Hayes.. The station was occupied in, what was then, a rural area with scattered farm houses and hamlets. The station building was located on the down side whilst a goods yard was provided on the up side. By 1914, Elmers End had almost become part of Beckenham on the east side of the railway. On the opposite side, a sewage works, the Croydon Council refuse destructor, Beckenham Council's refuse destructor and electric power station as well as two brick works and Crystal Palace District Cemetery were all located. Sidings served the Croydon and Beckenham Council sites. The station was rebuilt in 1881/2, in anticipation of the opening of the Hayes branch. Bay platforms were provided on the up and down side; a new 43 lever signal box was provided immediately south of the station. New coal sidings, in anticipation of further suburban growth, were also provided on the up side. The Elmers End – Hayes section was built by the West Wickham & Hayes Railway and left the existing line just south of the station on a tight 13 chain curve. It was sold to the South Eastern Railway in 1881 and opened on 29 May 1882. Initially, 13 services each way were operated between Elmers End and Hayes, with central London passengers having to change trains. In 1898, the South Eastern Railway and its bitter rivals the London Chatham & Dover Railway agreed to work as one railway company under the name of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway and Elmers End became an SECR station.

Southern Railway (1923-1947)

Following the

Railways Act 1921 The Railways Act 1921 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an act of Parliament enacted by the British government, and was intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grou ...

(also known as the Grouping Act), Elmers End became a Southern Railway station on 1 January 1923. The Mid-Kent line was electrified with the (750 V DC third rail) system and electric services commenced on 28 February 1926. Early electric services were worked by early Southern Railway three-car

electric multiple units An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number ...

, often built from old SECR carriages. In connection with the electrification, the track bed between Elmers End and Clock House area was raised in an effort to reduce flooding. Electrification led to further house building between Clock House and Elmers End stations. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the station was hit by bombs three times during 1941. Some track alterations took place in 1947, which included the link between the Up Bay and Hayes line being removed, platform lengthening and direct access from the Hayes branch to the down bay.

British Railways (1948-1994)

After World War II and following nationalisation on 1 January 1948, the station fell under the auspices of

Southern Region of British Railways The Southern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948 until 1992 when railways were re-privatised. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s. The region covered south London, southern England and the south ...

. Three-aspect colour light signals were installed at the station in 1956. The goods yard was closed on 6 May 1963. The station building was destroyed by fire on 16 December 1973 On 28 May 1975, all signalling came under the control of the London Bridge Signalling Centre and the 1882 signal box was closed. The down bay was taken out of passenger use and became an engineers' siding. Upon sectorisation in 1982, London & South East, renamed

Network SouthEast Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the networ ...

in 1986, operated commuter services in the London area. Services to

Sanderstead Sanderstead is a village and medieval-founded church parish at the southern end of Croydon in south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, and formerly in the historic county of Surrey, until 1965. It takes in Purley Downs and S ...

ceased in May 1983 with closure of the Woodside and South Croydon Joint Railway.

The privatisation era (1994-present day)

Following

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the Rail transport in Great Britain, railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, the process was largely compl ...

on 1 April 1994, the infrastructure at Elmers End station became the responsibility of

Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the railroad, track, railway signalling, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the railway station, stations of the Transport in England#Rail, British railway syste ...

whilst a business unit operated the train services. On 13 October 1996, operation of the passenger services passed to

Connex South Eastern Connex South Eastern was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Veolia Transport, Connex that operated the South Eastern franchise from October 1996 until November 2003. History On 13 October 1996 Veolia Transport, Connex comm ...

, which was originally due to run the franchise until 2011. In 1997, the line to Addiscombe closed when

Tramlink Tramlink, previously Croydon Tramlink and currently branded as London Trams, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It is the first operational tram system serving the London region since 195 ...

took over much of the trackbed from Elmers End; up to this point, it was generally worked by a two-car EMU connecting to and from Hayes services. The section to Woodside and part of the former route to Selsdon reopened in 2000 as part of the Croydon Tramlink network. The Hayes line service on the suburban commuter railway line between Hayes and London Charing Cross through Elmers End is still in use. The station is on Elmers End Road (A214), at the south-east corner of South Norwood Country Park. One former platform is now the terminus for Tramlink services to central

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

. Work is underway to open a second tram platform and double the tram line to Arena to increase capacity. As of March 2019, vegetation has been cleared to make way for the new line. The platform was due to open in December 2020, but has been delayed.

Services

National Rail

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...

services at Elmers End are operated by Southeastern using , , and electric multiple units. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: * 4 tph to

(2 of these run non-stop between and and 2 call at ) * 4 tph to On Sundays, the station is served by a half-hourly service between Hayes and London Charing Cross via Lewisham.

London Trams

Tram services at Elmers End are operated by

. The tram stop is served by trams every 10 minutes to via

. This is reduced to a tram every 15 minutes on Saturday evenings and Sundays. Services are operated using Bombardier CR4000 and Stadler Variobahn

Trams A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

Connections

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

routes 54, 356 and 289 serve the station from the adjacent Elmers End Interchange.

Notes

References

External links

Elmers End tram Stop
– Timetables and live departures at Transport for London {{London bus and coach stations Railway stations in the London Borough of Bromley Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1864 Railway stations served by Southeastern Tramlink stops in the London Borough of Bromley