The Greenwich Park branch line (also known as the Lewisham line) is a short section of railway line in south east

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

which links the Catford loop line to the South Eastern Main Line which originally terminated at station. It provides a link for freight trains travelling from north London to the south east, as well as a route for passenger trains from

London Victoria station Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street, the mai ...

to destinations in South East London and

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

History

The line was originally built as the Greenwich Park branch line by the

London, Chatham and Dover Railway The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England. It was created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through Lond ...

from

Nunhead Nunhead () is an inner-city suburb in the London Borough of Southwark, England,Southwark Council Nunhead and Peckham Rye Community Council southeast of Charing Cross. It is the location of the Nunhead Cemetery.BBC London Nunhead Cemetery/ref> ...

to a terminus at

Greenwich Park Greenwich Park is a former hunting park in Greenwich and one of the largest single green spaces in south-east London. One of the eight Royal Parks of London, and the first to be enclosed (in 1433), it covers , and is part of the Greenwich World H ...

. It ran from a junction at

in a generally north-east direction to a terminus on the

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

High Road, close to the north-west corner of

, approximately . A short tunnel took the branch under the A2 at Blackheath Hill. The entrance to Brockley Lane station is still visible at Brockley Cross. There were four stations: * Brockley Lane * Lewisham Road * Blackheath Hill (opened 1871) *

(opened 1888) All closed on 1 January 1917, and the branch beyond Lewisham Road was abandoned on 1 January 1926 by the Southern Railway.

Creating the link

On 7 July 1929, the branch was reopened as far as Lewisham Road station, with a new connection to the South Eastern Railway lines at

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

. The Southern Railway had absorbed the London, Chatham and Dover and the South Eastern Railways and sought to link the two networks to enable cross-London freight. From 30 September 1935 the line was electrified, enabling passenger trains from Dartford to access Victoria (see Bexleyheath Line). It has acted as a diversionary route for trains routed to London Bridge for any engineering works in the New Cross area. Trains divert to other London terminals (stations) using this line.

Possible revival of Brockley Lane station

A report released by the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

and

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

in 2016 covering future improvements to rail services in London and the South East mentions a new interchange at Brockley as a potential, long-term future improvement for South East London, opening the possibility of Brockley Lane station being reopened, although there is no further information beyond this.

Current traffic

Passenger services are provided by Southeastern. Currently the off-peak service is 2tph between London Victoria and Gravesend via Bexleyheath (terminating at Dartford late at night). Freightliner Intermodal operates regular container trains to Thamesport on the

Isle of Grain Isle of Grain (Old English ''Greon'', meaning gravel) is a village and the easternmost point of the Hoo Peninsula within the unitary authority, district of Medway in Kent, south-east England. Once an island and now forming part of the peninsul ...

DB Cargo UK DB Cargo UK (formerly DB Schenker Rail UK and English, Welsh & Scottish Railway) is a British rail freight company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Doncaster, England. The company was established by Wisconsin Central Ltd., Wisconsin ...

runs engineering trains to Hoo Junction.

References

{{Railway lines in London Railway lines in London Standard gauge railways in London