Penge West is a station on the

Windrush line The Windrush line is the service operated by London Overground on the East London line and South London line, running north to south through the East and South areas of London. The East London line was previously a line of the London Undergrou ...

of the

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...

, located in

Penge Penge () is a suburb of South East Greater London, London, England, now in the London Borough of Bromley, west of Bromley, north east of Croydon and south east of Charing Cross. Etymology The name ''Penge'' is first attested in charter of ...

, a district of 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 ...

in south

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 ...

. It is down the line from , in

Travelcard Zone 4 Fare zone 4 is an outer zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an au ...

. Additional limited peak-time

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 operated by Southern also call at Penge West. There is an

out-of-station interchange The Oyster card is a Payment#Types_and_methods_of_payment, payment method for public transport in London and some surrounding areas. A standard Oyster card is a blue ISO/IEC 7810, credit-card-sized Stored-value card, stored-value contactless ...

with station, located walk away and served by Southeastern services into

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

. station, also on the Windrush line of the London Overground, is also within walking distance. Penge West station provides access to The Dinosaur Park via the south gate of

Crystal Palace Park Crystal Palace Park is a park in south-east London, Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. It was laid out in the 1850s as a pleasure ground, centred around the re-location of The Crystal Palace – the largest glass ...

History

The original Penge station was opened by the

London and Croydon Railway The London and Croydon Railway (L&CR) was an early railway in England. It opened in 1839 and in February 1846 merged with other railways to form the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR). Origins The Croydon line and other railways ...

in 1839, probably more for logistical reasons than anything else: the railway crossed the nearby High Street by a level crossing, and the station would have provided a place for trains to wait while the crossing gates were opened for them. The population of

was only around 270 at this time, not enough to make the station commercially viable. It was closed in 1841, and the level crossing was converted to a bridge soon afterwards. The entrance to the station was actually on Penge High Street, and not its current position. Evidence of the original entrances can still be seen in the brickwork on either side of the bridge as the track passes over the road. By the early 1860s, Penge's population had risen to over 5,000 - more than eighteen times its level just twenty years earlier. There was also a demand for improved transport to

the Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibitors from around ...

nearby, so the station was reopened by the

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR (known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton)) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at ...

on 1 July 1863. This was the same day that 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 ...

opened its own Penge Lane station on its line to

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

. Following the 1923 Grouping of railway companies, the two stations were renamed Penge West, and Penge East by the Southern Railway on 9 July 1923. A large building on the down platform served as a ticket office and goods office and included the waiting room and Station Master's office. A wide road from the corner of Oakfield Road and Penge High Street provided access to these buildings and sidings which served a coal yard and timber yard on the site of the old brickfield. The sidings were removed, the buildings demolished and the access road closed when the land was sold for the construction of a

Homebase Homebase was a British Home improvement center, home improvement and garden centre retailer that operated across the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded by British supermarket chain Sainsbury's and Belgian retailer GIB Group, GB-Inno ...

store. Since then access to the down platform has been via a footbridge from the up platform. Previously the only passenger access between the two platforms was via Penge High Street. The 1863 station building serving the Up platform remained in use until April 2005 when it was damaged in a fire set by arsonists. After a period of limited station facilities, reconstruction work commenced in the summer of 2006 and was completed in December that year.

Services

Off-peak, all services at Penge West are operated by the

of the

using

EMUs Emus may refer to: * Emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the ...

. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: * 4 tph to via * 4 tph to The station is also served by a limited Southern service to/from in the peak hours. All day off peak services to London Bridge were axed in September 2022. These services are operated using EMUs.

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

176 Year 176 ( CLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Proculus and Aper (or, less frequently, year 929 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 176 for this year ha ...

, 197 and

227 Year 227 (Roman numerals, CCXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Senecio and Fulvius (or, less frequently, year 980 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

stop near the station, while the Bromley-bound

354 __NOTOC__ Year 354 ( CCCLIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Constantius (or, less frequently, year 1107 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomin ...

stops directly outside the station entrance on Anerley Park. The station is also a short 9 minuite walk from Penge East station for Southeastern services.

References

External links

A Penge Walk
starting at Penge West station {{DEFAULTSORT:Penge West Railway Station Railway stations in the London Borough of Bromley Former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1839 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1841 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1863 Railway stations served by London Overground Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway Windrush line stations