Sydenham Railway Station (London) - History

History

Sydenham station is on the site of the former Croydon Canal which was purchased and drained by the London and Croydon Railway and re-opened as a railway on 5 June 1839. Around 1844 the 'Up' (London bound) platform was re-sited during the installation of the Atmospheric railway equipment used by the railway. The railway became a part of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway in July 1846 and the following year 'Atmospheric' working was abandoned.

The 'Down' (Croydon bound) platform had to be moved to the north of the road bridge in 1852 as a result of the construction of the branch line to Crystal Palace railway station. The 'up'(London bound) platform had also to be moved north of the road bridge in the 1980s.

Before May 2010, Southern was the only TOC serving the station with 6 trains per hour during off peak periods. However, when the London Overground's East London Line opened this changed with Southern reducing its services into London Bridge to 4 trains per hour by withdrawing trains to Sutton, supplemented by an additional 8 trains operated by London Overground - giving a total of 12 trains per hour.

There are, or have been, three other stations in the Sydenham area:

  • Lower Sydenham on the Hayes Line
  • Upper Sydenham on the now closed Crystal Palace (High Level) line
  • Sydenham Hill on the Victoria to Orpington line.

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