Crystal Palace Line

Crystal Palace Line
Overview
Type	Suburban rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Greater London
Termini	Balham Beckenham Junction
Stations	7
Operation
Opened	1856-1858
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Southern Thameslink (non-stop)
Rolling stock	Class 377 "Electrostar" Class 455 Class 319 Class 387
Technical
No. of tracks	1-2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	750 DC Third Rail
Operating speed	60mph

Crystal Palace Line
Legend
Brighton Main Line to Victoria Balham Junction Brighton Main Line toward Surrey Streatham depot Streatham Hill Leigham Court tunnel Leigham spur Sutton Loop Line Norwood spur West Norwood Gipsy Hill Crystal Palace tunnel Crystal Palace (High Level) Line Crystal Palace Brighton Main Line toward Surrey to London Bridge or Highbury & Islington Tramlink to West Croydon Birkbeck Chatham Main Line to Victoria Hayes Line to Hayes to Cannon Street or Charing Cross Beckenham Junction Chatham Main Line to Dover and Ramsgate

The Crystal Palace Line is a railway line in London which runs from Balham Junction to Beckenham Junction. The engineer's reference for this line is BBJ.^[1]

Route

The line runs from Balham Junction on the Brighton Main Line route into London Victoria to Beckenham Junction, via Streatham Hill and Crystal Palace. The line has a junction with the Sutton Loop Line at Norwood, and again meets the Brighton Main Line, this time the line into London Bridge, just beyond Crystal Palace. The line runs alongside the London Tramlink between Birkbeck and Beckenham, and has junctions with the Mid-Kent Line and the Chatham Main Line at Beckenham.

History

A 1908 Railway Clearing House map of lines in South London, with the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway and Beckenham extension wending its way across the middle.

The first part of the line, between New Wandsworth and Crystal Palace (Low Level), opened 1 December 1856 as the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway. In 1857 the route was extended to Norwood. On 3 May 1858 the company opened an extension from Bromley Junction (near Norwood Junction) to Shortlands railway station (then called Bromley) via Beckenham Junction station. The following year the original line from Pimlico to Norwood Junction was sold to the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, and the section from Bromley Junction to Shortlands to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, but the WEL&CPR continued to provide its own passenger services. The two halves were reunited in 1921 as part of the Southern Railway following enactment of the Grouping Act.

Services

Southern provide most services on the line, with trains from London Victoria running all the way through to Beckenham Junction where they terminate, or via the Brighton Main Line junction at Crystal Palace to London Bridge. The line is used by Thameslink services avoiding London Bridge - generally this has only been in the peaks or during the night, but due to the current Thameslink 2000 works, the line is used by most Bedford to Brighton services throughout the day. These services generally do not stop at any of the stations on the route.

The line between Beckenham Junction and Birkbeck is partly converted for Tramlink, with trams running from Beckenham to Croydon and Wimbledon.

References

1. Quail/Trackmaps, volume 5

Further reading

• London's Local Railways by A A Jackson, David & Charles, 1978