Ladywell railway station

Ladywell
Ladywell Location of Ladywell in Greater London
Location	Ladywell
Local authority	Lewisham
Managed by	Southeastern
Station code	LAD
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	2
Accessible	Yes [1]
Fare zone	3
National Rail annual entry and exit
2007–08	0.931 million[2]
2008–09	0.904 million[2]
2009–10	0.885 million[2]
2010–11	0.929 million[2]
2011–12	0.942 million[2]
2012–13	0.973 million[2]
2013–14	1.052 million[2]
2014–15	1.122 million[2]
Key dates
1 January 1857	Opened
Listed status
Listed feature	Ladywell Station
Listing grade	II
Entry number	1246025[3]
Added to list	23 December 1998
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London Transport portal UK Railways portalCoordinates: 51°27′22″N 0°01′09″W / 51.4562°N 0.0192°W

Ladywell railway station is in Ladywell, in the London Borough of Lewisham in south east London, in Travelcard Zone 3. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Southeastern. The Grade II station opened in 1857 and is in Ladywell Fields, adjacent to University Hospital, Lewisham.

History

Early years (1857-1922)

The Mid Kent Railway 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 (although it was not technically a junction as the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway’s line did not open until 3 May 1858). 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) which again was operated by the SER. ^[4]

In September 1866 a spur was opened from the north end of Ladywell station to the recently opened main line (which avoided Lewisham Junction station) which it joins at Parks Bridge Junction. ^[5]

The Elmers End – Hayes section was built by the West Wickham & Hayes Railway, but was sold to the South Eastern Railway on opening day, 29 May 1882.^{[Note 1]}

Almost all services from the station have terminated at Charing Cross or Cannon Street stations but between 1880 and 1884 a service worked between Croydon (Addiscombe Road) calling all stations to New Cross and then via a connection to the East London Line and terminating at Liverpool Street station.^[6]

In 1898 the South Eastern Railway and its bitter rivals the London Chatham and Dover Railway agreed to work as one railway company under the name of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway and Ladywell became an SECR station.

Southern Railway (1923-1947)

Following the Railways Act 1921 (also known as the Grouping Act), Ladywell station 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 3-car Electric Multiple Unit trains often built from old SECR carriages.

On 30 June 1929 colour light signalling was introduced north of Ladywell. ^[7]

British Railways (1948-1994)

After World War II and following nationalisation on 1 January 1948, the station fell under the auspices of British Railways Southern Region.

Colour light signalling was introduced south of Ladywell (as far as New Beckenham) on 4 April 1971.^[8]

Upon sectorisation in 1982, three passenger sectors were created: InterCity, operating principal express services; and London & South East (renamed Network SouthEast in 1986) who operated commuter services in the London area.^[9]

The privatisation era (1994-Present Day)

Following privatisation of British Rail on 1 April 1994 the infrastructure at Ladywell station became the responsibility of Railtrack whilst a business unit operated the train services. On 13 October 1996 operation of the passenger services passed to Connex South Eastern who were originally due to run the franchise until 2011.

Following a number of accidents and financial issues Railtrack plc was sold to Network Rail on 3 October 2002 who became responsible for the infrastructure.^{[10] [11]}

On 27 June 2003 the Strategic Rail Authority decided to strip Connex of the franchise citing poor financial management and run the franchise itself.^[12][13] Connex South Eastern continued to operate the franchise until 8 November 2003 with the services transferring to the Strategic Rail Authority's South Eastern Trains subsidiary the following day.

On 30 November 2005 the Department for Transport awarded Govia the Integrated Kent franchise. The services operated by South Eastern Trains transferred to Southeastern on 1 April 2006.

Service

Railways around Lewisham and Hither Green

Legend South Eastern Main Line to Charing Cross non-stop via London Bridge South Eastern Main Line to Cannon Street via New Cross St Johns Nunhead to Lewisham link to London Victoria Greenwich Park Branch Line to Greenwich Park Docklands Light Railway to Bank–Monument or Stratford Elverson Road Lewisham North Kent & Bexleyheath Lines to Dartford via Blackheath Ladywell Hayes Line to Hayes via Catford Bridge Hither Green Hither Green TMD Dartford Loop Line to Dartford via Sidcup Lee South Eastern Main Line to Kent non-stop via Orpington South Eastern Main Line to Orpington (stopping services)

The typical off-peak train service per hour is:

• 2 northbound, to Cannon Street calling at all stations via Lewisham
• 2 northbound, to Charing Cross calling only at Waterloo East
• 4 southbound, to Hayes

Layout

Side Platform Platform 1

Southeastern towards Charing Cross, Cannon Street

Southeastern towards Hayes

Side Platform Platform 2

Connections

London Buses routes 122, 284 and P4 serve the station.

References

1. "London and South East" (PDF). National Rail Enquiries. National Rail. September 2006. Archived from the original (pdf) on 6 March 2009.
2. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
3. Historic England. "Ladywell Station (1246025)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
4. Jackson, Alan A (1999). London's Local Railways (2nd ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport Publishing. pp. 37–40.
5. Jackson, Alan A (1999). London's Local Railways (2nd ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport Publishing. p. 37.
6. Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1996). East London Line. Midhurst, UK: Middleton Press. p. 5. ISBN 1 873793 80 4.
7. Jackson, Alan A (1999). London's Local Railways (2nd ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport Publishing. p. 37.
8. Jackson, Alan A (1999). London's Local Railways (2nd ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport Publishing. p. 47.
9. Thomas, David St John; Whitehouse, Patrick (1990). BR in the Eighties. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-9854-7.
10. Network Rail closer to Railtrack takeover BBC News, 1 April 2016
11. "Accounting for Producer Needs: The case of Britain’s rail infrastructure" (PDF). Centre for Management and Organisational History. p. 18. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
12. "BBC NEWS - UK - England - Train firm loses franchise". BBC News. 27 June 2003. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
13. Basher Bowker pulls the plug on Connex The Telegraph 29 June 2003

Notes

1. Thus the current Hayes service which serves the station uses the 1857 line to New Beckenham, the 1864 line to Elmers End and the 1882 line to Hayes.

External links

• Train times and station information for Ladywell railway station from National Rail