Orpington railway station

Orpington
Orpington Location of Orpington in Greater London
Location	Orpington
Local authority	London Borough of Bromley
Managed by	Southeastern
Station code	ORP
DfT category	C2
Number of platforms	8
Accessible	Yes [1]
Fare zone	6
National Rail annual entry and exit
2008–09	4.971 million[2]
2009–10	4.868 million[2]
2010–11	5.069 million[2]
2011–12	5.105 million[2]
2012–13	5.239 million[2]
Key dates
2 March 1868	Opened
1904	Rebuilt
1925	Electrification
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London Transport portal UK Railways portalCoordinates: 51°22′27″N 0°05′19″E / 51.3741°N 0.0885°E

Orpington railway station serves the town of Orpington in the London Borough of Bromley, and is in Travelcard Zone 6. Located in Crofton Road, the station is a 500 metres (550 yards) west of the southern end of Orpington High Street. The station is on the South Eastern Main Line.

The station has eight platforms. Platform 1 is a bay platform which is rarely used. Platform 2 is used for fast services to Charing Cross or Cannon Street . Platforms 3 and 4 are an island, 3 used by trains towards Ashford International or Tunbridge Wells and 4 by stopping services from Sevenoaks to Charing Cross or Cannon Street. Platform 5 hosts the Sevenoaks slows with platforms 6-8 being bay platforms used by services starting at Orpington towards Charing Cross, London Victoria, Cannon Street and Luton/Bedford. At the country end, the four tracks become two. At the London end there is a stabling and servicing area for trains.

There are two entrances, both with ticket offices and ticket barriers, the main one on the platform 1/2 side (Crofton Road), the other on the platforms 5-8 side (Station Approach and the bus interchange). Access to platforms is via an underground subway (unsuitable for wheelchair users) or via a new bridge opened in 2008 which incorporates lift access to all platforms.

History

The station was opened on 2 March 1868 by the South Eastern Railway (SER),^[3] when the SER opened its cut-off line between Chislehurst and Haysden Junction. Previously, trains between London and Tunbridge Wells had taken a circuitous route via Redhill. The line was widened and the station rebuilt in 1904, expanding to six platforms. Third rail electrification reached Orpington in 1925, and extended to Sevenoaks ten years later. About this time the Southern Heights Light Railway was proposed, which would have diverged from the main line south of Orpington and finished at Sanderstead.^[4] Crofton Roman Villa was partly destroyed by a railway cutting in the late 1800s but was (re)discovered in 1926 when work was carried out to the area to the west of the station entrance as an entrance to a new council building. Platforms 7 and 8 were built in the early 1990s on the site of former carriage sidings. In 2008, the station became fully accessible following the opening of a new footbridge providing lift access to all platforms. In 2013 the former steam locomotive shed (closed for steam in 1926 in use as sidings until 1960) is still standing converted to offices (sited adjacent to platform 8). In 2014 the car park was rebuilt with 2 stories to increase capacity.

Services

All train services from the station are operated by Southeastern and link to London at Victoria, London Bridge and Charing Cross. Access to international services for Europe is provided by interconnecting service at Ashford International.^[5] The domestic services are operated by Class 375 & 376 Electrostar and Class 465 & 466 Networker EMUs. The typical off-peak service from the station is:

• 6tph (trains per hour) to London Charing Cross, of which four run fast to London Bridge and two call at all stations to Hither Green^[6] before running fast to London Bridge
• 2tph to London Cannon Street, calling at all stations
• 4tph to London Victoria, calling at all stations via Bromley South and Herne Hill
• 2tph to Tunbridge Wells, calling at Sevenoaks then all stations to Tunbridge Wells
• 2tph to Hastings, via Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells
• 2tph to Sevenoaks, calling at all stations

This is supplemented by services to Luton via London Blackfriars in the morning peak, operated by Thameslink dual voltage Class 319s.

January 2015

from 12 January 2015, a new timetable will operate due to the Thameslink programme which is affecting train service in and out of London.

• 4tph (trains per hour) to London Charing Cross, of which two run fast to Waterloo East and two call at all stations to Hither Green
• 2tph to London Cannon Street, calling at all stations
• 2tph to London Cannon Street, calling at New Cross, London Bridge only.
• 4tph to London Victoria, calling at all stations via Bromley South and Herne Hill
• 2tph to Tunbridge Wells, calling at Sevenoaks then all stations to Tunbridge Wells
• 2tph to Hastings, via Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells
• 2tph to Sevenoaks, calling at all stations

Bus connections

The station is served by bus routes 51, 61, 208, 353, 358, 477, 654, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9, R10 and night route N199.

References

1. "Planning an accessible journey with Southeastern" (PDF). Southeastern. May 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
2. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
3. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 178. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
4. "Southern Heights Railway" The Times (London). Friday, 11 January 1929. (45098), col D, p. 9.
5. "Train station Ashford". Southeastern. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
6. "Train times - 14 December 2008 to 16 May 2009 - London to Grove Park, Bromley North, Orpington and Sevenoaks" (PDF). Southeastern. Retrieved 2009-01-13.

External links

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