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73-588: London Bridge is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Southwark , south-east London. It occupies a large area on three levels immediately south-east of London Bridge , from which it takes its name. The main line station is the oldest railway station in London fare zone 1 and one of the oldest in the world having opened in 1836. It is one of two main line termini in London to

146-528: A committee, and agreement was reached with the L&;GR to exchange their stations at London Bridge in 1843 in order to avoid their trains crossing over at Corbetts Junction. By 1843, the L&CR and the SER were becoming concerned about the tolls charged by the L&GR for the use of its line between Corbetts Junction and London Bridge. As a result, they jointly constructed a branch from the L&CR at New Cross to

219-626: A major transformation programme known as Masterplan , linked to the Thameslink programme . Work began in 2012 with the terminal platforms adjacent to St Thomas Street , reducing the number from nine to six and extending them to accommodate longer 12-car trains. Through platforms were increased from six to nine, all of which catered for 12-car trains. In the redeveloped station, Charing Cross services were assigned four new dedicated platforms (6, 7, 8 and 9), and Thameslink services to platforms 4 and 5. The existing platforms for Cannon Street services on

292-461: A nearby hostelry that is still extant in 2013), Sydenham, Penge, Annerley (later Anerley; the Scottish owner of the land said that his was the "annerley hoose" in the area), Jolly Sailor (also named after a public house just north of the current Norwood Junction ). and the terminus at Croydon (now West Croydon). Freight traffic was considered to be impracticable for handling at London Bridge, and

365-500: A new terminus designed by Lewis Cubitt at Bricklayers Arms , thereby avoiding use of the L&GR. From 1844 the SER transferred all of its services to the new terminus, and the L&CR operated services from both termini. This arrangement lasted until 1852. In April 1844 the L&CR directors approved an extension to Epsom , not completed until after the railway became a part of the LB&;SCR. In July 1846 an act of Parliament ,

438-425: A slit sealed by a leather valve. The piston, and hence the train, was propelled towards the pumping station by atmospheric pressure. The pumping stations were built in a Gothic style, with a very tall ornate tower, which served both as a chimney and as an exhaust vent for air pumped from the propulsion pipe. As part of the construction works for the atmospheric system, the world's first railway flyover (overpass)

511-667: A view to conversion to 7 ft ( 2,134 mm ) broad gauge , which never happened. The line used " Vignoles " flat bottomed rail, broader in the base and lower than modern rail. These were mounted on longitudinal timbers with cross sleepers . A new station was built at London Bridge for Croydon trains, on the north side of the L&GR one, with track shared as far as Corbetts Lane. The line opened on 5 June 1839 There were six intermediate stations, at New Cross (now New Cross Gate), Dartmouth Arms (now Forest Hill), Sydenham , Penge , Anerley Bridge (now Anerley), and Jolly Sailor (replaced by Norwood Junction in 1859). The terminus

584-428: A white disc was installed, to be operated by the pointsman . If the disc was face on, or a red light at night, the route was set for Croydon; edge on or a white light, the junction was set for Greenwich. It is believed that this was first fixed signal used to control a junction. Greenwich trains ran every 15 minutes, Croydon trains were hourly. The first railway semaphore signal was erected by Charles Hutton Gregory on

657-602: A working amalgamation with the London Chatham and Dover Railway (LC&DR) to form the South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee. Junctions were laid to enable trains through London Bridge to reach the LC&;DR stations at Holborn Viaduct and St Pauls . The LB&SCR took over the unfinished joint station, which they demolished in 1849 and opened a temporary station in 1850. This

730-623: The London and Croydon Railway Act 1846 ( 9 & 10 Vict. c. ccxxxiv), was passed granting authority for a branch from New Cross to Deptford Dockyard . This was commenced after the railway became a part of the LB&SCR. The railway owned seven 2-2-2 locomotives and one 0-4-2 . The first five 2-2-2s and one 0-4-2 were built by Sharp, Roberts and Company , and were delivered between July 1838 and July 1839. The remaining two were built by G. and J. Rennie , in August 1838 and May 1839. From 1842

803-667: The Jubilee line and the Bank branch of the Northern line . River buses use the nearby London Bridge City Pier . London Bridge station was opened on 14 December 1836, making it the oldest London railway terminus that is still running. It was not the earliest station in the London metropolitan area, as the London and Greenwich Railway had opened stations at Spa Road (in Bermondsey) and Deptford on 8 February 1836. The completion of

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876-583: The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (1830), and promoters put forward a scheme to link Croydon , then an industrial town, with London. The Croydon Canal of 1809 was moribund, and it was proposed to purchase it and to utilise its course. It was to extend northwards from the Croydon Canal terminal at New Cross, so as to make a junction at Corbetts Lane (then spelt Corbets Lane), in Bermondsey with

949-490: The London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR). Consequently, there were only two companies serving London Bridge. The LB&SCR used the unfinished joint station until it was demolished in 1849 and a larger building constructed. The SER took over the second London and Greenwich station (which had been built for the London and Croydon Railway) and sought to develop that site rather than continue to invest in

1022-426: The London and Greenwich Railway ; its trains were to run over that line to its London Bridge station . The engineer Joseph Gibbs surveyed the route; this involved complex judgments, and is described below. The company obtained an authorising act of Parliament, the London and Croydon Railway Act 1835 ( 5 & 6 Will. 4 . c. x) on 12 June 1835. The line was 8 + 3 ⁄ 4 miles (14.1 km) long and at

1095-400: The bell tower would never be built, and the new building would only last five years. In 1843 the SER and Croydon railway companies became increasingly concerned by the high tolls charged by the London and Greenwich Railway for the use of the station approaches, and gained Parliamentary approval to build their own independent line into south London to a new station at Bricklayers Arms , which

1168-604: The 1930s, a regular feature of London Bridge traffic was a glut of commuter services all departing at or shortly after 5:00 pm. A typical timetable included 12-car services to Brighton, Eastbourne and Littlehampton, all between 5:00 and 5:05. "The fives" continued to run until the mid-1970s. Both the London Bridge stations were badly damaged by bombing in the London Blitz in December 1940 and early 1941. The shell of

1241-423: The 1950s and 1960s, with the final steam service running in 1964, when the line to Oxted and Uckfield was replaced by diesel / electric multiple units. The very last scheduled steam train was the 4.50am to Tonbridge via Redhill on 4 January 1964 hauled by an N class locomotive. By the early 1970s the station could no longer cope with the volume of traffic. Between 1972 and 1978, BR significantly redeveloped

1314-678: The 2010s to better accommodate the Thameslink route which provides a connection to Gatwick Airport , Luton Airport and Crossrail . London Bridge is served by Southeastern services from Charing Cross and Cannon Street to destinations in southeast London, Kent and East Sussex and is a terminus for many Southern commuter and regional services to south London and numerous destinations in South East England. Thameslink services from Bedford, Cambridge and Peterborough to Brighton and other destinations in Sussex and Kent began serving

1387-583: The Bank branch of the Northern line . In 2023, it was the 6th busiest station on the network with 54.77 million users. It is the only station on the London Underground network with "London" in its name (while the NR termini are named, for instance, "London Waterloo" the Underground station is simply named "Waterloo"). There are two platforms on each line and two main sets of escalators to and from

1460-604: The Chatham and Brighton stations was partially knocked through in 1928 to provide an easier interchange between stations. This allowed a greater range of platforms to be used for the increasingly frequent suburban rail services to London Bridge. Between 1926 and 1928 the Southern Railway electrified the SE&;CR suburban lines at London Bridge using a third rail system, adapting the existing LB&SCR routes to it at

1533-598: The Croydon railway to build their own independent station. The London and Brighton Railway and the South Eastern Railway (SER) were also planning routes from London to Brighton and Dover respectively, and the British Parliament decided that the London and Greenwich line should become the entry corridor into London from South East England. The two railways were therefore required to share

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1606-532: The L&CR pooled its locomotive stock with the SER, to form the Croydon and Dover Joint Committee. From March 1844 the L&BR joined the scheme and the locomotives were thereafter operated by the Brighton, Croydon and Dover Joint Committee, which also ordered further locomotives. These arrangements caused great operating problems for the L&CR and the L&BR and in April 1845 they gave notice of withdrawal from

1679-585: The London and Brighton Railway joined it on 12 July 1841, followed by the South Eastern Railway on 26 May 1842. It was soon found that the viaduct approaching London Bridge would be inadequate to deal with the traffic generated by four railways, so it was widened by the Greenwich Railway between 1840 and 1842, doubling the number of tracks to four. The new lines, intended for the Croydon, Brighton and South Eastern trains, were situated on

1752-424: The London and Croydon from Norwood. Over the following two years the point of convergence with the L&CR was varied, but all the lines converged at or before Corbett's Lane Junction. Capacity at London Bridge was clearly going to be an issue, and the L&CR took further powers (11 June 1838) to enlarge its station then under construction at London Bridge. A parliamentary select committee also became concerned about

1825-504: The London freight terminal point was built at New Cross; the adjacent Surrey Canal was considered to give sufficient onward connectivity. There was also an engine shed at New Cross; coal was brought in by the canal, there being at the time no rail connection to coal mines. The consultant engineer was William Cubitt . The line proved to be expensive to build, costing £615,000 rather than the estimated £180,000, due to large cuttings at New Cross and Forest Hill . The only severe gradient

1898-615: The SR installed colour light signalling . The Southern Railway electrified the Brighton Main Line services to Brighton and the South Coast, providing a full service to Three Bridges on 17 July 1932. This was followed by a full electric service to Brighton and West Worthing on 1 January 1933, followed by services to Seaford , Eastbourne and Hastings on 7 July 1935 and to Bognor Regis and Littlehampton on 3 July 1938. By

1971-472: The Thameslink core. Trains to London Cannon Street can also depart from platform 4 if necessary. The platforms are linked together by a large street-level concourse, offering a ticket office, retail facilities and waiting areas, with entrances on St Thomas Street and Tooley Street. In addition, an upper level entrance gives direct access to platforms 10–15. London Bridge is one of the busiest stations in

2044-501: The Thameslink lines at London Bridge were one of the few locations in the UK to use a digital signalling system. In October 2022 a rescued Victorian-era church pipe organ , nicknamed "Henry" , was installed on the station concourse. The organ is free for public use. The station's platform configuration is: All platforms are bi-directional, trains to London Charing Cross can run from platforms 3-9, as well as trains to London Blackfriars and

2117-826: The Tooley Street ticket hall. All four platforms are directly accessible from the Borough High Street entrance/exit. There is an emergency exit to Joiner Street. London station group Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 225960067 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:40:59 GMT London and Croydon Railway The Surrey Iron Railway had been opened in 1806 between Wandsworth and Croydon; it

2190-460: The UK , with an estimated 63.1 million passenger entries/exits in 2019/20. However, as with other stations, patronage dropped dramatically as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic . The estimated usage figure fell 78% in 2020/21 to 13.8 million, although it rose in the ranking by one place to the third busiest in the country, behind Stratford and Victoria , both also in London. Typical services from

2263-493: The arrangement in January 1846, when the locomotives were divided between the three companies. The L&CR received eight locomotives back in April 1845, seven of which had been owned by other railways. The railway opened an early example of a roundhouse motive power depot at New Cross 1 June 1839, but this brick-built building was burned down 14 October 1844. It was replaced by a nearby traditional straight shed in 1845, and

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2336-488: The atmospheric experiment was abandoned. The engine house at Dartmouth Arms was largely demolished in 1851 and an electricity sub-station was built on the site in 1928. Stone from the Croydon pumping station was reused in construction of the Surrey Street waterworks building, which still exists. According to one historian the use of the atmospheric system cost the railway £500,000 and was 'a sad fiasco'. The railway

2409-488: The completion of the South London Line and other suburban lines to Victoria station . This had a single-span trussed-arch roof measuring 88 by 655 ft (27 by 200 m), and was designed by J. Hawkshaw and Banister. During the first decade of the twentieth century LB&SCR station at London Bridge was again enlarged, but overall London Bridge station remained a "sprawling confusion". The chaotic nature of

2482-623: The first station and build a new one on its site. Plans for a large new station were drawn up, designed jointly by Lewis Cubitt , John Urpeth Rastrick and Henry Roberts . Drawings were published in the Illustrated London News and George Bradshaw 's Guide to the London and Brighton Railway 1844. They show 'a quasi-Italianate building with a picturesque campanile '. It opened for business in July 1844 while only partially complete, but events were taking place which would mean that

2555-461: The former joint station, which became the property of the LB&SCR. The SER station was therefore rebuilt and enlarged between 1847 and 1850, to a design by Samuel Beazley . At the same time yet further improvements were made to the station approaches, increasing the number of tracks to six, which entirely separated the lines of the two railways. Once these extensions were complete the SER closed its passenger terminus at Bricklayer's Arms and converted

2628-452: The line into London Bridge was postponed because of delays in constructing a bridge at Bermondsey Street. From 10 October 1836, trains were able to operate as far as the east end of this bridge, with passengers having to walk the last 300 yards (270 m). The station has had several changes of ownership and complete rebuilds since opening. The original station had four tracks and was 60 feet (18 m) wide and 400 feet (120 m) long. It

2701-402: The north side of the station were also rebuilt. During the works, Charing Cross trains did not call at the station for most of 2015–16 as the platforms were rebuilt, followed by Cannon Street trains from 2016 to 2017. Thameslink services to/from the Thameslink core did not stop between 2015 and May 2018, when an all day service with significantly enhanced frequency began as the programme of works

2774-457: The original turntable and associated lines were incorporated into a locomotive repair depot in the same year. There was also a small depot at Croydon There were first and second-class four-wheeled carriages, both of the three-compartment type usual for the period, the main difference seeming to be that the first-class coaches carried 18 passengers, the second-class 24. The line into London Bridge became increasingly congested so at Corbetts Lane

2847-558: The purpose; at this time however it had inadequate funds to carry out the actual construction, and the Croydon company was obliged to do the work itself, taking some of the London and Greenwich Railway Company's land on the north side for the purpose, obtaining the necessary powers in the London and Croydon Railway (Southwark Station) Act 1836 on 14 July 1836. At this stage the Greenwich line had not yet been opened into London Bridge: this

2920-406: The railway at New Cross, about 1842. In 1844, the L&CR was given parliamentary authority to lay an additional line next to the existing track and test an atmospheric railway system. Pumping stations were built at Portland Road , Croydon and Dartmouth Arms , which created a vacuum in a pipe laid between the running rails. A free-running piston in the pipe was attached to the train through

2993-514: The route of the London and Croydon Railway from near Norwood (which in turn shared the route of the London and Greenwich Railway from Bermondsey to London Bridge). As a result, the London and Croydon Railway obtained powers in the London and Croydon Railway (Southwark Station) Act 1838 ( 1 & 2 Vict. c. xx) to enlarge the station it was then constructing at London Bridge, before it had opened for traffic. The London and Croydon Railway opened its line and began using its station on 5 June 1839;

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3066-434: The safety of the arrangements, and in response the London and Greenwich Railway Company was given powers to widen its viaduct on the southern side so as to make a four-track viaduct from Corbett's Lane to London Bridge. In its first conception, the line was to follow the bed of the Croydon Canal for much of the route. A jury determined the value of the canal as £40,250 as if it was a going concern. When detailed route design

3139-477: The same that December. In 1991, a "Thameslink 2000" project was proposed that would improve services between London Bridge and the Great Northern lines. It was originally hoped the work would be complete by 1997. A £500 million refurbishment programme was announced by Railtrack in 1999, which would have seen the station complex rotated by 90 degrees, and large amount of shopping space added. The station

3212-409: The same time. The first electric services ran on 25 March 1928 from London Bridge to Crystal Palace via Sydenham, followed by a peak hour service to Coulsdon North on 17 June. This was followed by electric services to Epsom Downs via West Croydon, Crystal Palace via Tulse Hill, and Streatham Hill, and to Dorking North and Effingham Junction via Mitcham on 3 March 1929. At the same time as electrification,

3285-400: The site into a goods depot in 1852. London Bridge station remained the London terminus of the SER until 1864 when its station was again rebuilt. Five of the existing platforms were converted into a through station to enable the extension of the main line into central London and the opening of Charing Cross railway station , and in 1866 to Cannon Street station . In 1899 the SER entered into

3358-474: The south of the River Thames (the other being Waterloo ) and is the fourth-busiest station in London, handling over 50 million passengers a year. The station was originally opened by the London and Greenwich Railway as a local service. It subsequently served the London and Croydon Railway , the London and Brighton Railway and the South Eastern Railway , thus becoming an important London terminus. It

3431-475: The south on St Thomas Street, and to the north, on Tooley Street. This required demolishing the 1893 SER office building. The refurbished station was officially opened by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge on 9 May 2018. The total estimated value of the project was around £1 billion. In July 2019, the refurbished station made the shortlist for the Stirling Prize for excellence in architecture. In 2020

3504-462: The south side of the existing Greenwich line, whereas their station was to the north of the London Bridge site, leading to an awkward and potentially dangerous crossing of one another's lines. The directors of the companies involved decided to exchange sites; the London and Greenwich Railway would take over the newly completed London and Croydon Railway station, whilst a new joint committee of the Croydon, Brighton and South Eastern companies would demolish

3577-413: The southern end followed the alignment of the Croydon Canal from Anerley to a terminus at Croydon, with a locomotive depot, on the site of the canal basin. This was later to be developed to the present-day West Croydon station . The London and Greenwich Railway Company intended that its proposed London Bridge terminus would accommodate trains of several other companies and had acquired land sufficient for

3650-466: The station and its approaches. This included a £21 million re-signalling scheme that consolidated 16 signal boxes into a new London Bridge Area Signalling Centre and a new station concourse designed by N. D. T. Wikeley, regional architect for the Southern Region. This was opened 14 December 1978. New awnings were added over the former SER platforms, but the arched Brighton roof was left. It

3723-413: The station are: The typical weekday off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is: The typical weekday off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is: The typical weekday off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is: The typical weekday off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is: The Underground station is between Southwark and Bermondsey on the Jubilee line , and between Borough and Bank on

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3796-508: The station at the turn of the century was described in John Davidson 's poem, "London Bridge": Inside the station, everything's so old, So inconvenient, of such manifold Perplexity, and, as a mole might see, So strictly what a station shouldn't be, That no idea minifies its crude And yet elaborate ineptitude. The South London Line from London Bridge to Victoria was electrified in 1909 with an experimental overhead system . It

3869-401: The station in 2018. The main line station is one of 19 UK stations managed by Network Rail . It has a ticket hall and entrance area with its main frontage on Tooley Street , and other entrances on Borough High Street and within the main line station concourse. It is one of two mainline London termini south of the River Thames , the other is Waterloo . The London Underground station is on

3942-516: The train shed, the London and Greenwich Railway entered into an agreement with the proposed London and Croydon Railway for the latter to use its tracks from Corbett's Lane, Bermondsey, and to share its station. However, the Greenwich railway had underestimated the cost of building the long viaduct leading to London Bridge and was not able to build a sufficiently large station for the traffic for both companies, and so in July 1836 it sold some land adjacent to its station (then still under construction) to

4015-432: The two stations was patched up but the former Terminus Hotel, then used as railway offices, was rendered unsafe and demolished. British Railways (BR) took over responsibility for the station in 1948 following nationalisation of the railways. They did not consider London Bridge a priority at first, and the war-torn damage of the station remained into the 1960s. Electrification of the lines into London Bridge continued during

4088-471: Was 1:100 (1%) for 2 + 3 ⁄ 4 miles (4.4 km) from New Cross to Forest Hill. In addition to the viaduct where it joined the L&GR, there were 18 bridges, and three level road crossings , each attended by a "policeman". The track was laid to standard 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ) gauge , although during the construction the directors were undecided and ordered extra-long 9 ft (2,743 mm) sleepers with

4161-587: Was a plateway operating on the toll principle, in which carriers could move wagons with their own horses. However, the Surrey Iron Railway's terminal on the Thames was rather far west and sea-going vessels were discouraged from connecting with it. Edge railways using locomotive traction represented a clear technological advance, marked particularly by the Stockton and Darlington Railway (1825) and

4234-541: Was also demolished, replaced by an interchange concourse underneath the platforms accessed by lift, stairs and escalator. This required the demolition of brick vaults between Stainer and Weston Streets, which were pedestrianised and became part of the new concourse. A wider route was created through the Western Arcade to Joiner Street and the underground station by relocating existing shops in to renovated barrel vaults. Two major new street level entrances were opened to

4307-517: Was approached through a pair of iron gates. Three tracks led into two platforms as a stub end of a viaduct. The station was entirely exposed to the weather until a tarred canvas roof was erected in 1840. Sixteen columns and fourteen beams from this structure were retrieved in 2013 and given to the Vale of Rheidol Railway in Aberystwyth , Wales for use in a planned railway museum. Before completing

4380-474: Was at London Road in Croydon . Because of the planned additional traffic following the opening of the L&BR and the SER, the L&CR sought powers to widen the viaduct from Corbetts Lane to London Bridge in 1840. Parliament decided that the widening should be undertaken by the owners, the L&GR. This work was completed by 1842. By this time the L&CR had joined the newly opened SER and L&BR to form

4453-515: Was completed on 1 December 1836. The South Eastern Railway got its authorising act of Parliament, the South Eastern Railway Act 1836 ( 6 & 7 Will. 4 . c. lxxv), on 21 June 1836 for a line from Dover, joining the London and Croydon line end-on at Croydon, and the London and Brighton Railway obtained its London and Brighton Railway Act 1837 ( 7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. cxix) on 15 June 1837, also relying on running over

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4526-407: Was completed. As part of the rebuilding works, the listed northern wall of the terminus train-shed was demolished and replaced with a new retaining wall, and the listed bays of the roof over the terminating platforms were dismantled and stored. Each of the rebuilt platforms has its own full length platform canopy. The footbridge dating from the 1970s that linked platforms for passenger interchange

4599-412: Was comprehensively redeveloped between 2009 and 2017 with the rebuilding of all platforms, the addition of two major new street-level entrances, and changes to passenger concourses and retail facilities. The Shard opened next to the station in 2012. It included a new entrance and roof for the terminal level concourse, and a larger bus station was constructed in front of the building. This was followed by

4672-403: Was constructed south of Jolly Sailor, to carry the atmospheric line over the conventional steam line. The railway experienced many problems with the pumping engines and the valves during 1846, creating dissatisfaction among the shareholders with the directors. The added directors from the L&BR, after the amalgamation in August, were even less interested in continuing the experiment. In 1847,

4745-663: Was described by The Oxford companion to British Railway History as "one of the best modern station reconstructions in Britain". Patronage to London Bridge tailed off from a peak in the early 1970s. The station remained popular for through routes to the City and the West End, but the number of terminal trains declined significantly by the early 1980s. The bridge over the station's north end became Grade II listed in January 1988, while Platforms 9–16 (the former LB&SCR side) became listed

4818-595: Was made between the two companies as the LC&DR advertised connections to and from London Bridge in its timetables in The Times and Bradshaw's Railway Guide for July 1861. This arrangement was short-lived pending the construction of the LC&DR line to Holborn Viaduct . The LB&SCR also built the Terminus Hotel at the station in 1861. It was designed by Henry Currey , architect for St Thomas's Hospital , and had 150 public rooms over seven stories. It

4891-454: Was rebuilt and enlarged in 1853–4 to deal with the additional traffic from the lines to Sydenham and Crystal Palace . A three-storey box-like structure in Italian style was erected, with the name of the railway emblazoned on the top parapet. In 1859 the LC&DR applied to the LB&SCR for running powers from Sydenham to London Bridge, but was refused. However, some ticketing arrangement

4964-400: Was rebuilt in 1849 and again in 1864 to provide more services and increase capacity. Local services from London Bridge began to be electrified in the beginning of the 20th century, and had spread to national routes by the 1930s. The station was extensively rebuilt by British Rail during the 1970s, along with a comprehensive re-signalling scheme and track alignment. It was further redeveloped in

5037-537: Was successful and other suburban services were electrified including the line to Crystal Palace in 1912. Because of World War I , the line to Croydon was not electrified until 1920. The Railways Act 1921 led to the Big Four grouping in 1923. All of the railways of southern England combined to form the Southern Railway (SR), bringing the London Bridge complex under single ownership. The wall that divided

5110-580: Was unavoidable. When the SER's line became authorised, the London and Croydon Railway Company reconsidered the matter, as its line would now be part of a trunk route, and it was decided to ease the gradient from New Cross to 1 in 100; this involved a deeper, and longer, cutting, and the line would only reach surface level at the present-day Forest Hill station. The deeper cuttings required more surface area of land; and some curvature improvements further south also required unanticipated land acquisition. Stations were to be at New Cross, Dartmouth Arms (named after

5183-423: Was undertaken (before handover of the canal), it was clear that the meanderings and zigzags made by the canal were unsuitable, and that the line needed to be built alongside the general course. The levels around New Cross were also difficult, and to find the best compromise a 1 in 80 gradient was selected, involving at that time the use of assistant engines due to the steepness. Even so, a cutting of considerable depth

5256-475: Was unsuccessful because it was on the south bank of the river, so was turned into offices for the railway in 1893. It was destroyed by bombing in 1941. An act of Parliament of 1862 gave the LB&SCR power to enlarge the station further. Over the next few years under the direction of new Chief Engineer Frederick Banister , the company built four more platform-faces in an adjoining area to the south of its existing station to cope with additional traffic generated by

5329-481: Was vaguely described as a "West End terminus". This line opened on 1 May 1844 and most of the services from these two companies were withdrawn from London Bridge, leaving only the Greenwich and Brighton companies using London Bridge station. The Greenwich company was on the brink of bankruptcy and so was forced to lease its lines to the SER, which took effect from 1 January 1845. The next year the Croydon and Brighton companies, along with other small railways, merged to form

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