South London Line
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There South London Line, operated by Southern, runs from Victoria to London Bridge.
It owes its existence to the South London Railway Act 1862, which allowed the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) to take part in this project. The line already existed from Wandsworth Road to Brixton as part of the LCDR main line: the new line was quadrupled between these points and extended to London Bridge. The northern pair was used by the LCDR; the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) used the southern pair. Several of the stations were shared by the two companies.
The following are the stations which are, or have been, on the line:
- London Victoria
- Battersea Park
- Wandsworth Road
- Clapham High Street
- East Brixton - station on LBSCR lines, now closed
- Denmark Hill
- Peckham Rye
- Queen's Road Peckham
- South Bermondsey
- Old Kent Road - closed in 1917
- London Bridge
Electrification
The main importance of this line is that it was a pioneering railway electrification scheme in Britain. The opening of the tramway system in South London had led to huge passenger losses for the railways - 1.25 million in only six months - and the LBSCR electrified the South London line in an attempt to reverse the tide: it had obtained powers to do so in 1903. On 1 December 1909 the first electric trains began services. For the first three years, steam trains alternated with the electrics: the latter operated a 15-minute interval service from 7.30am to midnight. In the first year of electric operation, passengers carried almost doubled, from 4 million to 7.5 million.
The electrification used the overhead system at 6700 V AC, supplied by the power station at Deptford. The line was converted to Southern Railway standard third-rail 660 V DC on 17 June 1928).
The entirety of the route, apart from the London termini, is in Travelcard Zone 2.
The outer route
Another route between Victoria and London Bridge, also operated by Southern, follows the Brighton main lines. It has the following stations:
The Victoria - Brighton line continues southwards at this point; the connecting link runs to the London Bridge - Brighton line at Sydenham. That line from Wandsworth Common to Sydenham was opened on 1 December 1856 by the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway in connection with the removal of the Crystal Palace from Hyde Park to Sydenham Hill. The stations on the remainder of this route are:
- Streatham Hill
- West Norwood
- Gipsy Hill
- Crystal Palace - was suffixed "Low Level" until the High Level station and its branch line closed on 20 September 1954
- Sydenham
- Forest Hill
- Honor Oak Park
- Brockley
- New Cross Gate
- London Bridge
Both the lines will form part of the proposed East London Line southern extensions - the South London Line from Surrey Quays tube station to Clapham High St (and thence to Clapham Junction) and the outer line from New Cross Gate to Crystal Palace.