Bingham Road railway station was in

Addiscombe Addiscombe is an area of south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located south of Charing Cross, and is situated north of Coombe and Selsdon, east of Croydon town centre, south of Woodside, and west of Shirley. Et ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

on the

Woodside and South Croydon Joint Railway The Woodside and South Croydon Joint Railway (W&SC) was a short, relatively short-lived and unsuccessful railway in the London Borough of Croydon in London, England. Its site is now largely occupied by Tramlink. Route ; Woodside station Ju ...

. It was opened on 1 September 1906 on the north side of Bingham Road, with two wooden platforms without buildings and was closed on 15 March 1915 as a wartime economy measure. A new station on the south side of Bingham Road was opened in 1935 and finally closed in 1983. The modern

Addiscombe tram stop Addiscombe tram stop is a light rail stop in the London Borough of Croydon in the southern suburbs of London. The tram stop is located between Bingham Road and Lower Addiscombe Road, on a section of line which follows the trackbed of the for ...

(open 2000) at ground level is situated at the location of the first halt closed in 1915 which was situated on an embankment above the present site.

History

A link between the

Mid-Kent Line The Mid-Kent line (also referred to as the Hayes line by train operators, official bodies and the general public) is a British railway line running from Courthill Loop North junction (just south of Lewisham station) to Hayes railway station in t ...

at Woodside and the

Oxted Line The Oxted line is a railway in southern England and part of the Southern franchise. The railway splits into two branches towards the south and has direct trains throughout to London termini. It was opened jointly by the London, Brighton and ...

at known as the

was authorised in 1880. Opened on 10 August 1885, it was jointly worked by the

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR; known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its ...

and the South Eastern Railway. As part of a scheme to increase patronage using Kitson steam railmotors designed by Wainwright, a

railway halt A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a Rail transport, railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passenger train, passengers, freight rail transport, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one r ...

was provided on the south side of Bingham Road in

on 1 September 1906. , also on the Woodside and South Croydon line, was opened on the same day, part of four such halts in the London area; the others being and Beeches Halt. The site chosen for Bingham Road station was adjacent to the Addiscombe terminus of the Croydon Corporation Tramways' service. Facilities consisted of two wooden platforms, with the tickets for passengers joining or leaving the train being sold or collected by the

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

. Despite new construction along the route of the line, passenger loadings were light and working expenses generally exceeded farebox revenue. The line was a candidate for wartime economies during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the halts at Bingham Road and Spencer Road were closed on 14 March 1915 upon which the railmotor service ceased, with full closure of the line following on 31 December 1916. The line was reopened and electrified by the Southern Railway on 30 September 1935. Bingham Road was rebuilt at a cost of £10,000, with brick entrances and covered staircases provided either side of the road underbridge, as well as concrete platforms covered by wood and steel glass canopies. Electrification was not a success and by 1949 London's Disused Stations Volume 4 by J.E. Connor page 14 the service was reduced to a peak-hours 2-car half-hourly shuttle from . The station's platforms were nevertheless extended as part of a mid-1950s scheme to allow it to accommodate 10-car trains. Full closure was proposed in the

Beeching Report Beeching is an English surname. Either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames' ...

but a reprieve was granted on the basis that some hardship would be caused. The line continued to be unprofitable and from 10 July 1967, Bingham Road and were only served between 07:52 to 09:50 and 16:17 to 19:10 on weekdays. A local pressure group was formed to fight the closure, claiming there was no alternative and, after several public meetings, the Ministry of Transport rejected the closure plans because of the hardship it would cause to the 650 daily passengers using the line. All through London services ceased in April 1976 leaving 2EPB 2-car sets to provide a shuttle service between Elmers End and Selsdon or . In 1980, a passenger count revealed that only 116 passengers were using Bingham Road daily. The inevitable closure of the line came in 1983, with the last train departing at 19:30 from Sanderstead on Friday 13 May and official closure following on 16 May. LB and SCRly map 204 (cropped)

The station featured in '' The Rebel'' (1961) starring

Tony Hancock Anthony John Hancock (12 May 1924 – 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor. High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series ''Hancock's Half Hour'', first broadcast on radio from 1954, ...

and

George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous chara ...

where it was known as ''Fortune Green South''. The sequence showing the dress-code regimentation of the commuters on the platform should be compared to the reverie in which Anthony Steel indulges in

Something Money Can't Buy ''Something Money Can't Buy'' is a 1952 British comedy drama film directed by Pat Jackson and starring Patricia Roc, Anthony Steel and Moira Lister. The film was made with backing from the NFFC as part of its British Film-Makers project with t ...

, in 1952.

Present day

The track was lifted soon after closure and demolition of the wooden station buildings took place after they had been vandalised.

Tramlink London Trams, previously Tramlink and Croydon Tramlink, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It began operation in 2000, the first tram system in the London region since 1952. It is manage ...

services reusing the railway alignment at Bingham Road commenced on 10 May 2000; the formation is no longer elevated as the former railway embankment has been removed and trams run on the level. A solitary fragment of broken wall which formed part of the old Up side entrance still remained in April 2003.

is on the north (ie. opposite) side of Bingham Road, using the site of the first halt.

References

Notes

Sources

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External links

Page at Disused Stations
{{Authority control Disused railway stations in the London Borough of Croydon Former Woodside and South Croydon Joint Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1906 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1915 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1935 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1983 Former Southern Railway (UK) stations 1906 establishments in England 1915 disestablishments in England 1935 establishments in England 1983 disestablishments in England