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The Catford Loop Line is a
The Catford Loop Line is a railway line
Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...
in southeast London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. It carries a suburban stopping passenger service from central London to Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter main line railway into London. Sevenoaks is from Charing Cross, the traditio ...
, and is also a relief route for the Chatham Main Line carrying passenger trains from London Victoria
Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street (not the Q ...
to the Kent coast. There is also much freight activity as this is the main route to Willesden and the north via Latchmere Junction. Freight traffic includes aggregates trains to and from locations along the Thames estuary, and Kent, aviation fuel running between Colnbrook (for Heathrow) and the Isle of Grain, and a small number of international workings from the Channel Tunnel via the yard at Dollands Moor. Until around 2013, a significant quantity of intermodal traffic from Thamesport
London Thamesport (formerly just "Thamesport") is a small container seaport on the River Medway, serving the North Sea. It is located on the Isle of Grain, in the Medway unitary authority district of the English county of Kent. The area was form ...
used the line - however, the opening of London Gateway
DP World London Gateway is a port within the wider Port of London, United Kingdom. Opened in November 2013, the site is a fully integrated logistics facility, comprising a semi-automated deep-sea container terminal on the same site as the UK ...
meant that the larger container ships stopped serving Thamesport and this traffic then ceased.
The line begins at Brixton Junction, where it diverges from the Chatham Main line, and ends when it rejoins the Chatham Main Line (now extended to pairs of fast and slow lines) at Shortlands Junction, west of station.
Stations
* (platforms closed 1916) * * * * * * * *History
Incorporated as the Shortlands and Nunhead Railway in 1889 it was opened by theLondon, Chatham and Dover Railway
The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and no ...
on 1 July 1892.
The line left the former Crystal Palace High Level branch and the Nunhead to Lewisham link (the former Greenwich Park branch) at a junction east of .
The five stations on the original route were:
*
*
*
*
*
The length of the Catford Loop is nearly eight miles (12.5 km).
The line was electrified
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...
with the other SECR urban routes on 12 July 1925 by the Southern Railway on its 660 DC third-rail system.
As of 12 January 2015, Southeastern operates an hourly service from London Victoria to Dover Priory over the line; Denmark Hill is the only station on the line called at by this service. All other services originate from London Blackfriars and Thameslink Core and call at all stations.
Services
The service in June 2022 is: Off-peak / Weekends: *2tph London Blackfriars via Elephant and Castle *2tph Kentish Town via Elephant and Castle (currently suspended) *1tph London Victoria (calling only at Denmark Hill) *2tph Sevenoaks via Swanley *2tph Orpington (currently suspended) *1tph Gillingham via Chatham (calling only at Denmark Hill) Peak *2tph Welwyn Garden City via Elephant and Castle *2tph Luton via London Blackfriars *2tph London Victoria (calling only at Denmark Hill) *2tph Sevenoaks via Swanley *2tph Orpington *2tph Gillingham via Chatham (calling only at Denmark Hill + some at Crofton Park and Bellingham)References
{{Railway lines in London Transport in the London Borough of Bromley Transport in the London Borough of Lambeth Transport in the London Borough of Lewisham Transport in the London Borough of Southwark Railway loop lines Railway lines in London Railway lines opened in 1892 Standard gauge railways in London