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Clock House railway station is in the
London Borough of Bromley
The London Borough of Bromley () is the southeasternmost of the London boroughs that make up Greater London, bordering the ceremonial county of Kent, which most of Bromley was part of before 1965. The borough's population is an estimated 332,336 ...
in south east
London
London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, in
Travelcard Zone 4 between
Beckenham and
Penge
Penge () is a suburb of South East London, England, now in the London Borough of Bromley, west of Bromley, north east of Croydon and south east of Charing Cross.
History
Penge was once a small hamlet, which was recorded under the name Pence ...
. It is down the line from . The station and all trains serving it are operated by
Southeastern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
on the
Hayes line.
The station, which was opened by the South Eastern Railway in 1890, is named after the nearby residence of the Cator Family, demolished in 1896. Clock House retains its original street level booking hall and the remnants of its platform canopies and was formerly known for its tendency to flood whenever overwhelmed by the Chaffinch brook. The station name can be spelt either Clock House or Clockhouse. For example, the previous station signage used the latter (historically inaccurate) form, whilst the published timetables use the former version. The new Southeastern re-branded station signage and livery has since corrected this inaccuracy.
History
Early years (1857-1922)
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 ...
was built by the Mid-Kent and North Kent Junction Railway (MK&NKJR) and was opened on 1 January 1857 as far as Beckenham Junction. From opening the line was worked by the
South Eastern Railway (SER).
Seven years later the MK&NKJR built an extension from a new junction station at New Beckenham to
Croydon (Addiscombe Road) with an intermediate station at Elmers End, which again was operated by the SER.
House building commenced in the area in 1885 and Clock House station was opened on 1 May 1890 and was named after a nearby mansion. The station was equipped with a goods yard on the down side from opening. The 18-lever signal box was located on the up side at the south end of the station.
The Elmers End – Hayes section was built by the West Wickham & Hayes Railway, but was sold to the South Eastern Railway on opening day, 29 May 1882.
[The current Hayes service (2016) which serves the station uses the 1857 line to New Beckenham, the 1864 line to Elmers End and the 1882 line to Hayes.]
In 1898 the South Eastern Railway and its bitter rivals the London Chatham and Dover Railway agreed to work as one railway company under the name of the
South Eastern and Chatham Railway
The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee (SE&CRCJMC),Awdry (1990), page 199 known as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR), was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Easter ...
and Clock House became an SECR station.
Southern Railway (1923-1947)
Following the
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921 (c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an Act of Parliament enacted by the British government and intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grouping" them into four la ...
(also known as the Grouping Act), Clock House became a
Southern Railway station on 1 January 1923.
The Mid-Kent line was
electrified with the (750 V DC third rail) system and electric services commenced on 28 February 1926. Early electric services were worked by early Southern Railway 3-car Electric Multiple Unit trains often built from old SECR carriages. In connection with the electrification the track bed in the Clock House area was raised in an effort to reduce flooding. Electrification led to further house building between Clock House and Elmers End.
British Railways (1948-1994)
After World War II and following nationalisation on 1 January 1948, the station fell under the auspices of
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways Southern Region. Three-aspect colour light signals were installed at the station in 1956 controlled by New Beckenham signal box (in the down direction) and Elmers End (up direction).
The signal box at the station was taken out of use on 19 August 1962 where it presumably had been used to control access to the goods yard.
The goods yard was closed on 19 April 1965.
On 28 May 1975 all signalling came under the control of the London Bridge Signalling Centre.
Upon sectorisation in 1982, three passenger sectors were created:
InterCity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
, operating principal express services; and London & South East (renamed
Network SouthEast in 1986) who operated commuter services in the London area.
The privatisation era (1994-Present Day)
Following privatisation of British Rail on 1 April 1994 the infrastructure at New Beckenham station became the responsibility of
Railtrack
Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...
whilst a business unit operated the train services. On 13 October 1996 operation of the passenger services passed to
Connex South Eastern who were originally due to run the franchise until 2011.
Following a number of accidents and financial issues Railtrack plc was sold to
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
on 3 October 2002 who became responsible for the infrastructure.
On 27 June 2003 the
Strategic Rail Authority
The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for Rail transport in the United Kingdom, the railway industry. Its motto was 'Brita ...
decided to strip Connex of the franchise citing poor financial management and run the franchise itself. Connex South Eastern continued to operate the franchise until 8 November 2003 with the services transferring to the
Strategic Rail Authority's South Eastern Trains subsidiary the following day.
On 30 November 2005 the
Department for Transport
The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...
awarded
Govia the Integrated Kent franchise. The services operated by South Eastern Trains transferred to
Southeastern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
on 1 April 2006.
Services
All services at Clock House are operated by
Southeastern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
using , , and
EMUs
Emus may refer to:
* Emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the g ...
.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:
* 4 tph to
London Charing Cross
Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a central London railway terminus between the Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South Eastern Main Line to Dover via Ashf ...
(2 of these run non-stop between and and 2 call at )
* 4 tph to
On Sundays, the station is served by a half-hourly service between Hayes and London Charing Cross via Lewisham.
Accessibility
Platform 2 (trains towards Hayes) has step-free access, but Platform 1 (trains towards London) has access available via steps only.
Connections
station is an 8-minute walk from this station, and has trains between London Victoria and Orpington, which are also operated by Southeastern.
Beckenham Road tram stop
Beckenham Road tram stop is a light rail stop in the London Borough of Bromley in the southern suburbs of London. The stop is located on an embankment above Beckenham Road (A234) which connects Beckenham with Crystal Palace and Penge on the sit ...
is a 3-minute walk, which has
Tramlink services to
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 ...
.
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...
routes
194
Year 194 ( CXCIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Septimius and Septimius (or, less frequently, year 947 '' Ab urbe ...
,
227
Year 227 ( CCXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Senecio and Fulvius (or, less frequently, year 980 ''Ab urbe condi ...
,
354
__NOTOC__
Year 354 ( CCCLIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Constantius (or, less frequently, yea ...
and
358
Year 358 ( CCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Datianus and Cerealis (or, less frequently, year 1111 ''Ab urbe ...
serve the station.
Notes
References
External links
Beckenham History
{{TSGN and SE Stations, Hayes=y, FCC None=y, SN None=y
Railway stations in the London Borough of Bromley
Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1890
Railway stations served by Southeastern