Elmers End is a railway station and tram terminus in

Elmers End Elmers End is an area of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, Greater London and formerly part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south of Beckenham, west of Eden Park, north of Monks Orchard and east of An ...

south London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It 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 ...

and on the railway it is down the line from

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 ...

. The railway through Elmers End was opened by the South Eastern Railway on 1 April 1864 as an extension of 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 ...

from

New Beckenham New Beckenham railway station serves Beckenham in the London Borough of Bromley in south-east London, in Travelcard Zone 4. It is measured from . The station and all trains serving it are operated by Southeastern. History Early years (1857� ...

to Addiscombe; there was a

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...

, opened on 29 May 1882 to

Hayes Hayes may refer to: * Hayes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States * Hayes (given name) Businesses * Hayes Brake, an American designer and manufacturer of disc brakes * Ha ...

at this station. The portion of the line to Addiscombe, which was originally named ''Croydon (Addiscombe Road)'', was closed in 1997 when Tramlink took over much of the trackbed from Elmers End. The Hayes line service on the suburban commuter railway line between Hayes and London Charing Cross through Elmers End is still in use. The station is on Elmers End Road (A214), at the south-east corner of

South Norwood Country Park South Norwood Country Park is a park in South Norwood, close to Elmers End and Birkbeck train stations. The historic Kent-Surrey border runs through the site, and since 1965 it has been located wholly in the London Borough of Croydon. It is a 47 ...

. One former platform is now the terminus for Tramlink services to central

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 ...

. Work is underway to open a second tram platform and double the tram line to Arena to increase capacity. As of March 2019, vegetation has been cleared to make way for the new line. The platform was due to open in December 2020, but has been delayed.

History

Early years (1857-1922)

The Mid Kent line 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 from opening. The station was occupied in what was then a rural area with scattered farm houses and hamlets. The station building was located on the down side whilst a goods yard was provided on the up side. By 1914 Elmers End had almost become part of Beckenham on the east side of the railway. On the opposite side a sewage works, the Croydon Council refuse destructor, Beckenham Council's refuse destructor and electric power station as well as two brick works and Crystal Palace District Cemetery were all located. Sidings served the Croydon and Beckenham Council sites. The station was rebuilt in 1881/2 in anticipation of the opening of the Hayes branch. Bay platforms were provided on the up and down side and a new 43 lever signal box was provided immediately south of the station. New coal sidings, in anticipation of further suburban growth, were also provided on the up side. The Elmers End – Hayes section was built by the West Wickham & Hayes Railway, and left the existing line just south of the station on a tight 13 chain curve. It was sold to the South Eastern Railway in 1881 and opened on 29 May 1882. Initially 13 services each way were operated between Elmers End and Hayes with central London passengers having to change trains. In 1898 the South Eastern Railway and its bitter rivals the London Chatham & Dover Railway agreed to work as one railway company under the name of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway and Elmers End 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), Elmers End 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 between Elmers End and Clock House area was raised in an effort to reduce flooding. Electrification led to further house building between Clock House and Elmers End stations. During World War 2 the station was hit three times by bombs during 1941. Some track alterations took place in 1947 which included the link between the Up Bay and Hayes line being removed, platform lengthening and direct access from the Hayes branch to the down bay.

British Railways (1948-1994)

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and following nationalisation on 1 January 1948, the station fell under the auspices of Southern Region of British Railways. Three-aspect colour light signals were installed at the station in 1956. The goods yard was closed on 6 May 1963. The station building was destroyed by fire on 16 December 1973 On 28 May 1975 all signalling came under the control of the London Bridge Signalling Centre and the 1882 signal box was closed. The down bay was taken out of passenger use and became an engineer's siding. 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. Services to Sanderstead ceased in May 1983 with closure of 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 ...

The privatisation era (1994-Present Day)

Following privatisation of British Rail on 1 April 1994 the infrastructure at Elmers End 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. In 1997 the line to Addiscombe closed – up to this point it was generally worked by a 2-car EMU connecting to and from Hayes services. The section to Woodside and part of the former route to Selsdon re-opened in 2000 as part of the Croydon Tramlink network. 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

National Rail

National Rail services at Elmers End are operated by

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

(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.

London Trams

London Trams also operate services at Elmers End. Trams run every 10 minutes Monday-Saturday and every 15 minutes on Sundays to

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

via Croydon Town Centre.

Connections

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 54,

356 Year 356 ( CCCLVI) was a leap 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 Constantius and Iulianus (or, less frequently, year 1109 ''Ab urbe co ...

and 289 serve the station from the adjacent Elmers End Interchange.

Notes

References

External links

{{London bus and coach stations Railway stations in the London Borough of Bromley Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1864 Railway stations served by Southeastern Tramlink stops in the London Borough of Bromley