New Cross Gate is a railway station in

New Cross New Cross is an area in south east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, Telegraph Hill, Nunhead, Peckham, Brockley, Deptford and Greenwich, ...

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 ...

, on the

Brighton Main Line The Brighton Main Line (also known as the South Central Main Line) is a major railway line in the United Kingdom that links Brighton, on the south coast of England, with central London. In London the line has two branches, out of and station ...

and the

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a ...

. It is down the line from and is about west of station. It is in

Travelcard Zone 2 Fare zone 2 is an inner zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and, since 2007, on National Rail services. Ba ...

, and is operated by

History

Bricklayers Arms & New Cross, Midhurst RJD 91

England's railway boom of the 1830s led to two competing companies driving lines through the area. The first, the

London and Croydon Railway The London and Croydon Railway (L&CR) was an early railway in England. It opened in 1839 and in February 1846 merged with other railways to form the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR). Origins The Croydon line and other railways Th ...

(L&CR), established a station on New Cross Road close to Hatcham in 1839. The second, the South Eastern Railway (SER), established a station near Amersham Way in the heart of New Cross in 1849. After both stations came under the ownership of the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923 the former L&CR station was renamed New Cross Gate on 9 July 1923. During the 19th century, New Cross (Gate) became an important junction where the

South London Line The South London line is a railway line in inner south London, England. The initial passenger service on the route was established by the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway on 1 May 1867 when the central London terminal stations of Victoria ...

, the East London Line, and the Bricklayers Arms Line diverged from the

to .

London and Croydon Railway Station

The original station was officially opened on 1 June 1839 by the London and Croydon Railway. and became fully operational on 5 June 1839. It was intended to become the main freight depot and locomotive workshop for the company. In July 1841 the line (but not the station) was also used by the

London and Brighton Railway The London and Brighton Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in England which was incorporated in 1837 and survived until 1846. Its railway ran from a junction with the London and Croydon Railway (L&CR) at Norwood – which gives it access fro ...

. The London and Croydon and London and Brighton companies merged to form 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 ...

(LB&SCR) in July 1846. Between February and May 1847 the station at New Cross was the northern terminus of the

atmospheric An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...

propulsion system introduced by the L&CR, but in the latter month the system was abandoned by the new company.

London Brighton and South Coast Railway Station

On 1 October 1847 the newly formed LB&SCR closed the existing New Cross station, replacing it with another at Cold Blow Lane 0.25 miles to the north, in an attempt to secure passengers from the planned

North Kent Line The North Kent Line is a railway line which branches off the South East Main Line at St Johns junction west of Lewisham station in Greater London and runs to Rochester Bridge Junction near Strood, Medway where it links to the Chatham Main Li ...

of the SER. This move was not a success and was subject to much local criticism, so on 1 May 1849 the LB&SCR rebuilt and re-opened New Cross on the original site. The current station therefore dates from 1849 but was again rebuilt in 1858 to allow for the quadrupling of the

. Further rebuilding was undertaken in 1869 when the East London Railway opened a line to

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

and . The line through the station 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 ...

in 1928 by the Southern Railway using the

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...

system, although the majority of services continued to be steam hauled until the electrification of the Brighton main line in 1932.

East London Railway Station

On 7 December 1869 a separate station for East London Railway services was opened adjacent to the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway station. It was closed on 1 September 1886 when services were diverted to the LB&SCR station. Soon after closure the station was demolished and the land used for sidings.

East London Railway

The East London Railway (ELR) was owned by a consortium of railway companies. Passenger services were operated by the LB&SCR between Croydon and Liverpool Street, and from 1884 by the

District Railway The Metropolitan District Railway, also known as the District Railway, was a passenger railway that served London from 1868 to 1933. Established in 1864 to complete an " inner circle" of lines connecting railway termini in London, the first par ...

between New Cross (Gate) and

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...

. LB&SCR services ceased on 31 March 1913, when the line was electrified using the fourth rail system and thereafter all passenger services were operated by the

Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...

. For the opening of the ELR a separate ELR station was built in 1869 adjacent to the LB&SCR station. It was closed in 1876 and the trains were diverted to the adjacent LB&SCR station. It was reopened in 1884 for additional Metropolitan District Railway services only for it to close two years later. The ELR station was then demolished around 1900 and the site used for sidings. In 1933 the Metropolitan railway was taken over by the

London Passenger Transport Board The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Lond ...

, which operated services as part of the London Transport

Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the line i ...

. London Transport was superseded by Transport for London (TfL).

Freight yard

The London and Croydon planned to use New Cross as the London terminal for its freight traffic, as the station had good access to the

Grand Surrey Canal The Grand Surrey Canal was a canal constructed in south London, England during the early 19th century. It opened to the Old Kent Road in 1807, to Camberwell in 1810, and to Peckham in 1826. Its main purpose was to transport cargo, primarily ti ...

. It therefore built extensive sidings for this purpose. After 1849 the principal freight-handling facility in the area was moved to Willow Walk on the

Bricklayers Arms Bricklayers Arms is the road intersection of the A2 and the London Inner Ring Road where Bermondsey meets Walworth and Elephant & Castle in south London. It is the junction of Tower Bridge Road, Old Kent Road, New Kent Road and Great Dove ...

site, but the sidings continued to be used for the storage of carriages. An

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

map for 1871 shows a substantial carriage shed on the west side of the main line, north of the station, but this was no longer shown on the 1894 map. It had been replaced by a combined carriage and locomotive shed on the east side of the line in 1894, but this closed in 1906. Cross-London freight services were operated to the yard by the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

, which maintained its own goods depot on the site from the 1870s. These services were continued by the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

from 1923, and after 1948 by the

Eastern Region of British Railways The Eastern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948, whose operating area could be identified from the dark blue signs and colour schemes that adorned its station and other railway buildings. Together with the North Eastern Region ( ...

. They ceased to operate in 1962.

Locomotive depot and repair workshops

The L&CR opened a

motive power depot The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

and a locomotive repair facility here in 1839, the former of which appears to have been particularly accident prone. The original building, one of the earliest roundhouses, burned down in 1844. A replacement was built in 1845, and a straight shed built by the LB&SCR in 1848 was blown down in a gale in October 1863. Two further buildings were constructed by the LB&SCR in 1863 and 1869. By 1882 the second (1845) ''Croydon shed'' was derelict and in that year was replaced by ''the new shed'', which was rebuilt with a new roof by the Southern Railway (SR) prior to 1929.Griffiths & Smith (1979), p.95 The various running sheds began to be run down during the 1930s as part of a re-organisation scheme involving new developments at

Norwood Junction Norwood Junction railway station is a National Rail station in South Norwood in the London Borough of Croydon, south London and is in Travelcard Zone 4. It is down the line from . The station is managed by London Overground and trains are oper ...

, but the onset of war meant that they were not formally closed until 1947 and were used for stabling locomotives until 1951. They were demolished in 1957 together with the repair workshops, and replaced by sidings for the storage of

electric multiple units An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number ...

. The locomotive workshops established by the L&CR continued to undertake minor repairs on locomotives in the London area for the LB&SCR and the SR, and also briefly for

British Railways 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 ...

. They were closed in 1949.

London Overground

The East London Line closed on 22 December 2007 and reopened on 27 April 2010 as part of the new

system. The service was also closed between 1995 and 1998 due to repair work on the tunnel under the River Thames. The East London line extension included a flyover north of New Cross Gate allowing trains to run through from West Croydon, plus the construction of a train servicing facility nearby. Platform 1 and adjacent track (southbound) were refurbished, with the line continuing under New Cross Road, before merging with the down slow line. LO services terminated here until 23 May 2010 when services were extended south.BBC London:The new East London Line opens to the public
Retrieved 27 April 2010 Ticket barriers were installed to all platforms in time for the London Overground services to commence.

Bakerloo line extension

TFL has proposed future London Underground services at this station as part of the

Bakerloo line Extension The Bakerloo line extension is a proposed extension of the London Underground Bakerloo line in South London from its current terminus at to Lewisham station. An extension southwards from Elephant & Castle was considered as early as 1913, with ...

. TFL claim that if funding is correct, construction would start in 2023 and services would start running in 2028/29.

Services

Services at New Cross Gate are operated by Southern and

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: * 2 tph to * 8 tph to via * 2 tph to via * 4 tph to * 4 tph to The station is also served by a single early morning and late evening service to via , with the early morning service continuing to and .

Platform layout

The layout is: *Platform 1 is used by London Overground trains to and *Platform 2 is used by Southern trains to and Coulsdon Town *Platform 3 and 4 are not usually used *Platform 5 is used by Southern trains to and London Overground trains to

Thameslink Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying m ...

trains and other Southern services regularly pass through and occasionally stop at the station.

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 21, 53, 136,

171 Year 171 (Roman numerals, CLXXI) 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 Severus and Herennianus (or, less frequently, year 92 ...

172 Year 172 ( CLXXII) was a leap 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 Scipio and Maximus (or, less frequently, year 925 '' Ab urbe condita ...

177 Year 177 ( CLXXVII) 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 Commodus and Plautius (or, less frequently, year 930 ''Ab urbe co ...

321 Year 321 ( CCCXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Crispus and Constantinus (or, less frequently, year 1074 ' ...

, 436,

453 __NOTOC__ Year 453 ( CDLIII) 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 Opilio and Vincomalus (or, less frequently, year 1206 ...

and night routes N21, N53, N89, N136 and N171 serve the station.

Accident

*On 7 August 1899 a train hauled by "Terrier" No.59 ''Cheam'' collided with "Gladstone" No. 199 ''Samuel Laing'' after the driver overran signals approaching the station. Fifteen people were injured.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Cross Gate Railway Station Railway stations served by London Overground Railway stations in the London Borough of Lewisham DfT Category C1 stations Former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway stations Former East London Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1839 Railway workshops in Great Britain New Cross 1839 establishments in England London Overground Night Overground stations Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway