The Sutton Loop Line, Retrieved 2012-01-12 also known as the Wimbledon Loop, is a railway line that diverges from the Portsmouth Line at Streatham South junction and rejoins it near

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

station. Trains leave southwards from to enter the loop and then return going northwards. The short section between station and West junction is known as the "Wall of Death", possibly due to the very steep concrete walls to the cutting on both sides and the sharpness of the curve which resemble the motorcycle ride at a funfair.

Stations

In a clockwise direction round the loop, the stations are: *

* * * * * * * * *

Infrastructure

Traction current is supplied at 750 volts DC via 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 ...

. The supply for this is overseen by Selhurst Electrical Control Room. Signalling is

Track Circuit A track circuit is an electrical device used to prove the absence of a train on rail tracks to signallers and control relevant signals. An alternative to track circuits are axle counters. Principles and operation The basic principle behind t ...

Block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

with multiple aspect colour light signals, controlled from

Three Bridges rail operating centre Three Bridges railway station is located in and named after the village of Three Bridges, which is now a district of Crawley, West Sussex, England. It is at the point where the Arun Valley Line diverges from the Brighton Main Line and Thamesli ...

. The line is double track throughout, except where a short bi-directionally signalled single line section passes through

Wimbledon station Wimbledon is a National Rail, London Underground, and Tramlink station located on Wimbledon Bridge, Wimbledon in London, and is the only station in London that provides an interchange between the London Underground and Tramlink. The station serv ...

platform 9. Originally the Down St Helier Line used platform 10 at Wimbledon, but this is now used for the

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 ...

terminus which currently comprises a single platform at the southern end, split into two sections so two trams can be held at the same time.

History

Services

Thameslink

Thameslink runs services from

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, via round the loop. Clockwise services are described as "Sutton via Mitcham Junction" and anti-clockwise as "Sutton via Wimbledon". Occasionally, during service disruption or when the core section of the Thameslink route is closed, Sutton Loop services start and end at 'low level' station (i.e. the terminating platforms, 10–15). Recent proposals were to increase the frequency of the Thameslink service by terminating at Blackfriars. This would have allowed the trains through the core section to be replaced with longer trains which could not use the loop, but this did not proceed due to objections from loop passengers about the withdrawal of their through service.Herne Hill website http://www.hernehill.org.uk/direct-trains-may-end-thameslink-programme

Southern

Southern runs a peak service round the loop (anti-clockwise in the morning peak, clockwise in the evening peak) to and from .

References

{{reflist Railway lines in London Railway loop lines Transport in the London Borough of Merton Transport in the London Borough of Sutton