The Bromley North line is a less than long branch line in Greater London that connects at Grove Park with the

South Eastern Main Line The South Eastern Main Line is a major long-distance railway route in South East England, UK, one of the three main routes crossing the county of Kent, going via Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Ashford and Folkestone to Dover. The other routes are the ...

operated by Southeastern. During the 2010s the line which has two stations of its own has been served by a non-through (shuttle) service to and from

Grove Park railway station Grove Park is a railway station in southeast London, England. It is located on Baring Road (the A2212) within Travelcard Zone 4, and serves the areas of Grove Park and Downham in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is down the line from . I ...

in the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham () is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Merid ...

. Network Rail records the line as route SO350.

History

The line was built by the 'Bromley Direct Railway Company', in co-operation with the South Eastern Railway (SER), to compete with the

London, 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 ...

, which owned the other Bromley station, Bromley South. It opened on 1 January 1878 and was worked by the SER from the outset. The two companies merged later in the same year. 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 ...

at 750 V DC (

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 ...

) with the other SECR urban routes from 1926 by Southern Railway.

Services

A shuttle service operates, known by the staff as "the popper". The service is two trains per hour in each direction. Public holidays and Sundays are not operated by the franchisee. Through services were originally operated from Bromley North to

Holborn Viaduct Holborn Viaduct is a road bridge in London and the name of the street which crosses it (which forms part of the A40 route). It links Holborn, via Holborn Circus, with Newgate Street, in the City of London financial district, passing over ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Cannon Street Cannon Street is a road in the City of London, the historic nucleus of London and its modern financial centre. It runs roughly parallel with the River Thames, about north of it, in the south of the City. It is the site of the ancient London ...

and Charing Cross. These were cut to a peak-hours only service in 1976, and were then withdrawn completely in 1990.

Trains

Class 465 rolling stock primarily operates on this route. Until 2010 this was the only 'true branch', that is branch-only service, in Greater London for trains to be worked with a driver and a guard. Since 2010 this is now driver-only, as mirrors and monitors have been provided on the platforms to allow the driver to look back.

Future proposals

The Southeastern Main Line into central London is at full capacity. Service patterns have begun to entrench all longer distance service destinations as direct, many trains per hour, stations. Therefore, Southeastern consider that it is not economically justifiable to reinstate direct services from Bromley North into central London, and consequently all (non-contingency Bromley South backup) services must terminate at Grove Park for the foreseeable future. Various proposals have been put forward to convert the Bromley North Line to an alternative mode of transport to make better use of this isolated piece of rail infrastructure. In the 1980s, a plan to partially convert the line into a heritage railway using retired

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

rolling stock was considered, but did not ultimately come to fruition. Transport for London have indicated that they are considering a number of possible options for connecting the Bromley North Line to one of the other public transport systems in London, including: * incorporation into the

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Lo ...

via a link south of * incorporation into

by extending the Bakerloo line from

Elephant and Castle The Elephant and Castle is an area around a major road junction in London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark. The name also informally refers to much of Walworth and Newington, due to the proximity of the London Underground stati ...

* conversion for tram use as an extension of 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 ...

system * incorporation into the

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

via — problems of line capacity make this a less likely solution. These schemes have not been taken beyond the proposal stage and recommendations are expected to be published around 2017. In a report published by 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 332,3 ...

in 2012, proposals to extend Tramlink beyond Beckenham Junction into Bromley town centre are outlined, with a further option to continue this route along the Bromley North Line to Grove Park. The report also considers the Bakerloo line extension favourably, but notes difficulties with tunnelling between Lewisham and Grove Park, and with the provision of a depot. The Tramlink proposal also features in the Rail Utilisation Strategy report by

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 ...

References

Sources

Geoffrey Body, ''Railways of Southern Region'', (1978), Patrick Stephens Ltd. 1-85260-297-X. {{Railway lines in London Transport in the London Borough of Bromley Railway lines in London Standard gauge railways in England