Hither Green is a railway station located in Hither Green in the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham () is a 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 Meridian passes thr ...

, south-east

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. It is down the line from and is situated between and either or depending on the route. It is a busy commuter station with services to several London termini (

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 ...

, Charing Cross and

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It re ...

) and destinations to other parts of south-east London and the south-east of England (

Orpington Orpington is a town and area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St ...

and

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter main line railway into London. Sevenoaks is from Charing Cross, the traditio ...

on 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 t ...

, and

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

and

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is ...

on the

Dartford Loop Line The Dartford Loop Line is one of three lines linking London with Dartford in Kent, England. It lies to the south of the other two: the North Kent Line (or Woolwich Line) and the Bexleyheath Line. Informally, the line is known as the Sidcup L ...

). It is in Travelcard Zone 3 and very close to

Hither Green Traction Maintenance Depot (TMD) Hither Green (London) Traction Maintenance Depot or Hither Green (London) TMD is a railway depot used for the maintenance and servicing of freight trains adjacent to the Hither Green marshalling yard. The depot is a hub for moving freight arou ...

, Grove Park Traction and Rolling Stock Maintenance Depot, and Grove Park Safety Training Centre. The station straddles the

Prime Meridian A prime meridian is an arbitrary meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. Together, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian in a 360°-system) form a great ...

, which is marked across the roof of the pedestrian tunnel forming the main entrance. The station and all trains 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 sep ...

History

British Railways Southern Region station totem for Hither Green

Hither Green station was opened on 1 June 1895, by the South Eastern Railway (SER). It was built at Hither Green junction which had been formed some thirty years earlier. Originally there was a booking hall in Springbank Road which was built to serve the St. Germans Estate. The red brick gateposts are still visible outside the site, which was occupied by a timber merchant for many years, but is now being redeveloped for residential use. The original stationmaster's house survives, at 69 Springbank Road. The main station building was built in Staplehurst Road. Since 1974, access to the new booking hall, located between platforms 4 and 5, has been up a ramp from a foot tunnel which runs between Staplehurst Road and Maythorne Cottages. In 1899 the SER entered a working relationship known as 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 Easte ...

, which managed the station until 1 January 1923, when it became part of the Southern Railway. The Southern Region 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 ra ...

was responsible from nationalisation in 1948 until the regions were completely abolished at the end of 1992.

Accidents and incidents

*On 4 September 1934, two freight trains collided at Hither Green. *On 5 November 1967, the

Hither Green rail crash On 5 November 1967, a busy Sunday evening train service from to derailed near the Hither Green maintenance depot in London, between and railway stations. Of the twelve coaches, many full of standing passengers, eleven were derailed and four ...

occurred. An express train from to derailed between and Hither Green station, close to where the railway crosses St. Mildred's Road, due to a broken rail. Forty-nine passengers were killed.

Facilities and exits

There are two exits from Hither Green Station: Fernbrook Road and Springbank Road. The Fernbrook Road exit may be used to reach Hither Green village. There is also a passageway leading out to Maythorne Cottages, which links with Nightingale Grove. The Springbank Road exit may be used for roads to the west of the station including Hither Green Lane. The exit towards the south east end of platform 4 is an exit for authorised personnel only via

. While the station has a ticket office, it is not open at all times. Ticket machines are available at all times at the Fernbrook Road exit, between platforms 4 and 5, and – for the Springbank Road exit – halfway along on platform 1. There is a coffee shop on platform 5, and a newsagent near the main ticket office, but again these are not open at all times. The station has toilets (open only when the station is staffed).

Services

Destinations

Rail services operate from Hither Green station to: * Lewisham, St Johns, New Cross, London Bridge, Cannon Street, Waterloo East and Charing Cross * Grove Park (for Sundridge Park and Bromley North), Elmstead Woods, Chislehurst, Petts Wood, Orpington, Chelsfield, Knockholt, Dunton Green, and Sevenoaks * Lee, Mottingham, New Eltham, Sidcup, Albany Park, Bexley, Crayford, Dartford, Stone Crossing, Greenhithe (for Bluewater), Swanscombe, Northfleet and Gravesend. * Slade Green, Erith, Belvedere, Abbey Wood, Plumstead, Woolwich Arsenal, Woolwich Dockyard, Charlton, Westcombe Park, Maze Hill, Greenwich, and Deptford.

Frequency

All services at Hither Green 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 ...

. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: * 6 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 to and 2 call at ) * 2 tph to

London Cannon Street Cannon Street station, also known as London Cannon Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Travelcard zone 1 located on Cannon Street in the City of London and managed by Network Rail. It is o ...

(all stations except Lewisham) * 4 tph to via of which 2 continue to * 4 tph to via of which 2 continue to During the peak hours, the station is served by an additional half-hourly circular service to and from London Cannon Street via Lewisham in the clockwise direction and Sidcup, and in the anticlockwise direction. The station is also served by a single peak hour return service between

London Blackfriars Blackfriars, also known as London Blackfriars, is a central London railway station and connected London Underground station in the City of London. It provides Thameslink services: local (from North to South London), and regional (Bedford and ...

and Dartford via Sidcup.

Freight yards and motive power depot

The nearby freight yard is an important strategic location for cross-London freight trains. A former

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 she ...

opened by the Southern Railway in 1933 was closed in 1961 and converted to the Hither Green Traction Maintenance Depot.

Connections

London Buses route 273, London Buses route 225 and

London Buses route N171 The London Night Bus network is a series of night bus routes that serve Greater London. Services broadly operate between the hours of 23:00 and 06:00. Many services commence from or operate via Trafalgar Square and are extensions or variations ...

serve the station.

References

External links

Southeastern trainsStreet Map
{{TSGN and SE Stations, Elmstead=y, Sidcup=y, FCC None=y, SN None=y Railway stations in the London Borough of Lewisham DfT Category C2 stations Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1895 Railway stations served by Southeastern