East Croydon Station

East Croydon is a railway station and tram stop in Croydon, Greater London, England, and is located in Travelcard Zone 5. At from , it is one of the busiest non-terminal stations in London, and in the United Kingdom as a whole. It is one of three railway stations in the London Borough of Croydon with Croydon in their name, the others being West Croydon and South Croydon. A Tramlink tram stop is located immediately outside the main station entrance.

The present station building opened on 19 August 1992. It consists of a large steel and glass frame suspended from a lightweight steel structure that straddles the track and platforms to a much greater extent than was possible with its Victorian predecessor. Four steel ladder masts anchor the glass box and the whole gives the impression of a suspension bridge that stretches into the distance. External canopies cover the entrances, a café's open-air seating area and the approaches to the tram stop. 440 m² of glass were used in the roof and 800 m² for the wall glazing.

It was announced in 2010 that Network Rail had proposed a £20m project to revamp the station with an additional entrance and a shortcut into the town centre. The new bridge was officially opened in December 2013. Disabled-accessible slopes to all platforms are provided and there is a footbridge connecting all platforms. There are refreshment stalls and vending machines in the seating areas on the platforms, and trolleys are available along with step-free access to buffets. There are electronic information displays showing departures to 80 stations.

History

The population of Croydon increased 14-fold (from 16,700 to 233,000) between the opening of the station in 1841 and 1921. As a result, the station has been enlarged and rebuilt on several occasions.

Opening

On 12 July 1841, the London & Brighton Railway (L&BR) began passenger services through Croydon station (now East Croydon) on the Brighton Line from London Bridge to Haywards Heath. The station was designed by the architect David Mocatta, the second station in the town since the London and Croydon Railway (L&CR) had opened its Croydon station (now West Croydon) in June 1839.

The station became jointly administered by the L&BR and the South Eastern Railway (SER) in 1842, who shared the Brighton Main Line as far as Redhill. Fares from Croydon to London were common to two railways. In 1846, the L&BR and the L&CR amalgamated to form the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR), and the two stations were shortly renamed East Croydon and West Croydon to avoid confusion.

New Croydon

With the completion of the line to Victoria between 1860 and 1862, extra platforms were needed to provide a terminal for LB&SCR suburban services to and from the West End of London whilst London Bridge trains continued to use the existing lines. The new platforms adjoined East Croydon but were treated by the LB&SCR as a separate station named New Croydon, with its own ticket office, and which ran exclusively LBSCR services. This device enabled the railway to avoid breaking an agreement with the SER, whilst offering cheaper fares than the SER from the original station.

The terminal platforms at New Croydon proved difficult to operate, as there was limited space for locomotives to run around their trains. As a result, in 1863 the LB&SCR obtained Parliamentary authority to build a one-mile (1.6 km) extension to a new terminus at South Croydon, which provided the additional operating room.

Central Croydon

In 1864, the LB&SCR obtained authorisation to construct a long branch line into the town centre near Katharine Street, where Central Croydon station was built. The line opened in 1868 but enjoyed little success and closed in 1871, only to reopen in 1886 under pressure from the council before finally closing in 1890. It was demolished and replaced by the town hall.

1894/95 rebuilding

By the late 1880s the station was again congested due to the growth of traffic on the main lines, the expansion of the suburban network in South London and the new line from Croydon to Oxted. As a result, the station was rebuilt and the tracks remodelled during 1894/5. At the same time the suburban lines were extended from South Croydon to Coulsdon North, where they joined the new Quarry line. In 1897–98, East Croydon and New Croydon were merged into a single station with the three island platforms that remain. The two stations kept separate booking accounts until the formation of the Southern Railway.

1958 incident

On 4 July 1958, a passenger fell onto the running lines after attempting to leave his train on the wrong side. Station foreman Thomas Ashby saw that he was reaching for the live rail as he attempted to stand, and that an express train was approaching, and so jumped down onto the track and held the man down, safely, as the express passed. For his actions, Ashby was awarded the Order of Industrial Heroism, which was presented to him in the S.R.A. Club Hall at the station, on 7 October the same year.

1992 rebuilding

The present station building opened on 19 August 1992. It consists of a large steel and glass frame suspended from a lightweight steel structure that straddles the track and platforms to a much greater extent than was possible with its Victorian predecessor.

Four steel ladder masts anchor the glass box and the whole gives the impression of a suspension bridge that stretches into the distance. External canopies cover the entrances, a café's open-air seating area and the approaches to the tram stop. 440 m² of glass were used in the roof and 800 m² for the wall glazing. The architects were Alan Brookes Associates and the structural engineers YRM Anthony Hunt Associates.

2010 revamp plans

It was announced in 2010 that Network Rail had proposed a £20m project to revamp the station with an additional entrance and a shortcut into the town centre. In September 2010, Croydon Council pledged £6m towards the revamp, ensuring that a bridge was included in the plans. The new bridge was officially opened in December 2013, providing pedestrian transfer between platforms as well as a new entrance at the northern end of the platforms and a more direct link to the town centre. The new walkway may be accessed from the town centre on the west via Lansdowne Walk, but access from the Cherry Orchard Road on the east has not been built.

Services

Destinations

The station has frequent services on the Brighton Main Line from London to and , the Thameslink Route from Brighton to via , and the Oxted Line to and .
East Croydon serves destinations mainly in East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey and Brighton & Hove, including Gatwick Airport, Horsham, Caterham, Tattenham Corner, Brighton, Reigate, Redhill, Hastings, Eastbourne, Bognor Regis, Portsmouth, Tonbridge and many suburban stations in South London.

Trains include Thameslink services to Brighton, Redhill, Bedford, Luton and London Luton Airport, which means that the station has direct services to two airports. They also serve stations in or near the City of London, including St Pancras International, Farringdon, City Thameslink and London Blackfriars.

Southeastern to London Charing Cross and occasionally call at the station during periods of engineering work.

Platforms

;National Rail platforms

There are 6 platforms in the National Rail stations in form of 3 islands numbered from the west to the east.

Platforms 1, 2, 4 are northbound platforms, with 1 and 2 on the fast line and 4 on the slow line, while platforms 3, 5, 6 are southbound platforms, with 3 on the fast line and 5 and 6 on the slow line.

;Tramlink platforms

There are 3 Tram platforms. Platform 1 is used for trams towards Elmers End, Beckenham Junction and New Addington. Platform 2 is not used although some trams may stop at this platform, mainly is used for trams which are on diversion and terminate at East Croydon occasionally. Platform 3 is used for trams towards Wimbledon and West Croydon(loop).

Former services

Services from London Bridge to Tunbridge Wells via Redhill were operated by Southeastern until December 2008, when they were transferred to Southern and curtailed at Tonbridge. In 2018, Southern withdrew the Victoria to Tonbridge via Redhill service, instead opting to run an hourly shuttle between Redhill and Tonbridge.

CrossCountry services stopped at East Croydon on the route to Brighton and Newcastle, until they were withdrawn in December 2008 (after the franchise passed from Virgin to Arriva

The typical off-peak service in trams per hour is:
*12tph to
*8tph to
*6tph to
*6tph to
*8tph to New Addington tram stop">New Addington