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Bromley North Line
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Bromley North Line
The Bromley North line is a less than 2-mile (3.2 km) long branch line in Greater London that connects at Grove Park with the South Eastern Main Line operated by Southeastern. Since the 1990s, the line which has two stations of its own has been served almost exclusively by shuttle services to and from Grove Park railway station in the London Borough of Lewisham, where passengers can change trains for onward journeys towards Central London, as well as towards Kent. Network Rail records the line as route SO350.
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, which owned the other Bromley station, Bromley South. It was authorised by the Bromley Direct Railway Act 1874 (37 & 38 Vict. c. cxix), and opened on 1 January 1878 and was worked by the SER from the outset. The two companies were merged the following year by the South-eastern Railway Act 1879 (42 & 43 Vict. c. cliii).
The line was electrified at 750 V DC (third rail) with the other SECR urban routes from 1926 by Southern Railway.[citation needed]
A shuttle service operates, known by the staff as "the popper".[citation needed] The service is two trains per hour in each direction. This service increases to three trains per hour during morning peak time. There are no services on Sundays and public holidays on the branch line, however this will be introduced from December 2026.
Through services were originally operated from Bromley North to Holborn Viaduct, Victoria, Cannon Street and Charing Cross. These were cut to a peak-hours only service in 1976, and were then withdrawn completely in 1990, except during engineering works.
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.[citation needed] Since 2010 this is now driver-only, as mirrors and monitors have been provided on the platforms to allow the driver to look back.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
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 rolling stock was considered, but did not ultimately come to fruition.
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Bromley North Line
The Bromley North line is a less than 2-mile (3.2 km) long branch line in Greater London that connects at Grove Park with the South Eastern Main Line operated by Southeastern. Since the 1990s, the line which has two stations of its own has been served almost exclusively by shuttle services to and from Grove Park railway station in the London Borough of Lewisham, where passengers can change trains for onward journeys towards Central London, as well as towards Kent. Network Rail records the line as route SO350.
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, which owned the other Bromley station, Bromley South. It was authorised by the Bromley Direct Railway Act 1874 (37 & 38 Vict. c. cxix), and opened on 1 January 1878 and was worked by the SER from the outset. The two companies were merged the following year by the South-eastern Railway Act 1879 (42 & 43 Vict. c. cliii).
The line was electrified at 750 V DC (third rail) with the other SECR urban routes from 1926 by Southern Railway.[citation needed]
A shuttle service operates, known by the staff as "the popper".[citation needed] The service is two trains per hour in each direction. This service increases to three trains per hour during morning peak time. There are no services on Sundays and public holidays on the branch line, however this will be introduced from December 2026.
Through services were originally operated from Bromley North to Holborn Viaduct, Victoria, Cannon Street and Charing Cross. These were cut to a peak-hours only service in 1976, and were then withdrawn completely in 1990, except during engineering works.
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.[citation needed] Since 2010 this is now driver-only, as mirrors and monitors have been provided on the platforms to allow the driver to look back.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
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 rolling stock was considered, but did not ultimately come to fruition.
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