Greenwich Park Branch Line

The Nunhead to Lewisham Line (Greenwich Park Branch) in south-east London was built by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) from Nunhead to a terminus at Greenwich Park.

LCDR line

It ran from a junction at Nunhead in a generally north-east direction to a terminus on the Greenwich High Road, close to the north-west corner of Greenwich Park, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km). The original plan was for the branch to terminate at Woolwich Dockyard. A short tunnel took the branch under the A2 at Blackheath Hill. The entrance to Brockley Lane station in still visible at Brockley Cross.

There were four stations:

• Brockley Lane
• Lewisham Road
• Blackheath Hill (opened 1871)
• Greenwich Park (opened 1888)

All closed on 1 January 1917, and the branch beyond Lewisham Road was abandoned on 1 January 1926 by the Southern Railway.

Nunhead to Lewisham link

The Southern Railway absorbed the LCDR and South Eastern Railway (SER) and sought to link the two networks to enable cross-London freight. The branch as far as Lewisham Road station was reopened on 7 July 1929, with a new connection to the SER lines at Lewisham. The branch was electrified in September 1935,^[1] allowing passenger trains from Dartford to access Victoria from 30 September 1935 (see Bexleyheath Line).

This line since December 2014, has acted as a diversion route for trains routed to London Bridge for any engineering works in the New Cross area. Trains divert to other London terminals (stations) using this line.

Possible revival of Brockley Lane station

A report released by the DfT and TfL in 2016 covering future improvements to rail services in London and the South East mentions a new interchange at Brockley as a potential, long-term future improvement for South East London, opening the possibility of Brockley Lane station being reopened, although there is no further information beyond this.^[2]

Current services

Services are provided by Southeastern. Currently the off-peak service is 2tph between London Victoria and Dartford via Barnehurst.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Greenwich Park Branch Line.

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