Herne Hill railway station

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox London station Herne Hill railway station is in the London Borough of Lambeth, South London, England, on the boundary between London fare zone 2 and 3. Train services are provided by Thameslink to London Blackfriars, Farringdon, St Pancras International and St Albans on the Thameslink route and by Southeastern to London Victoria (via Brixton) and Orpington on the Chatham Main Line. It is Template:Convert down the line from Victoria.

The station building on Railton Road was opened in 1862 by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. Initial service was only to Victoria, but by 1869 services ran to the City of London, King's Cross, Kingston via Wimbledon, and Kent, including express trains to Dover Harbour for continental Europe. The arrival of the railways transformed Herne Hill from a wealthy suburb with large residential estates into a densely populated urban area.

Description

Herne Hill railway station sits at the bottom of the hill that gives the area its name and is close to Brockwell Park.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The section of Railton Road outside the station is mixed usage for pedestrians and vehicles.<ref>Herne Hill junction improvement scheme Template:Webarchive Lambeth Council. Retrieved 2 May 2012</ref>

The Chatham Main Line and Sutton Loop railway lines through Herne Hill are elevated above road level on a brick viaduct that runs north–south. The station's 1862 Gothic, polychrome brick<ref name="Pevsner">Template:Cite book</ref> building is on the western side of the viaduct, with access to the station also from the east via a foot tunnel from Milkwood Road.<ref name="nationalrail">Herne Hill Station Plan Template:Webarchive National Rail. Retrieved 20 April 2012</ref> The building houses a ticket office and newsagent, and was Grade II listed in 1998: the listing notes the station's arched doorways, Welsh slate roof and decorative brickwork.<ref name="Listing">Template:NHLE</ref> It was described by Cherry and Pevsner as a "handsome group"<ref name="Pevsner" /> and featured on the cover of a book about London's railway architecture.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The station entrance canopy (which had been shortened and altered in the mid-20th century) was removed in 2015, owing to its state of disrepair; a new one was installed in July 2016, with a new timber valance design and cornice based on the original Victorian one.

The four tracks are served by two island platforms;<ref name="nationalrail" /> northbound trains call at the western platform and southbound trains the eastern platform,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> providing cross-platform interchange between the two routes.

There are flat junctions at each end of the station: Herne Hill North Junction, where the lines to Loughborough Junction and Brixton diverge; and Herne Hill South Junction, where the lines to West Dulwich and Tulse Hill diverge.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Thameslink and Southeastern services cross each other's paths at the junctions, constraining capacity on both routes.Template:Sfn The station also has a turnback siding on its eastern side, adjacent to Milkwood Road.<ref name="southernelectric">Thameslink Key Output Zero – Blackfriars Terminus Platforms Closure Template:Webarchive Southern Electric Group. Retrieved 20 April 2012</ref>

History

The area now known as Herne Hill had been a rural part of the Manor of Milkwell since the 13th century.Template:Sfn Two tributaries of the River Effra met at the undeveloped site of the future station;<ref name="LostRivers">Template:Cite book</ref> it was known as Island Green until the 18th century.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1783 a timber merchant, Samuel Sanders, bought Herne Hill from the Manor.Template:Sfn Sanders granted leases for large plots of land to wealthy families – John Ruskin spent his childhood at an estate on Herne Hill. The Effra was covered over in the 1820s;<ref name="LostRivers" /> and the area had become an upper-class suburb by the mid-19th century (a contemporary author referred to the hill as "the Elysium" for merchants).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The opening of the railway station, which provided convenient and cheap access to central London, started the urbanisation of Herne Hill.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> All of the large estates were eventually cleared to make way for many smaller houses.Template:Sfn An 1870 railway travel guide noted the population of Herne Hill was 701;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the contemporaneous development of new residential streets would increase the population by 3,000.<ref>The nineteenth century Template:Webarchive Herne Hill Society. Retrieved 3 May 2012</ref>

Construction

A railway line through Herne Hill was proposed in 1852 by the Mid Kent and London and South Western Junction Railways Company.<ref name="ReferenceA">Template:Cite journal</ref> No construction work was undertaken at that time and the company had ceased to exist by 1860.<ref>Mid Kent and London and South Western Junction Railways Company The National Archives. Retrieved 14 July 2014</ref>

In the late 1850s, the East Kent Railway had ambitions to run passenger trains between Kent and London, but it did not own any railway lines in inner London. It reached an agreement with the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) in 1858 to use its West End and Crystal Palace line to access Battersea and (from 1860) Victoria. This arrangement incurred costly access fees, but it was necessary until the company obtained Parliamentary authority to build in London.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

On 6 August 1860, the Metropolitan Extensions Act granted the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR; the successor to the East Kent company) the powers to build three inner London lines:Template:Sfn Beckenham Junction to Herne Hill (Template:Convert); Herne Hill to Farringdon (Template:Convert); and Herne Hill to Battersea to connect with the lines into Victoria (Template:Convert).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The route from Beckenham Junction to Battersea closely resembled that of the 1852 proposal, going via Clapham, Brixton, Herne Hill, Dulwich and Sydenham.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

An illustration from The Building News; note the stairway on the left for accessing the upper floor, and the wider canopy.

Herne Hill station and the first section to be completed, from Victoria to Herne Hill via Stewarts Lane and Template:Stnlnk, opened on 25 August 1862.Template:Sfn The station was designed by architect John Taylor<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and railway engineers Joseph Cubitt and J.T. Turner.Template:Sfn The building was intended to impress: it had tea rooms offering buffets,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> decorative brickwork and a tower (which also served the practical function of concealing the water tank for steam locomotives).Template:Sfn The Building News described the station in 1863 as "spacious and convenient ... and of the very best quality". It also stated that "an unusual amount of decorative taste has been displayed" in the station's construction; even the viaduct was praised as "one of the most ornamental pieces of work we have ever seen attempted on a railway" for its fine brickwork.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The station's design prompted the journal to write a 2,000-word editorial bemoaning the comparatively poor architectural quality of other contemporary civil engineering projects.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> An architectural critic later noted the station was "eulogised" by journals upon its opening and that its architecture was still seen as exemplary at the end of the 19th century.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

There were initially two platforms, up and down.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The up platform was accessed from the upper floor of the station building via a stairway outside the building. The station's original signal box, elevated above the railway viaduct at the junction between Norwood Road and Half Moon Lane, was a prominent feature in Herne Hill for many years.<ref>Herne Hill Station Template:Webarchive. Lambeth Council. Retrieved 20 April 2012</ref>

The land for the station was compulsorily purchased from the estate of Thomas Vyse (died 1861<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>), manufacturer of straw hats and owner of the Abbey, an estate at 70 Herne Hill; the station and much of the viaduct were built on part of the Abbey's grounds.Template:Sfn A new road (Station Road) was built from the junction of Norwood Road and Half Moon Lane, Herne Hill's main thoroughfare, to the station.Template:Sfn

The line from Beckenham Junction reached Herne Hill from the south in July 1863,Template:Sfn connecting the station to the LCDR's lines in Kent, and finally allowing the LCDR to avoid using the LB&SCR's tracks to access Victoria from Kent.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> On 6 October 1863, the City Branch opened from Herne Hill as far as Template:Stnlnk, via Template:Stnlnk and Template:Stnlnk.Template:Sfn Template:MetropolitanExtensions

In 1868, the LB&SCR opened a suburban line from London Bridge to Sutton via Template:Stnlnk. A Template:Convert connecting line from Tulse Hill to Herne Hill opened on 1 January 1869.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Early services

From July 1863, LCDR trains between Victoria and Kent ran through Herne Hill, and to continental Europe via a connecting steamboat from Dover Harbour to Calais;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> these boat trains left Victoria and Ludgate Hill simultaneously and were joined at Herne Hill.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Express journeys from Herne Hill to Dover, a distance of Template:Convert, took 1 hour 36 minutes, at an average speed of Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Services to London were split at Herne Hill to give passengers easier access to the City of London and beyond;Template:Sfn the LCDR began operating direct services to King's Cross and Barnet (now High Barnet Underground station) from Herne Hill when Snow Hill tunnel opened.Template:Sfn

A popular workmen's train (one penny per journey) ran between Ludgate Hill and Victoria via Herne Hill from 1865. Trains left from both termini at 04:55 and returned at 18:15.Template:Sfn The LCDR was compelled to operate this service by Parliament to compensate for the large number of working-class homes destroyed in Camberwell during the construction of the City Branch.Template:Sfn Regular one-way fares to Ludgate Hill were eightpence, sixpence and fourpence for first, second and third class respectively (or return for one shilling, ninepence and sevenpence respectively), with journey times of 15 minutes on express trains and 26 minutes when calling at all stops.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Both the Great Northern Railway (GNR) and the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) helped fund the Metropolitan Extensions (£320,000 and £310,000 respectively; £Template:Inflation and £Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation-yearTemplate:Inflation-fn) in return for the right to use the LCDR's tracks.Template:Sfn The GNR ran trains between Hatfield and Herne Hill from August 1866 until March 1868 (when the trains were diverted to Victoria via Loughborough Junction);Template:Sfn this was a busy all-stops service, with 15 trains leaving Hatfield and 14 leaving Herne Hill every day.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The LSWR began running trains between Ludgate Hill and Wimbledon via Herne Hill when the Tulse Hill extension was completed.Template:Sfn Some of these services went as far as Kingston until the mid-1890s.Template:Sfn

Changes from 1870 to 1923

The changing layout. Crossovers and track curves omitted for clarity.

By 1870 a track had been added to the east of the station and two sidings had been added to the west;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn one of the western sidings was a bay platform for passenger trains, which was accessed from the platform adjoining the upper floor.Template:Sfn Interlocking signalling was in use at Herne Hill by 1880.Template:Sfn

The LCDR enlarged the station in 1884 to meet growing demand: the viaduct was widened to allow for the construction of a second island platform and two lines to the east<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> (the easternmost line was used only for freightTemplate:Sfn); and the foot tunnel under the viaduct was opened. In 1885, the LCDR decided to use Blackfriars Bridge railway station solely as a goods yard but lacked the space to sort wagons at the site.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn It purchased Template:Convert of land between Herne Hill and Loughborough Junction for this purpose.Template:Sfn The Herne Hill Sorting Sidings had some 35 sidings, the longest of which was Template:Convert.Template:Sfn A stationmaster's house was built at 239 Railton Road in the mid-1880s as the site offered a good view of the station (it is now privately owned).Template:Sfn In 1888, Railton Road was extended to the Norwood Road/Half Moon Lane junction and Station Road ceased to exist.Template:Sfn

An 1894 Ordnance Survey map showing the station's layout

At the beginning of 1899, the LCDR and the neighbouring South Eastern Railway (SER) combined their operations as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR), jointly owned by the two railways. The SECR ran the trains, but the lines and stations continued to be owned by the LCDR or SER.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

A late-night service from Ludgate Hill (departing 01:15) to Beckenham Junction via Herne Hill began in 1910. The intention was to satisfy journalists on Fleet Street who regularly complained in print about the poor quality of service on the line; those working on the morning papers often worked beyond midnight and missed the last train.Template:Sfn

Services to Farringdon from Herne Hill were discontinued in 1916 with the closure of Snow Hill tunnel to passengers, and trains from the south terminated at Holborn Viaduct.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The LCDR amalgamated with the LB&SCR, SER and several other railways to form the Southern Railway at the start of 1923.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Modernisation

Work began on electrifying the former LCDR suburban routes in 1924. Herne Hill station was extensively remodelled as part of these works: the eastern island platform was lengthened; the original island platform was demolished and replaced by one further west, allowing two tracks to be laid between the island platforms; the western sidings were removed; and the upper floor was closed to passengers.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

On 12 July 1925, a 660-volt third-rail system came into operation on both routes through Herne Hill, from Victoria to Orpington on the Chatham Main Line and along the entire length of the City Branch. Electric trains ran every 20 minutes on both routes during the dayTemplate:Sfn and were kept overnight at the sorting sidings north of the station.Template:Sfn

The sealed entrances and windows of the station's upper floor

The distinctive signal box overlooking Norwood Road and a similar signal box at the northern end of the station were demolished in 1956 and replaced by a single signal box adjacent to the north junction.Template:Sfn The replacement signal box was in use from June 1956 until December 1981, when its functions were transferred to Victoria; the building still exists and is used by railway staff.Template:Sfn The signalling at Herne Hill was upgraded from semaphores to colour lights on 8 March 1959 as part of the Kent Coast electrification plan.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

By 1959, the pattern of commuter services at Herne Hill had taken the shape it held into the 21st century: all-stops trains from Victoria to Orpington and from the City of London to Wimbledon and Sutton (but, unlike the modern Sutton Loop, via West Croydon).Template:Sfn However, there was a decline in the number of electric trains on the Chatham Main Line through Herne Hill in the years after the war. Immediately after electrification in 1925, six trains used the route between Herne Hill and Shortlands in each direction during every off-peak hour. By 1960, it had dropped to two trains in each direction.Template:Sfn

The Herne Hill Sorting Sidings closed on 1 August 1966 and the freight line to the east of the station was taken out of service.Template:Sfn Nothing of the sidings remains: residential accommodation has been built along Shakespeare Road (on the western sidings) and commercial premises have been built along Milkwood Road (on the eastern sidings).Template:Sfn

From 1988

In 1988, Snow Hill tunnel re-opened and the former LCDR City Branch formed the basis of the new Thameslink route. Network Rail began a major upgrade of the route in 2009. A key objective of the Thameslink Programme was allowing more trains to travel between central London and Brighton, which was prevented by a bottleneck between London Bridge and Blackfriars on a viaduct through the historic Borough Market. Network Rail initially suggested widening the viaduct and demolishing part of the market, but the public backlash against this plan prompted Network Rail to consider permanently routing all Thameslink trains to/from Brighton via Herne Hill, avoiding London Bridge and the market.Template:Sfn This would have required the grade separation of the two lines through Herne Hill, which would have been achieved by constructing a new viaduct immediately to the east of the existing viaduct and using a fly-over to connect the southern end of the new viaduct to the line between Tulse Hill and North Dulwich (taking the tracks over the Chatham Main Line and towards Tulse Hill).Template:Sfn This proposal was rejected in 2004 because of its environmental impact on Herne Hill and the larger number of interchanges offered on the London Bridge route; the Borough Market viaduct was widened instead.Template:Sfn

From 1994 until the completion of High Speed 1 in November 2007 Eurostar services linking London Waterloo to Brussels and Paris passed through Herne Hill without stopping.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This marked the end of rail services to the continent via Herne Hill, which had been started by the LCDR in 1863 when the line between Victoria and Dover via Herne Hill was completed.

A Eurostar train passing through Herne Hill in March 2000

The upper floor of the station, which had not been used by passengers since 1925, was converted into Template:Convert of office space in 1991 and rented as 'Tower House' (after the station's distinctive tower).Template:Sfn The disused freight line to the east of the station was partly reopened in 2009 as a siding for use by Thameslink trains to compensate for the loss of sidings when the Moorgate Thameslink branch was closed.<ref name="southernelectric" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The line's connection to the south junction was severed during these works. The station had become fully accessible by 2010: lifts were installed to provide step-free access to the platforms in 2008<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and a unisex disabled-accessible toilet was opened on the southbound platforms in 2010.<ref>Disabled Peoples Protection Policy, p. 5. Template:Webarchive London & Southeastern Railway. Retrieved 20 April 2012</ref>

The Thameslink Programme

The route through the station was busier from December 2014 to 2018 as Thameslink trains serving London Bridge were diverted via Herne Hill<ref>A new station for London Bridge Template:Webarchive, Thameslink Programme. Retrieved 20 April 2012.</ref> – an additional four trains per hour in both directions.Template:Sfn This was due to the redevelopment of London Bridge that temporarily closed it to Bedford-Brighton trains. The additional trains did not call at Herne Hill; they ran fast between London Blackfriars and East Croydon.Template:Sfn It was not possible for the 12-car peak trains to call at Herne Hill as the platforms are too short and it was not viable to use selective door operation as the carriages not on the platforms would foul the junctions.Template:Sfn

Contemporary layout of tracks and structures at Herne Hill station

Network Rail, in its July 2011 London & South East route utilisation strategy, recommended that all services from Herne Hill towards Blackfriars should terminate in the bay platforms at Blackfriars after London Bridge's redevelopment was completed in 2018Template:Sfn and the diverted Thameslink trains returned there.Template:Sfn Passengers from Herne Hill would then have had to change at Blackfriars to travel further north. In January 2013, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that trains serving the Sutton Loop Line (also known as the Wimbledon Loop) would continue to travel across London after 2018. The number of trains calling at Herne Hill on the route would remain unchanged, with four trains per hour.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

Accidents and disruption

A map showing the layout of the former sidings north of Herne Hill and the point of the 1960 collision

On 6 November 1947, a steam train approaching from West Dulwich passed a signal at danger in heavy fog and crashed into an electric train crossing the station's south junction towards Tulse Hill. One passenger on the electric train was killed and nine others were hospitalised.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

A minor accident occurred on 30 June 1957. A light engine travelling towards Tulse Hill was waiting to cross the south junction when it was struck from behind by an express passenger train from Victoria that had passed a signal at danger. The driver of the light engine and two passengers from the express were hospitalised but quickly discharged.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

A second fatal collision occurred at the sorting sidings, just north of the station, on 1 April 1960 in fog that reduced visibility to Template:Convert. A steam locomotive was waiting on the southbound track outside Herne Hill for a proceed signal when the signalman cleared an electric passenger train behind the steam locomotive to proceed down the same track. The steam locomotive was struck from behind, killing the electric train's driver.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Future

Services

Network Rail has forecast that by 2031 there will be 900 more passengers attempting to travel on the route between Herne Hill and Blackfriars during the busiest peak hour every weekday than can be accommodated on the trains.Template:Sfn It is anticipated that eight-car trains with higher capacity (similar to the Class 378 trains used on inner London metro routes) will eventually be required to address this shortfall.Template:Sfn

Station infrastructure

The current southern flat junction at Herne Hill, considered for grade separation

The route from Victoria to Orpington via Herne Hill is projected to be amongst the most congested and overcrowded in South East London by 2026.<ref>Stress on the London Rail Network, Figure 2, Transport Committee. Retrieved 20 April 2012</ref> Network Rail has considered grade-separating the two lines passing through Herne Hill so that trains would not cross each other's paths at the station's junctions;Template:Sfn this restricts the number of services that can pass through the station. A 2008 route utilisation strategy for South London concluded that this improvement would not be required before 2020 but recommended safeguarding the required land.Template:Sfn Grade-separation was supported by Southeastern<ref>Template:Cite bookTemplate:Dead link</ref> and First Capital Connect believed it should be given more consideration,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> but Network Rail has stated that it would be difficult to carry out the work because the station is on a viaduct and surrounded by buildings.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The 2011 route utilisation strategy, which examined options for congestion relief at Herne Hill before 2031, did not suggest grade-separation as an option in the 2011–2031 period.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

This project would also enable the platforms at Herne Hill to be lengthened to accommodate 12-car trains as the current northern junction, which prevents them from being extended, would be removed.Template:Sfn However, longer trains could not be used on the Sutton/Wimbledon Loop without also rebuilding Tulse Hill and Elephant & Castle.Template:Sfn

Transport for London has suggested there may be potential for the turnback siding adjacent to Milkwood Road to be converted for passenger use.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This would require substantial changes to the station as there is no direct access to the platforms from Milkwood Road and the current subway for accessing the platforms does not extend east of the southbound platform.<ref name="nationalrail" />

Incorporation into London Overground

The Mayor of London published a long-term vision for the London Overground in February 2012.Template:Sfn It recommended that all London suburban rail services should eventually be devolved to TfL and that suburban services currently provided by Southeastern be devolved before 2020 to demonstrate the benefits of this approach.Template:Sfn Southeastern's suburban services include the route between Victoria and Orpington via Herne Hill.Template:Sfn TfL had announced that it would bid in late 2012 to have more involvement in these services after the expiration of Southeastern's franchise in early 2014,<ref>Transport Committee: Franchise Bids and Frank Comments, London Reconnections Retrieved 30 May 2012</ref> but the DfT announced in March 2013 that Southeastern's franchise was being extended until mid-2018.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Victoria line extension

TfL has considered extending the Victoria line to Herne Hill to provide faster turnaround at the southern end of the line. The extension is not a priority for TfL as it has a weaker business case than other infrastructure projects.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Services

The station as seen from the southern end of Railton Road

Services at Herne Hill are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink using Template:Brc, Template:Brc and Template:Brc EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:<ref>Template:NRtimes</ref>

• 4 tph to Template:Stnlnk via London Blackfriars
• 4 tph to Template:Stn
• 4 tph to Template:Stnlnk via Template:Stnlnk
• 4 tph to Template:Stnlnk (2 of these run via Template:Stn and 2 run via Template:Stn)

During the evening and on Sundays, a number of Thameslink services are extended beyond St Albans City to Template:Stnlnk and Template:Stnlnk.

From the December 2024 timetable change the off-peak service between London Victoria and Orpington doubled to 4tph on Mondays to Fridays.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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Connections

London Buses routes 3, 37, 68, 196, 201, 322, 468, school route 690 and night routes N3 and N68 serve the station.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

References

Battle of Britain class No. 34067 Tangmere styled as the Golden Arrow passing through Herne Hill in 2007

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External links

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