East Brixton railway station

A 1908 Railway Clearing House map of lines around East Brixton railway station.

East Brixton railway station was a railway station on the South London Line from London Victoria to London Bridge. Opened as Loughborough Park in 1866 then called Loughborough Park and Brixton from 1870, before it was finally renamed East Brixton in 1894.

Buildings

The station consisted of two platforms with wooden buildings on a viaduct next to the bridge over Barrington Road, near Coldharbour Lane.

Decline and Closure

Over the years the station became progressively neglected, and lost passengers from 1971 when Brixton tube station, the southern terminus of the new Victoria Line, opened nearby. With declining passenger numbers and the station requiring extensive repairs to the wooden platforms and buildings it was decided that the expense was not justified . There was a fire in 1975 which temporarily closed the station but the station reopened and was finally closed on 5 January 1976. The platforms and its buildings were demolished shortly after closure [1] Nothing now remains of the station at track level: there are some arches and windows in the viaduct of the still used line.

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Clapham High Street		British Rail Southern Region South London Line		Denmark Hill

Future

London Overground proposed extensions

With the proposed extension to the East London and South London Lines running along the route, there have been suggestions that East Brixton station could re-open as part of the new London Overground network. Although the station was closed and demolished, there is still space to re-open it. The option of building platforms at Brixton railway station on the same line was mooted but nothing has come of it.

This section of London Overground would follow the line currently served by National Rail from Queens Road Peckham as far as Wandsworth Road, then branch off at Heathbrook Park, passing through Battersea towards Clapham Junction. This route crosses over Loughborough Junction and Brixton stations, and the plans have been criticised for missing opportunities to create new interchange stations with Thameslink services and the London Underground Victoria line respectively. Under current proposals, no stations are planned at these locations as the line is on high railway arches, making the cost of any station construction prohibitive. It has been suggested that a re-opened East Brixton station could provide a form of interchange with the Victoria Line and Thameslink as it would be located almost exactly in the middle of the two lines.^{[citation needed]}

Further reading

• R.V.J.Butt, (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd.  ISBN 1-85260-508-1