Penge West railway station

Penge West

Penge West Location of Penge West in Greater London
Location	Penge
Local authority	London Borough of Bromley
Managed by	London Overground
Owner	Network Rail
Station code	PNW
Number of platforms	2
Accessible	Everywhere except Platform 2
Fare zone	4
Interchange	Penge East
National Rail annual entry and exit
2007–08	0.284 million
2008–09	0.245 million
2009–10	0.226 million
1839	Station Opened
1841	Closed
1863	Re-opened
Lists of stations	DLR · Underground · National Rail · Tramlink
External links	Departures • Layout
	Facilities • Buses

Penge West railway station is in the London Borough of Bromley in south London. The station is operated by London Overground, with London Overground and Southern trains serving the station. First Capital Connect and some Southern services pass through the station. It is located in Travelcard Zone 4.

Penge East station is a short walk away and has services to London Victoria. Crystal Palace station is also within walking distance and has more frequent trains to London Bridge.

Penge West forms part of the new southbound route of the London Overground East London Line that opened on May 23, 2010.

History

The original Penge station was opened by the London and Croydon Railway in 1839, probably more for logistical reasons than anything else: the railway crossed the nearby High Street by a level crossing, and the station would have provided a place for trains to wait while the crossing gates were opened for them. The population of Penge was only around 270 at this time, not enough to make the station commercially viable. It was closed in 1841, and the level crossing was converted to a bridge soon afterwards. The entrance to the station was actually on Penge High Street, and not its current position. Evidence of the original entrances can still be seen in the brickwork on either side of the bridge as the track passes over the road.

By the early 1860s, Penge's population had risen to over 5,000 - more than eighteen times its level just twenty years earlier. There was also a demand for improved transport to the Crystal Palace nearby, so the station was reopened by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway on 1 July 1863. This was the same day that the London Chatham and Dover Railway opened its own Penge Lane station on its line to London Victoria. The two stations were renamed Penge West, and Penge East by the Southern Railway in the 1920s.

A large building on the down platform served as a ticket office and goods office and included the waiting room and Station Master's office. A wide road from the corner of Oakfield Road and Penge High Street provided access to these buildings and sidings which served a coal yard and timber yard on the site of the old brickfield. The sidings were removed, the buildings demolished and the access road closed when the land was sold for the construction of a Homebase store. Since then access to the down platform has been via a footbridge from the up platform. Previously the only passenger access between the two platforms was via Penge High Street.

The 1863 station building remained in use until April 2005 when it was damaged in a fire arsonists. After a period of limited station facilities, reconstruction work commenced in the Summer of 2006 and was completed in December 2006. The station ticket office is now open weekdays during the morning peak rush hour until 11am, along with the waiting room.

Services

London Overground East London Line

Legend Highbury & Islington Canonbury Dalston Junction Haggerston Hoxton Shoreditch High Street Whitechapel Shadwell Wapping Rotherhithe Canada Water Surrey Quays Extension opens in 2012 Queens Road Peckham New Cross Peckham Rye New Cross Gate Denmark Hill Brockley Clapham High Street Honor Oak Park Wandsworth Road Forest Hill Clapham Junction Sydenham Crystal Palace Penge West Anerley Norwood Junction West Croydon

London Overground

As of May 2010 the off peak frequency is:

• 4tph Northbound to Highbury & Islington
• 4tph Southbound to West Croydon

Southern

As of May 2010 the off peak frequency is:

• 2tph Northbound to London Bridge
• 2tph Southbound to Caterham

Note trains from London Bridge to Sutton have been withdrawn. Caterham trains now call here and Anerley.

The new timetable means that the number of trains serving this station has jumped from 2 per hour to 6, although only 2 of these go to London Bridge.

Transport links

London bus routes 176, 197, 227 and 354 all serve the station.

Gallery

• 

  A 1908 Railway Clearing House map of lines around the Brighton Main Line between South Croydon and Selhurst / Forrest Hill, as well as surrounding lines

• 

  The station viewed from the footbridge

• 

  View of the station looking North

Lines

Preceding station		London Overground		Following station
Sydenham towards Highbury & Islington		East London Line		Anerley towards West Croydon
National Rail
Sydenham		Southern Brighton Main Line		Anerley

External links

• Train times and station information for Penge West railway station from National Rail
• A Penge Walk starting at Penge West station