Sydenham railway station (London)

For other stations called Sydenham, see Sydenham railway station (disambiguation).

Sydenham (London)
Sydenham (London) Location of Sydenham (London) in Greater London
Location	Sydenham
Local authority	London Borough of Lewisham
Managed by	London Overground
Owner	Network Rail
Station code(s)	SYD
DfT category	D
Number of platforms	2
Accessible	Yes
Fare zone	3
National Rail annual entry and exit
2014–15	3.400 million
2015–16	4.066 million
2016–17	4.282 million
2017–18	4.148 million
2018–19	4.265 million
Key dates
5 June 1839	Opened by the London and Croydon Railway
1844	Croydon platform re-sited
1982	London platform re-sited
23 May 2010	East London Line started
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51.4254°N 0.0544°W / 51.4254; -0.0544
London transport portal

Sydenham (London) is a railway station in Sydenham in the London Borough of Lewisham, South London. Originally opened in 1839, the station is located on the former Croydon Canal, which is now a branch of the Brighton Main Line, often known as the Sydenham Corridor. Sydenham falls within Travelcard Zone 3 and is served by London Overground and Southern. The station is 6 miles 32 chains (6.40 miles, 10.30 km) down the line from London Bridge.

History

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

The Croydon Canal opened in 1809 linking the Grand Surrey Canal to Croydon, however the waterway was never successful, and in 1836, it was the first canal to be abandoned by an Act of Parliament. The alignment was purchased by the London and Croydon Railway, who drained the canal and re-opened as a railway on the 5 June 1839. In 1844, L&CR was given authority to test the first atmospheric railway equipment between Dartmouth Arms (now Forest Hill) and West Croydon. In 1846, the railway became part of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and in the following year, the system was abandoned. The station was originally built south of Sydenham Road (A212) however, due to the construction of the branch to Crystal Palace in 1852, platform 2 was resited to its current position. Platform 1 and its station building remained south of the road bridge, until 1982 when British Rail decided to construct a replacement platform 90 meters north, parallel to Peak Hill Gardens due to the retaining wall beginning to collapse.

The Big Four grouping led to Southern Railway (SR) management until nationalistation in 1948. Between 1948 and 1982 Sydenham was part of the Southern Region and following sectorisation, until privatisation, Sydenham became part of the Network SouthEast sector. Upon privatisation in May 1996, the station management passed to Connex South Central. Connex was stripped of the franchise due to poor financial management and in 2001, Govia South Central (Southern) took over the franchise and management of the station. Southern remained the sole train provider until 2010, when London Overground took over management of the station and began running trains as part of the East London Line extension.

Sydenham was the first station to serve the area, however, there are, or have been, five other stations in the Sydenham:

• Lower Sydenham on the Hayes Line
• Upper Sydenham on the now closed Crystal Palace (High Level) line
• Sydenham Hill, Penge East on the Template:LUL stations to Orpington line.

Station layout

Like all intermediate stations between New Cross Gate and Norwood Junction, Sydenham has two platforms, facing two (up and down slow) of the four tracks with the two fast tracks run between the two slow lines. There are three entrances - the ticket office on platform 2 from Sydenham Station Approach, entrance on platform 1 from Peak Hill Gardens and a gate on platform 2 which is not unlocked regularly. A locally owned small cafe named On The Hoof which also has locations at other stations on the line, is in the main station building.

Services

East London Line
London Overground
Highbury & Islington Canonbury Dalston Junction Haggerston Kingsland Viaduct Hoxton Shoreditch High Street Whitechapel Shadwell ( Shadwell) Wapping Thames Tunnel under River Thames Rotherhithe Canada Water Surrey Quays Queens Road Peckham New Cross Peckham Rye New Cross Gate Denmark Hill Brockley Clapham High Street ( Clapham North) Honor Oak Park Wandsworth Road Forest Hill Clapham Junction Sydenham Crystal Palace Penge West Anerley Norwood Junction West Croydon

Sydenham is served by 8 trains in each direction off peak, with additional Southern services at peak hours. London Overground operates 5 car trains while Southern operates 4-10 car trains throughout the day.

Off Peak frequencies are:

Platform	Frequency (per hour)	Destination	Service Pattern	Operator	Line
1	4	Highbury & Islington	All stations via Shoreditch High Street	London Overground	East London
		Dalston Junction		London Overground	East London
		London Bridge	All stations	Southern	Metro
2	4	Crystal Palace	Next station	London Overground	East London
		West Croydon	All stations	London Overground	East London
	2	London Victoria (Mon-Sat)	All stations via Clapham Junction	Southern	Metro
		Caterham (Mon-Sat)	All stations via East Croydon	Southern	Metro
		West Croydon (Peaks & Sun only)	Fast to Norwood Junction	Southern	Metro
		Tattenham Corner (Sun only)	All stations via East Croydon	Southern	Metro

Connections

London Buses routes 122, 176, 197, 202 and 450 serve the station. While routes 75 and 194 run close by.

External links

• National Rail: Sydenham (SYD)
• National Rail: Sydenham station plan
• Southern: Sydenham page
• Southern: Live departures, Sydenham
• Maps and aerial photos