Bexleyheath Line
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| Bexleyheath Line |
Stations
Blackheath
|
The Bexleyheath Line is last of the three rail routes created between the outskirts of London and Dartford in Kent.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Bexleyheath Line leaves the North Kent Line immediately on the Down side of Blackheath railway station and travels due east for 8 miles (13 km) to a junction with the same line south of Slade Green. There was a line to the south (the Dartford Loop Line) but, in spite of public pressure in the 1880s, the South Eastern Railway (SER) refused to build a line to serve the area between the two lines.
It was therefore another company – the Bexley Heath Railway (BHR), led by railway engineer Alfred Bean (owner of Danson House) – who put forward a scheme for this line, securing the necessary Act of Parliament in 1883. But it took a further twelve years for the scheme to be realised, and it was not until 1 May 1895 that the Bexleyheath Line was finally opened. The BHR soon went into bankruptcy, and the SER were forced to take over the line.
[edit] Stations
There were originally six stations on the line; one was added subsequently with the growth of the suburban area served by the line.
The stations, starting at the North Kent line, and with notable features listed underneath, are:
- — junction with the North Kent Line east of Blackheath
- — near Kidbrooke Tunnel (c. 400 yd / 360 m)
- Kidbrooke
- Eltham, which was built to replace both:
- Well Hall (subsequently renamed Eltham Well Hall before later closure)
- Shooters Hill & Eltham Park (subsequently renamed Eltham Park before later closure)
- Falconwood
- — opened in 1936
- — triangular junction with the North Kent Line linking trains with Slade Green carriage sidings and Dartford
[edit] Electrification
The line was electrified with the other SECR local routes to Dartford on 6 June 1926 by Southern Railway.
[edit] Present services
Most trains using the line call at all stations (apart from weekday busy periods) and terminate at Dartford.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Railway lines in London: | |
|---|---|
| North London: | Dudding Hill Line Hertford Loop Line Gospel Oak-Barking Line North London Line Northern City Line Lea Valley Lines St Albans Branch Line Thameslink Watford DC Line |
| East London: | Romford-Upminster Line |
| South London: | Bexleyheath Line Bromley North Line Catford Loop Line Greenwich Line Dartford Loop Line Hayes Line Hounslow Loop Line South London Lines Tattenham Corner Line Thameslink |
| West London: | West London Line |
| Proposed network: | London Overground |
