Catford Loop Line
| Catford Loop Line |
Stations
Bellingham
|
The Catford Loop line was opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway on 1 July 1892; it had been incorporated as the Shortlands and Nunhead Railway in 1889. The line provides a relief route for trains from London Victoria for the Kent coast (see Chatham Main Line); suburban services for Sevenoaks also use the line.
The line leaves the former Crystal Palace branch and the link to Lewisham (the former Greenwich Park branch) at a junction to the east of Nunhead; however, in current railway usage the section from the main line at Brixton to Nunhead, with stations at Denmark Hill and Peckham Rye, is also included.
There are five stations on the original route, all opened in 1892. They are as follows:
- Crofton Park
- Catford
- Bellingham
- here are carriage sidings
- Beckenham Hill
- Ravensbourne
The line joins the main line at Shortlands Junction, west of Shortlands station. The total length from Nunhead of the Catford Loop is almost five miles (8km), and from Brixton nearly eight miles (12.5km).
The line was electrified with the other SECR urban routes on 12th July 1925 by Southern Railway.
