Brixton railway station

Brixton
Brixton Location of Brixton in Greater London
Location	Brixton
Local authority	London Borough of Lambeth
Managed by	Southeastern
Station code	BRX
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	2
OSI	Brixton
National Rail annual entry and exit
2007–08	0.642 million
2008–09	0.656 million
2009–10	0.687 million
2010–11	0.786 million
2011–12	0.843 million
2012–13	0.897 million
Railway companies
Original company	London, Chatham and Dover Railway
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London Transport portal UK Railways portal

Brixton railway station is a commuter railway station in Brixton, South London, UK. It is on the Chatham Main Line from London Victoria to Orpington and beyond. Trains are operated by Southeastern. The typical service is one train every 15 minutes in both directions.

It is about 110 yards (100 m) north of Brixton tube station, high above ground level on a railway bridge that can be seen from the tube station. Access is from Atlantic Road via staircases. It is also a busy junction, with the Catford Loop via Peckham Rye and Bellingham leaving the Chatham Main Line immediately west of the station.

History

Brixton main line station in 1960

Brixton was opened as Brixton and South Stockwell in 1862 by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LC&DR) to serve the affluent Victorian suburbs of South London. Services ran from Moorgate to London Victoria via Holborn Viaduct railway station, Camberwell New Road and Brixton and South Stockwell to Grosvenor Road, following the opening of the link northeastwards to London Blackfriars via Loughborough Junction in 1864. The station was also connected to the LC&DR's branch to Crystal Palace High Level via Nunhead soon afterwards, with this section (via Denmark Hill) becoming part of the modern-day Catford Loop Line.

The station is currently served only by trains on the main line towards Herne Hill. The Denmark Hill line platforms were closed in 1916 as a wartime economy measure, and have been out of use and fenced off ever since. However, the line itself remains in regular and frequent use by both freight and passenger services.

Services

The typical off-peak train service per hour is:

• Four trains per hour non-stop to London Victoria
• Four trains per hour to Orpington, calling at all stations via Herne Hill and Bromley South

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
London Victoria		Southeastern Victoria - Orpington		Herne Hill

London Overground extension

Map of rail & tube lines passing through Brixton, showing the location of Brixton station and the London Overground through route

One of the high rail bridges above Brixton

The London Overground network passes above the station without stopping. This segment of the South London Line became part of the network as the second phrase of the East London line extension project. Completed in December 2012, the extension connected the South London Line to the East and West London Lines, from Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction.

The line also passes over Loughborough Junction. Adding both stations to the route was excluded from the plan due to the prohibitive cost of building on the high viaducts at each location. The proposals drew criticism for not including new interchange stations at these locations. Until 1976 trains stopped at nearby East Brixton.

Artworks

A number of colourful murals have been painted on the outside of the station. Inside the station, three bronze sculptures stand on the platforms. This work, Platforms Piece by Kevin Atherton, was erected in 1986 and the statues are life casts of three people - two black, one white - who regularly travelled from Brixton.

Gallery

• 

  Southeastern branded signs

• 

  Woman waiting at Brixton

• 

  Her male counterpart

• 

  The Mural

• 

  North entrance, cáfe closed

• 

  Networkers work the local trains.

• 

  Disused platform linking to the Catford Loop Line, with third statue

• 

  A 1908 Railway Clearing House map of lines through Brixton

Connections

London Buses routes 2, 3, 35, 37 (at Lambeth Town Hall); 45, 59, 109, 118, 133, 159, 196, 250, 322, 333, 345 (at Brixton Police Station), 355, 415, 432, 689, 690, P4, P5 and night routes N2, N3, N35, N109 and N133 serve the station.

External links

• Train times and station information for Brixton railway station from National Rail