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 [1]
National Rail annual entry and exit
2016–17	1.344 million[2]
2017–18	1.338 million[2]
2018–19	1.228 million[2]
2019–20	1.132 million[2]
2020–21	0.299 million[2]
Railway companies
Original company	London, Chatham and Dover Railway
Pre-grouping	London, Chatham and Dover Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
Key dates
25 August 1862	Opened
Other information
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°27′46″N 0°06′48″W / 51.4629°N 0.1132°W / 51.4629; -0.1132Coordinates: 51°27′46″N 0°06′48″W / 51.4629°N 0.1132°W / 51.4629; -0.1132
London transport portal

Brixton railway station is a commuter railway station in Brixton, South London, UK. It is on the Chatham Main Line, 3 miles 14 chains (5.1 km) down the line from London Victoria. 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 Underground 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, though there are currently only platforms on the Chatham Main Line. The South London line crosses above the east end of the platforms, without stopping nearby.

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.^[3] Services ran from Moorgate to London Victoria via Snow Hill (Holborn Viaduct), 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.^[4] 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 April 1916 as a wartime economy measure and have been demolished except for a short section of the up platform. However, the line itself remains in regular and frequent use by both freight and passenger services.

Services[]

All services at Brixton are operated by Southeastern using Class 465 and 466 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[5]

• 2 tph to London Victoria
• 2 tph to Orpington via Bromley South

During the peak hours, additional services between London Victoria and Bromley South call at the station increasing the service to 4 tph in each direction.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
London Victoria		Southeastern Bromley South Line		Herne Hill
	Historical railways
Clapham High Street Line and station open		London, Chatham & Dover Railway Chatham Main Line		Loughborough Junction Line closed, station open
		London, Chatham & Dover Railway Chatham Main Line		Herne Hill Line and station open

Future Proposals[]

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.^[6]

The line also passes through Loughborough Junction.^[6] 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.^[7] The proposals drew criticism for not including new interchange stations at these locations.^[8][9] Until 1976 trains stopped at nearby East Brixton. It has been proposed that this disused station could be reopened instead as the site is close to both Brixton and Loughborough Junction.^[10][11]

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.^[12] The statues, believed to be the first sculptures of black British people in a public place in the UK, were given Grade II listed status in November 2016.^[13]

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[]

v t LC&DR's Metropolitan Extensions and neighbouring railway lines
Legend
To St Pancras Farringdon 1866 2009 Barbican Moorgate 1866 2009 1874 1990 Holborn Viaduct Holborn Viaduct (low) 1874 1916 Victoria City Thameslink 1867 1911 Grosvenor Road Ludgate Hill 1865 1929 Charing Cross Blackfriars River Thames 1867 1916 Battersea Park Road Blackfriars Bridge 1864 1964 Waterloo East To London Bridge Vauxhall Waterloo To Clapham Jct Borough Road 1864 1907 Wandsworth Road Elephant & Castle Clapham High Street Walworth Road 1862 1916 Camberwell 1862 1916 Loughborough Junction Brixton Denmark Hill Catford Loop 1866 1976 East Brixton South London Line Herne Hill sidings 1885 1966 North Junction Herne Hill South Junction To Sutton Tulse Hill North Dulwich To L. Bridge West Dulwich Chatham Main Line to Kent

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.

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brixton railway station.

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