Crystal Palace railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Crystal Palace | |||
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|---|---|---|---|
| Location | |||
| Place | Crystal Palace | ||
| Local authority | Bromley | ||
| Operations | |||
| Managed by | Southern | ||
| Platforms in use | 4 | ||
| National Rail | |||
| Station code | CYP | ||
| Annual entry/exit |
0.905 million * | ||
| Transport for London | |||
| Zone | 3 and 4 | ||
| History | |||
| Key dates | Opened 1854 | ||
| Transport for London List of London stations: Underground | National Rail |
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| * based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at this station. Disclaimer (PDF) | |||
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Crystal Palace railway station is located in the London Borough of Bromley in south London. It is one of two stations built to serve the site of the 1851 exhibition building, the so-called Crystal Palace, when it was moved from Hyde Park to Sydenham Hill after 1851.
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[edit] Crystal Palace (Low Level)
This station, which remains in use, was opened on 10 June 1854 by the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway (WEL&CPR) to take the crowds to the relocated Palace.
The station, with its French and Brighton Pavilion influences made a fitting approach to the exhibition halls. Access to the Palace was by means of a 720ft (216m) Railway Colonnade designed to the same glazed prefabricated design as the Palace.
The station was originally called Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood; it later became known as Crystal Palace (Low Level), until the rival High Level station (see below) was closed.
From the outset trains were operated by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR). Initially the station was the terminus of a spur line from Sydenham. In 1856 the station was able to take through train services to Clapham Junction via West Norwood and Streatham Hill, following the completion of the 746 yard (690 m) Crystal Palace Tunnel. Although relatively short, the tunnel was regarded as a major engineering achievement as it was cut "through the same treacherous material [clay], through the hill on which the Crystal Palace stands, and immediately under one of the great water towers, a superincumbent weight of 2,200 tons which taxed in its execution all the skill and workmanship of the eminent contractors." [1]
In 1857, an eastward connection was made to Norwood Junction(for the Brighton line to the south) and in 1858 the WEL&CPR was extended as far as Beckenham. From 1860 direct services were available from London Victoria.
The frontage of the station was rebuilt in 1875, and was described: "Although the Roman Catholic chapel room is no longer used the station still has a cathedral-like atmosphere as one passes from the period booking hall to the vault-like station and the stairs down to the original station area." [2]
This is a description of the station trainshed roof above the staircases at the west end. However, the rest of the station has no shelter from the elements between the vast brick retaining walls. Originally the whole length of the platforms beyond the bottom of the massive staircases was covered by an elegant dual bow-spring arch iron roof. This was removed as a precautionary measure shortly after the collapse of the similar structure at Charing Cross in 1905.
The line was electrified between Balham and Crystal Palace on 12 May 1911, using the LBSCR overhead system, in time for the Festival of Empire coinciding with the coronation of King George V. Electic trains from Victoria were advertised to complete the journey in fifteen minutes - a running time that has never been equalled.
The station is built on the junction of two lines: the old station platforms lying on the Sydenham route, and the more modest platforms on the southern spur to Beckenham Junction.
After World War II when the Palace itself was no longer a major attraction, there was a move of most services through the station to serve London-Croydon routes rather than running along the outer South London Line. The southern platforms became the busier pair and the entrance to the station was moved to the south side of the building in the 1980s. The glazed ticket hall was constructed at this time, which echoes the profile the Crystal Palace with its arched roof structure.
The original station was partially refurbished in 2002 by Railtrack at a cost of £4 million. This included a substantial amount of work on the roof of the building and refurbishment of office space on the top floor.
The two outer bay platforms, which were used for trains terminating there, are no longer in use, although the track and buffers are extant (The third rail has been removed). When the East London Line extension is constructed this will terminate in one of the bay platforms and a new island platform, replacing the removed sidings in the centre of the old station.
[edit] Train services today
Regular train services which serve Crystal Palace today are comprised of four different routes, each of which run two trains per hour in each direction. These run between:
- 1. London Victoria and West Croydon
- 2. London Victoria and London Bridge (the outer South London Line service)
- 3. London Bridge and Beckenham Junction
- 4. London Bridge and Smitham
Alternative routes run at peak hours, and the latter two do not run during late evenings, when route 1 listed above is also extended to Epsom and Epsom Downs. This is also the only route to run during Sunday service, when it is extended to Sutton.
[edit] Future
Crystal Palace will be one of the termini on the new southbound route of the East London Line that is due to open in 2010. The station will then be part of Transport for London's London Overground network.
Transport for London are proposing to extend the Croydon Tramlink from Harrington Road through Anerley to the bus station on Crystal Palace Parade, with three possible routes[3].
[edit] Crystal Palace (High Level)
The Crystal Palace and South London Junction Railway was promoted by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR); by 1860 the LCDR had a line running to Beckenham Junction via Loughborough Junction, some three miles to the north-west of the Crystal Palace site. In order to capture traffic from the LBSCR, the LCDR constructed a branch line from the latter station, with a junction at Nunhead to run directly to the Crystal Palace site. The line opened on 1 August 1865.
Traffic on the high level branch never recovered after the 1936 Palace fire, and the station finally closed on 20 September 1954, when services ceased on the branch, although it was not demolished until 1961.
The station was designed by Edward Middleton Barry as a lavish red brick and buff terra cotta building. The station was excavated into the ridge below Crystal Palace Parade requiring major engineering works. Although the site of the station was developed for housing in the 1970s, the retaining walls below Crystal Palace Parade and the ornamental portal of Paxton Tunnel to the north are still readily visible.
The High Level Station was connected to the Palace by a fan-vaulted pedestrian subway in finely detailed red and cream brickwork. This subway and an adjacent courtyard survived the 1936 fire, and was used as an air raid shelter during World War II. It is now a Grade I listed building[1]. Although the subway is now sealed off, it is sometimes opened to allow organised visits.
[edit] Trivia
There is a rumour that in one of the sealed tunnels in the area, an engine or carriage remains hidden collecting dust. Another version of the story, popular amongst local schoolchildren, claims that the Low Level station was closed because a commuter train was trapped by a tunnel collapse, entombing the passengers who remain there to this day. These stories are an example of the extraordinary persistence of local urban legend. The story of the entombed train was apparently current in the 1930s. Back then it referred to the abandoned 1860s pneumatic railway on the north side of the grounds of Crystal Palace Park.
Most traces of this had almost certainly been destroyed by the building works for the 1911 Festival of Empire, but there was an unsuccessful archaeological dig for the train sponsored by the BBC's Nationwide current affairs programme in the 1970s.
[edit] References
- ^ Illustrated London News 1 November 1856
- ^ Railways of the Southern Region (PSL Field Guide, Geoffrey Body, 1984))
- ^ Transport for London - Croydon Tramlink Consultation
[edit] External links
- Opening Ceremony for Refurbished Offices 19 July 2002, The Railway Consultancy Ltd
- Train times and station information for Crystal Palace railway station from National Rail
- Street map and aerial photo of Crystal Palace railway station from Multimap.com
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- Satellite image from WikiMapia or Google Map
- Street map from Multimap or GlobalGuide
- Aerial image from TerraServer
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gipsy Hill | Southern | Sydenham | ||
| Southern | Birkbeck | |||
| Southern | Norwood Junction | |||
| Railway stations of London Central area | Greater London |
|---|
| Managed by Network Rail: Cannon Street • Charing Cross • Euston • Fenchurch Street • King's Cross • Liverpool Street • London Bridge • Paddington • Victoria • Waterloo |
| Managed by train operator: Blackfriars • Marylebone • Moorgate • St Pancras |
| UK railway stations |
|---|
