Bromley North Line

Bromley North Line
Southeastern Class 465 unit 465931 at Bromley North.
Overview
Type	Suburban rail, Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Greater London
Termini	Grove Park Bromley North
Stations	3
Services	1
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Southeastern
Character	Branch line
Depot(s)	Hither Green
Rolling stock	Class 466 "Networker"
Technical
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	750 DC third rail
Operating speed	30 mph (48 km/h)

The Bromley North line is a less than 2-mile (3.2 km) long branch line in Greater London that connects at Grove Park with the South Eastern Main Line operated by Southeastern. During the 2010s the line which has two stations of its own has been served by a non-through (shuttle) service to and from Grove Park railway station in the London Borough of Lewisham. Network Rail records the line as route SO350.

The line was built by the 'Bromley Direct Railway Company', in co-operation with the South Eastern Railway (SER), to compete with the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, which owned the other Bromley station, Bromley South. It opened on 1 January 1878 and was worked by the SER from the outset. The two companies merged later in the same year.

The line was electrified at 750 V DC (third rail) with the other SECR urban routes from 1926 by Southern Railway.

A shuttle service operates, known by the staff as "the popper". The service is mainly three trains per hour in each direction, reduced to two in the late evenings and on Saturdays. Public holidays and Sundays are not operated by the franchisee. Previously through services operated, to Holborn Viaduct, Victoria, Cannon Street and Charing Cross. There was a consultation to bring through services from Charing Cross back into operation for the December timetable, instead timetable slots and terminus paths were allocated to the longer distance Charing Cross to Orpington services, boosting those services to four trains per hour rather than two.

Bromley North Station also serves as an alternative station for Bromley, when engineering works are being carried out on the Chatham Main Line or when other maintenance works are occurring at Bromley South. Trains are diverted from London Victoria to Bromley North via Lewisham and Grove Park, and vice versa. During this operation, it is more common to see Class 375s and 376s as well as Southeastern Networkers.