Standing on Brockley station platforms today you can watch trains pass overhead on the line that heads up to Nunhead and beyond. At one time these trains stopped at the nearby Brockley Lane station.
All that remains of the old station are the steps up to the former entrance on Brockley Road by Brockley cross... 
...and the former stationmaster's house opposite. There was also a subway (presumably still there) from the entrance to the platform.
Nobody talks about new rail stations nowadays, but given that these trains still pass through Brockley is it really unimaginable that they could stop there once more, giving direct access to Victoria?
Presumably 'all' it would take would be some stairs, a couple of platforms and some kind of link to the existing Brockley station (so that you wouldn't actually need a separate station). The land where the old platforms stood is still unused, behind the hoardings at the corner of Mantle Road. Come to think about it, you could access platforms there directly from the existing northbound Brockley station platform.
(by the way, railway modelling enthusiast has done an elaborate model of a fictional Brockley Green station).
This is something which Brockley Cross Action Group has been campaigning for for years - and we have written about several times on Brockley Central.
ReplyDeleteBXAG even went so far as to ask all the 'stakeholders' involved, such as the train operating companies, Network Rail, etc, for their views. Apparently the main sticking point was the council high-ups, who have solidly refused to take even the slightest interest in supporting the project.
Did the council say in which grounds they refused to support the project? I never knew that that the possibility of a train linking directly to Victoria existed but surely it is a positive for the area and the council?
ReplyDeleteYou know, just because a station _used_ to exist there, it doesn't mean it makes it any easier to make one exist there now.
ReplyDeleteI think it is definitely a positive.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't like to speak for BXAG, as I'm not a member, but my understanding was that - as with so many things in Brockley - the problem lay with the political hierarchy in Lewisham. Steve Bullock and pals, in other words.
That's just my opinion, mind, not an official BXAG position.
re: Anon: 'You know, just because a station _used_ to exist there, it doesn't mean it makes it any easier to make one exist there now'. You're right in general, but it all depends - in this case the trains still go through there and the land where the platforms stood is still not being used, so it would presumbly be easier to revive than many other stations.
ReplyDeleteYes, fair enough. I just hope people don't think it's a case of them unlocking the front doors and making the ticket machines inside work with Oysters instead of farthings :)
ReplyDeleteWell as we're heading into a depression perhaps we won't actually need a station - perhaps it'll be more Woody Guthrie style, guitar-wielding hobos jumping on to the train as it slows down.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to hear more about this disused subway which JPM alluded to on Brockley Central and you have mentioned. I don't understand where a subway would go, I mean the platform for the high level is just that - high level, so why would you need a subway underground?
ReplyDeleteThe Subterannea site linked to in the post actually has a picture of the subway. Since the entrace was at low level on Brockley Road, I assume the subway went under the other rail line (i.e. the Brockley/London Bridge line), after which passengers ascended by stair up to the high level platforms.
ReplyDeleteApparently the platform at the old Brockley station is still there.
ReplyDeleteIf I wasn't such a law-abiding type, I'd be fascinated to try and get up there.
you're tempting me now - it can't be that hard or dangerous - just a little climb over the wall...
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I've seen more recent photos of the track at platform level of the old Brockley Lane station on some website somewhere and if you take the train from Lewisham to Victoria via Nunhead you can pass through the old station. I don't think there was ever much more than a basic platform only station up there and wasn't it mostly fairly temporary wood type structures? I don't think there's much chance of finding Victorian railway relics lying about!
ReplyDelete