Nunhead railway station

Nunhead
Thameslink Class 319 at Platform 2 in April 2015
Nunhead Location of Nunhead in Greater London
Location	Nunhead
Local authority	London Borough of Southwark
Managed by	Thameslink
Station code(s)	NHD
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	2
National Rail annual entry and exit
2018–19	1.177 million
2019–20	1.258 million
2020–21	0.344 million
2021–22	0.730 million
2022–23	0.840 million
Railway companies
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
Key dates
1 September 1871	Opened
3 May 1925	Resited north
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51.4671°N 0.0527°W / 51.4671; -0.0527
London transport portal

Nunhead railway station is in the Nunhead area of the London Borough of Southwark. It is 5 miles 77 chains (9.6 km) measured from London Victoria. The station is managed by Thameslink. It is in Travelcard Zone 2.

Services

Services at Nunhead are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink using Class 376, 465, 466 and 700 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:

• 2 tph to London Victoria
• 2 tph to London Blackfriars
• 2 tph to Gravesend via Bexleyheath
• 2 tph to Sevenoaks via Catford

During the peak hours, additional services between Orpington, Kentish Town and Luton call at the station. In addition, the service to London Blackfriars is extended to and from Welwyn Garden City via Finsbury Park.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Peckham Rye		Thameslink Catford Loop Line		Crofton Park
		Southeastern Greenwich Park Branch Line		Lewisham

History

A 1908 Railway Clearing House map showing railways in the vicinity of Nunhead (upper right)

The Crystal Palace and South London Junction Railway from Canterbury Road Junction, near Brixton to Crystal Palace (High Level) was opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) on 1 August 1865, to take passengers to the Crystal Palace. Train services on the Crystal Palace High Level line ceased in 1917–1919 and 1944–1946 for wartime economies. The line closed to all traffic on 20 September 1954.

The Greenwich Park branch opened 1871 as far as Blackheath Hill, with the final stretch opening in 1888. It closed on 1 January 1917 for wartime economies. The Catford loop line opened on 1 July 1892, giving a second route out of London for the LCDR, and Nunhead became a three-way junction.

In 1925 the lines were electrified, and a new station at Nunhead was built on the London side of the original site. In 1929 the Greenwich Park branch was reopened as far as the site of Lewisham Road where a new connecting line to Lewisham enabled cross-London freight trains to be re-routed to Hither Green. The line was electrified in 1935 for peak hour passenger trains. There is now a frequent service of passenger trains.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Peckham Rye Line and station open		London, Chatham and Dover Railway Greenwich Park branch		Brockley Lane Line open, station closed
		London, Chatham and Dover Railway Crystal Palace Branch		Honor Oak Line and station closed

Connections

London Buses route P12 serves the station.

Further reading

• Crystal Palace (High Level) and Catford Loop by V Mitchell & K Smith, Middleton Press, 1991
• The Railway through Sydenham Hill Wood, From the Nun's Head to the Screaming Alice by Mathew Frith, The Friends of the Great North Wood and London Wildlife Trust leaflet, 1995
• London's Local Railways by A A Jackson, David & Charles, 1978
• The Crystal Palace (High Level) Branch by W Smith, British Railway Journal 28, 1989

External links

• Train times and station information for Nunhead railway station from National Rail
• Photographs of original station