Forest Hill railway station

National rail station in London, England For other places with the same name, see Forest Hill station (disambiguation).

Forest Hill

Forest HillLocation of Forest Hill in Greater London
Location	Forest Hill
Local authority	London Borough of Lewisham
Managed by	London Overground
Owner	Network Rail
Station code(s)	FOH
DfT category	C2
Number of platforms	2 (facing 4 tracks)
Accessible	Yes
Fare zone	3
National Rail annual entry and exit
2019–20	5.000 million
2020–21	1.322 million
2021–22	2.947 million
2022–23	3.757 million
2023–24	4.231 million
Key dates
5 June 1839	Opened as Dartmouth Arms
1845	Renamed Forest Hill
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51°26′20″N 0°03′11″W / 51.439°N 0.053°W / 51.439; -0.053
London transport portal

Forest Hill is an interchange station between the Windrush line of the London Overground and National Rail services operated by Southern, located in Forest Hill in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is 5 miles 50 chains (5.63 miles, 9.05 km) down the line from London Bridge, between Honor Oak Park and Sydenham, in Travelcard Zone 3. There are four tracks through the station, although only the slow lines (the two outer tracks) have platforms.

The station adjoins a road which serves as part of the A205 South Circular Road. There are two entrances, the main one being on platform 1 at the bottom of the South Circular Road, and a side entrance on platform 2 on Perry Vale. The ticket office is placed in the main entrance, although there are ticket machines outside both entrances.

History

The station was opened by the original London & Croydon Railway (L&CR) on 5 June 1839, as Dartmouth Arms (the name of the local inn).

The line was also used by the London and Brighton Railway from 1841 and the South Eastern Railway (SER) from 1842. In 1844, the station was chosen by the L&CR as the northern terminus for Phase 1 of an experimental atmospheric railway to West Croydon. A pumping station was also constructed at the station. The L&CR and the L&BR merged to form the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) in July 1846; the following year "atmospheric" working was abandoned. In 1845 the station became Forest Hill for Lordship Lane.

The LB&SCR moved the Down platform during the early 1850s when the line was quadrupled, and extended the island platform around 1864.

The LB&SCR station buildings were badly damaged by bombing during World War II but were patched up and survived until British Rail demolished them in 1972 and built a much smaller CLASP system-built prefabricated station building that remains in use to this day. The short narrow island platform serving the fast lines was demolished in the early 1960s.

Services

Windrush Line

Legend

London Overground

Highbury & Islington

Shoreditch High Street

Whitechapel

Shadwell)

under River Thames

(

Battersea Park (limited)

Sydenham

Clapham Junction

Crystal Palace

Forest Hill is on the Windrush line of the London Overground, with services operated using Class 378 EMUs. Additional services are operated by Southern using Class 377 EMUs.

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

2 tph to London Bridge
8 tph to Highbury & Islington via Surrey Quays (Windrush line)
2 tph to London Victoria via Streatham Hill
4 tph to Crystal Palace (Windrush line)
4 tph to West Croydon (Windrush line)

The station is also served by a single early morning and late evening service to East Croydon via Norwood Junction, with the early morning service continuing to Tattenham Corner and Caterham.

Preceding station	National Rail		Following station
Honor Oak Park		Southern Brighton Main LineStopping Services	Sydenham
Preceding station	London Overground		Following station
Honor Oak Parktowards Highbury & Islington		Windrush line East London line	Sydenhamtowards Crystal Palace or West Croydon

Connections

London Buses routes 122, 176, 185, 197 and 356 serve the station.

References

^ "Estimates of station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
Turner, John Howard (1978). The London Brighton and South Coast Railway 1 Origins and Formation. Batsford. pp. 249–250. ISBN 0-7134-0275-X.
Chronology of London Railways by H.V.Borley
Forgotten Stations of Greater London by J.E.Connor and B.Halford
Howard Turner, John (1978). The London Brighton and South Coast Railway 2 Establishment and Growth. Batsford. pp. 43, 245. ISBN 0-7134-1198-8.
Table 171, 177, 178 National Rail timetable, May 2022
"London Overground Timetable: Highbury & Islington to New Cross, Clapham Junction, Crystal Palace and West Croydon" (PDF). London Overground. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
Forest Hill station/Dartmouth Road
Forest Hill Station/London Road – Bus

External links

Train times and station information for Forest Hill railway station from National Rail

London Overground

Windrush line

Stations in italics have a limited service.

Other topics

Future plans

Planned and proposed stations	Brent Cross West Castle Green Thamesmead Abbey Wood East Brixton Maiden Lane Junction Road Surrey Canal Old Oak Common Lane Hythe Road Primrose Hill
Planned and proposed routes	R25 (London) West London Orbital

Rolling stock

Current	Class 378 Class 710
Former	Class 150 Class 172 Class 313 Class 315 Class 317 Class 508

Operations

History

London transport portal

Transport in London

Companies and
organisations

Transport for
London (TfL)

London Underground	Night Tube Bakerloo Central Circle District Hammersmith & City Jubilee Metropolitan Northern Piccadilly Victoria Waterloo & City
London Rail	Docklands Light Railway Elizabeth line Tramlink London Overground North London East London South London West London Gospel Oak to Barking Lea Valley Romford–Upminster Watford DC
London Buses	East London Transit Superloop Night buses
Other	Coach station Cycle hire Dial-a-Ride IFS Cloud Cable Car London River Services London Streets Source London Taxi and Private Hire office

Bus operators

River operators

Train operators

Other

Airports

Within London	City Heathrow London Heliport Military: Northolt Private: Biggin Hill
Outside London	Gatwick Luton Southend Stansted

Major stations

Central area	Baker Street Bank-Monument Blackfriars Bond Street Cannon Street Charing Cross City Thameslink Earl's Court Elephant & Castle Euston Farringdon Fenchurch Street Green Park King's Cross Liverpool Street London Bridge Marylebone Moorgate Oxford Circus Paddington St Pancras International Tottenham Court Road Vauxhall Victoria Waterloo Waterloo East Westminster
Other	Barking Bromley South Canary Wharf Clapham Junction Ealing Broadway East Croydon Finsbury Park Heathrow stations Highbury & Islington Lewisham London City Airport Richmond Stratford Surbiton Sutton Upminster West Ham West Hampstead stations Whitechapel Willesden Junction Wimbledon

Roads

Motorways	M1 M4 M11 M25 London Orbital Former: M41 (West Cross Route) A40(M) (Westway) A102(M) (East Cross Route)
Ring roads	London Inner Ring Road North Circular Road South Circular Road
Charging	Congestion charge Low emission zone Ultra Low Emission Zone

Ticketing

Other

Former BR sectors

Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Southeastern routes

Southern routes serving this station
Metro Caterham and Tattenham Corner	London Bridge New Cross Gate Brockley Honor Oak Park Forest Hill Sydenham Penge West Anerley Norwood Junction London Victoria Battersea Park Clapham Junction Wandsworth Common Balham Streatham Hill West Norwood Gipsy Hill Crystal Palace Streatham Common Norbury Thornton Heath Selhurst West Croydon East Croydon South Croydon Purley Oaks Purley Kenley Whyteleafe Whyteleafe South Caterham Reedham Coulsdon Town Woodmansterne Chipstead Kingswood Tadworth Tattenham Corner
Metro Outer South London line	London Bridge New Cross Gate Brockley Honor Oak Park Forest Hill Sydenham Crystal Palace Gipsy Hill West Norwood Streatham Hill Balham Wandsworth Common Clapham Junction Battersea Park London Victoria

Stations in italics are served on limited occasions, at peak hours or on Sundays only.

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