Something unusual will happen on the railways, as London Overground trains will be calling at London Bridge station at the end of March.
Overground train at London Bridge on a test run (c) ianvisits
Running all day on Easter Sunday (31st March), the unusual London Overground service between London Bridge and West Croydon is needed because of Network Rail engineering works, which would have meant no trains to or from London Bridge operating through the Sydenham corridor on Easter Sunday.
Although TfL can run a shuttle between New Cross and West Croydon, as people will want to get into central London, TfL decided to take up an option to run trains into London Bridge for the day so that people could get into town and home again.
So, for one day, it will be possible to catch a London Overground train from a station they would never usually be seen at.
Which I am sure will utterly thrill anyone with even the slightest bit of train geekery in them.
For the record, TfL has confirmed to me that this has nothing to do with a suggested permanent service to London Bridge, and the Easter Sunday special is only happening because of the engineering works.
Edited TfL Overground map showing the affected area
Rory O’Neill, TfL’s General Manager for London Overground, said: “We are operating services between West Croydon and London Bridge station on Sunday 31 March due to planned Network Rail engineering works. A decision to operate services temporarily to London Bridge was made because no other operator will be running on the Sydenham corridor into this station on the Easter Sunday, so this was vital to ensure south Londoners continue to have easy access to central London. We have no current plans to start serving London Bridge station on a permanent basis but do keep services under review to ensure they continue to meet the needs of our customers.”
Over the Easter weekend (30th March to 1st April), engineering works will mean there are no London Overground services between Clapham Junction and Highbury & Islington.
Rail replacement buses will be operating on the following routes throughout the day:
- Dalston Kingsland – Dalston Junction – New Cross Gate
- Canada Water – Surrey Quays – Clapham Junction
In addition, for trains between New Cross Gate and West Croydon/Crystal Palace, there will be a London Overground shuttle service:
Saturday 30th March
- New Cross Gate and Crystal Palace (2 trains per hour)
- New Cross Gate and West Croydon (2 trains per hour)
Sunday 31st March
- West Croydon and London Bridge (2 trains per hour) from about 9:30am to 11pm
Monday 1st April
- New Cross Gate and Crystal Palace (2 trains per hour)
- New Cross Gate and West Croydon (2 trains per hour)
Ahead of all that, there will also be two test services on Sunday 25th February, as a driver training exercise, which you can’t ride in but can watch from the sidelines if you want.
The first departs Crystal Palace’s Platform 5 at 10:11am and arrives at London Bridge on Platform 13 at 10:34am — and then returns, leaving London Bridge at 10:54am to arrive at Crystal Palace at 11:13am.
Platform 13 is on London Bridge’s upper concourse, where trains terminate, giving you a sneak preview of what to expect on Easter Sunday.
I am preparing a clean anorak for the occasion.😄
Thank you for the heads-up.
Talking of making overground to LB permanent – the Victoria to London Bridge line is such an obvious route to be turned over to TfL / Overground, it serves major destinations – Battersea, Clapham, Balham, Streatham, Crystal Palace, and then the ELL stations, yet it never gets any airtime in discussions on lines to be brought in house. Costs aside – why is this?
My home station of West Norwood would benefit hugely from the regen potential that would come with a metro Overground service vs the current Southern rubbish..