Victoria-London Bridge services

[backontrack]

Were the Southern London Bridge - Victoria services via Peckham Rye well used? They were withdrawn when London Overground opened their Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction route. They probably provided a useful route from the West End to Peckham/Denmark Hill, but did anyone actually travel the full distance?

 

[blotred]

I used to live near Battersea Park, and I infrequently used the service to go to London Bridge not long before it was withdrawn.
If I remember correctly, during off-peak times the train was rarely busy, and it seemed to contain a lot of students travelling from London Bridge to Kings College near Denmark Hill.
I caught the last train from Peckham Rye a couple of times towards Victoria, and again it was rarely busy.
To be honest, a half-hourly 2 carriage train was never really an attractive service for me, I only used it because I couldn't be bothered going from Queenstown Road -> Waterloo, then Waterloo East -> London Bridge.
But thats just my experience.

 

[backontrack]

Thank you for your information, and congratulations on your first post. Welcome to the forum!

 

[Busaholic]

Were the Southern London Bridge - Victoria services via Peckham Rye well used? They were withdrawn when London Overground opened their Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction route. They probably provided a useful route from the West End to Peckham/Denmark Hill, but did anyone actually travel the full distance?

There probably were a few who travelled the full distance, and not all enthusiasts. In the years between the withdrawal of the direct bus link, the 70 route, and the coming of the Jubilee Line through London Bridge it might have suited those who balked at the Bank/Monument interchange or who couldn't face the so-dubbed 'Misery Line'. The main disadvantage was its half-hourly service and the tendency to cancel trains when there were staff shortages or operational problems. I did attempt to travel on it once the full distance, but I couldn't be bothered to wait forty minutes for the next train after such a cancellation! These days there'd probably be Oyster 'issues' too - if not on that route, then certainly the route between Vic and LB via Crystal Palace.

 

[TheNewNo2]

They were usually operated by solo 456s I believe, so they can't have been terribly busy.

 

[amarshe]

They used to be rammed in the morning and evening peak between Peckham Rye / London Bridge, mainly because it was only two carriages and that's a busy route anyway.

I think after Denmark Hill it emptied out significantly.

 

[Magicake]

I sometimes used to use it to get home to Kent from Victoria via London Bridge if I didn't fancy paying for the underground. No idea if that was valid though, can anyone enlighten me?

 

[heart-of-wessex]

They used to be rammed in the morning and evening peak between Peckham Rye / London Bridge, mainly because it was only two carriages and that's a busy route anyway.

I think after Denmark Hill it emptied out significantly.

You know I wondered that, I only did it off-peak and it was quiet then, but didn't know what the peak's were like. I always wondered as I've always noticed in the SN diagrams, a 4 car 377 on one circuit, with a 4 car 456 on the other was supplied in the morning peak, but in the evening the same 2 car Class 456's were kept on the two circuits from the day turns. So there was always more seats in the mornings than the evenings, but I wondered if the evenings were quiet maybe, I take it not then!

 

[deltic]

Woking in an office next to London Bridge I occasionally used it to travel to Victoria - never found it very busy

 

[kjhskj75]

A piece of trivia, it was the very first "Southern" line to be electrified (in 1909).

So presumably it was heavily used in those days.

 

[hwl]

A piece of trivia, it was the very first "Southern" line to be electrified (in 1909).

So presumably it was heavily used in those days.

and with AC OHLE rather than 3rd rail...

Apparently much more heavily used before electric trams and diesel buses came along

 

[gtr driver]

It was a useful service in the sense that it provided links to central station termini and also linked up hotspots of activity eg Battersea Park, Guys Hospital, Kings College and the Maudsley. What handicapped it to my mind was the low frequency and short formations. The 456 was not a good unit for the sort of rapid acceleration and braking that the route called for and was totally inadequate for the evening peak. Had it been a 4 or even 3 car 377 and run 4 times an hour I think it would have been harder to withdraw it. Its success now is a testament to that but it's a great shame to have lost the central London destinations from the route.

 

[30907]

I sometimes used to use it to get home to Kent from Victoria via London Bridge if I didn't fancy paying for the underground. No idea if that was valid though, can anyone enlighten me?

In the days before the Vic-Dartford service (or out of its hours) I would say definitely yes.

 

[bicbasher]

As mentioned, the peaks were rammed and quieter at other times, compared that to the replacement LOROL service which is busy all the time.

Amazing what a 4tph service and cheaper fares can do.

 

[30907]

and with AC OHLE rather than 3rd rail...

Apparently much more heavily used before electric trams and diesel buses came along

Not to mention the Northern line tube at Clapham. The electrification was a response to competition, but the 3-car sets were soon reduced to 2, which speaks for itself, and the peak 20 minute service was cut to 30 in the 70's IIRC.

I think it took Travelcards to spark the upward trend which has continued.

 

[phil281]

Why doesn't/didn't the line have a station at Brixton? It's arugably the main town in South London and with the coming of the Victoria Line, i'm surprised it never got a station to connect

 

[physics34]

remember when 4VEPs occasionally did the route in leaffall season as 456s couldnt get up the incline at Denmark Hill!

 

[kjhskj75]

Why doesn't/didn't the line have a station at Brixton? It's arugably the main town in South London and with the coming of the Victoria Line, i'm surprised it never got a station to connect

Brixton did have platforms on the northern pair of tracks, I suspect the difficulty of putting platforms on the bridge prevented them on the Atlantic lines.

There was once a station on the Atlantic lines at "East Brixton", where it crosses Barrington Road. You can still see the place where the platforms were.

 

[CapitalStar378]

I used to occasionally get the Southern SLL from Battersea Park to Peckham Rye and remember that peak services were sometimes a 377 and off peak usually a 456. I don't recall any of them being very busy.

There were a few loud complaints about the withdrawal of the Southern service but the loadings of the LO SLL service are exponentially bigger than it's predecessor, which definitely justifies the changeover.

 

[physics34]

I used to occasionally get the Southern SLL from Battersea Park to Peckham Rye and remember that peak services were sometimes a 377 and off peak usually a 456. I don't recall any of them being very busy.

There were a few loud complaints about the withdrawal of the Southern service but the loadings of the LO SLL service are exponentially bigger than it's predecessor, which definitely justifies the changeover.

clapham jct although away from a terminus such as Victoria overs a great deal of choice for passengers. This link is excellent in my opinion. Many journey opportunities are now avaliable.

 

[cjmillsnun]

and with AC OHLE rather than 3rd rail...

Apparently much more heavily used before electric trams and diesel buses came along

I suspect it was 1500V DC OHLE.

EDIT: I'm wrong It was AC. 6.7 kV

 

[SF-02]

I used it a few times a week for a year before it ceased. It was never that busy.

Nothing compared to Southeastern's services from Victoria to Dartford - particularly the Denmark Hill to Lewisham stretch. It was that which would make me use the Southern service sometimes, even though much slower. The SE trains were horrendously overcrowded in the peaks. 4 or 6 car trains in the PM, and the first one after 5pm was not nice at all, given it was a 30 minute wait I believe. I think it may have gone to 20 minute gaps for an hour before back to 2 an hour. I do not miss that train whatsoever. It really needed to be 8/10 cars and every 20 mins for the PM hours of 4-8 pm. I don't think more is possible with infrastructure but that should be provided. Had to feel for the patients at the hospitals seeing that turn up and the scrum.