St Johns railway station is in the London Borough of Lewisham. It lies down the South Eastern Main Line from , and is situated between and .

History

Early years (1873–1922)

The South Eastern Railway (SER) opened a two-track railway (the North Kent Railway) through the site of St Johns (although the church that gave the station its name was not built until 1855) in 1849, and two further tracks were added in 1864; the station was opened on 1 June 1873. The SER was at that time engaged in a bitter feud with the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR), which opened a station (adjacent to the church) named Lewisham Road as part of the initial section of the Greenwich Park branch line in 1871; this, coupled with the development of the area, may have been a factor in the building of the station.

thumb|left|Damaged brake van and rear carriage in sidings at St Johns after the accident in 1898

On 21 March 1898, two trains collided in thick fog, killing three people, when a signaller allowed a train to enter the station while another train was at the platform.

The privatisation era (1994–present day)

Following privatisation of British Rail on 1 April 1994, the infrastructure at St Johns station became the responsibility of Railtrack, while a business unit operated the train services. On 13 October 1996, operation of passenger services passed to Connex South Eastern, which was originally due to run the franchise until 2011.

Following a number of accidents and financial issues, Railtrack plc was sold to Network Rail on 3 October 2002, which became responsible for the infrastructure.

On 27 June 2003, the Strategic Rail Authority decided to strip Connex of the franchise citing poor financial management and run the franchise itself. Connex South Eastern continued to operate the franchise until 8 November 2003 with the services transferring to the Strategic Rail Authority's South Eastern Trains subsidiary the following day.

On 30 November 2005 the Department for Transport awarded Govia the Integrated Kent franchise. The services operated by South Eastern Trains transferred to Southeastern on 1 April 2006.

Layout

As built the station had two island platforms and an additional terminating platform on the west side of the line, although it is doubtful this was ever used in regular traffic.

In the early 1990s the original bridge carrying St Johns Vale was replaced. This allowed the platforms to be extended toward to allow longer trains to call.

It was proposed to double the flydown line under the Thameslink Programme. Work started in April 2012 and was completed over Easter 2013.

Services

All services at St Johns are operated by Southeastern using , , and EMUs.

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

  • 6 tph to London Cannon Street
  • 2 tph to via
  • 2 tph to via
  • 2 tph to via , continuing to London Cannon Street via Woolwich Arsenal and

Additional services, including trains to and from London Cannon Street via call at the station during the peak hours.

References

  • Accident at Lewisham on 4 December 1957 (Summary)
  • Report On The Collision That Occurred On 4 December 1957 Near Lewisham In The Southern Region British Railways (2.2 Mb)