Greenwich line

The Greenwich line is a short railway line in South London that follows part of the route of the London and Greenwich Railway, which was the first railway line in London.

Greenwich line
A Southeastern Class 376 "Electrostar" at Greenwich with a service for London Bridge
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Greater London
Termini	London Cannon Street Dartford
Stations	4
Service
Type	Commuter rail, Suburban rail
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	Southeastern Thameslink
Depot(s)	Slade Green Grove Park Hornsey Three Bridges
Rolling stock	British Rail Class 376 British Rail Class 465 British Rail Class 466 British Rail Class 700 Desiro City
History
Opened	8 February 1836
Technical
Line length	3.08 miles (4.95 km)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	750 V DC third rail
Operating speed	60 mph (96.5 km/h)
Route map (Click to expand)

v t e Greenwich line
Legend
mi-ch from Charing Cross to Charing Cross or Blackfriars   South Eastern Main Line to Cannon Street 1-69 London Bridge Spa Road South London line to West Croydon and Beckenham Junction to Bricklayers Arms Southwark Park Brighton Main Line to Surrey & Sussex via New Cross Gate East London line to Highbury & Islington to Deptford Wharf & Greenland Dock East London line to Clapham Junction   to Clapham Junction or New Cross   East London line to New Cross, Crystal Palace & W. Croydon Surrey Canal Junction Surrey Canal 4-25 North Kent East Junction South Eastern Main Line to Kent via New Cross 4-76 Deptford Docklands Light Railway to Lewisham Deptford Creek 5-36 Greenwich Greenwich Park branch line Greenwich Park Docklands Light Railway to Bank via Canary Wharf Greenwich College Tunnel 450 yd 411 m 6-27 Maze Hill 6-76 Westcombe Park A102 Blackwall Tunnel Southern Approach Angerstein Wharf aggregates North Kent Line to South Eastern Main Line via Lewisham 7-44 Charlton North Kent Line to Dartford via Woolwich Arsenal

The line diverges from the South Eastern Main Line at North Kent East junction^[1] and runs as far as Charlton junction^[2] where it connects with the North Kent Line.

Stations

• Deptford
• Greenwich
• Maze Hill
• Westcombe Park

History

A 1908 Railway Clearing House map of lines around the approaches to London Bridge, including the western end of the Greenwich line

The line was built by the London and Greenwich Railway in 1836, and was the very first passenger railway to be built in the capital. It was electrified with the other South Eastern and Chatham Railway local routes to Dartford on 6 June 1926 by Southern Railway.

From 12 January 2015, services using the Greenwich line were no longer able to serve London Charing Cross. This is due to the Thameslink Programme work, which removed the diamond crossing at Spa Road Junction, located between London Bridge and Deptford. As a result of this, trains using the Greenwich line could no longer reach the lines going into Charing Cross.^[3] To compensate for the loss of this, London Cannon Street was given revised service times, with it being open seven days a week and until the end of service.^[4]

Service patterns

Passenger services on the line are operated by Southeastern using Class 376, 465 & 466 trains and Thameslink using Class 700.

The current service pattern (as of December 2023^[update]) is as follows:

Off-peak:

• Southeastern - 2tph each way between London Cannon Street & Slade Green, continuing to London Cannon Street via Bexleyheath Line
• Thameslink - 2tph each way between Luton & Rainham