Forest Hill Station (FOH)

Address: Devonshire Road, Forest Hill, London SE23 3HB
Opened: 5th June 1839
Station Code: FOH
Fare Zone: 3

London Overground Line(s) Served:

East London Line

Service Pattern(s):

8 trains per hour to Highbury & Islington
4 trains per hour to Crystal Palace
4 trains per hour to West Croydon

Interchange(s)

Southern

Station History

Dartmouth Arms station was opened by the London & Croydon Railway on their route from London Bridge to West Croydon via New Cross Gate on 5th June 1839. In 1844 the station was chosen as the terminus for Phase 1 of an experimental atmospheric railway, with a pumping station being constructed on the site.

Early 1845 saw the station renamed to Forest Hill for Lordship Lane before, due to both companies entering financial difficulties, the decision was taken to merge the London and Croydon Railway with the London and Brighton Railway to form the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway in July 1846.

The new entity abandoned the experimental atmospheric railway the following year.

The decision by the LB&SCR to quadruple their running lines saw the station’s Down platform relocated in 1851. This was followed by the extension of the island platform in 1864.

Increases in the number of passengers using the station, along with the LB&SCR increasing the amount of trains on the line saw the construction of a new station on the site begin in early 1882.

The works included the reconstruction of the outer platforms and the inner island platform to accommodate both slow and fast services. The works were completed, and the station reopened in March 1883.

In 1876, a new operator began to serve the station when the East London Railway began to run services from Liverpool Street, via the Thames Tunnel terminating at East Croydon. This service ran until 1913 when it was ceased.

Grouping of the Railways in 1921 saw the LB&SCR merged with other companies to become part of Southern Railways on 1st January 1923.

During World War II the station buildings on the Devonshire Road side received a direct hit from a flying bomb in 1944. The remaining buildings were patched up but the majority were left unused.

Nationalisation of the Railways saw the Southern become part of British Railways Southern Region on 1st January 1948. Under the new ownership, nothing changed at the station until the early 1960s when the island platform was taken out of use and demolished.

This was followed in late 1971 by the demolition of the bomb-damaged buildings, being replaced by the current prefabricated concrete building in 1972. At this time, the ticket hall on the Perry Vale side was also demolished and replaced with a smaller structure.

1982 saw the Southern Region of British Railways sectorised, becoming the London & South Eastern sector, and later renamed to Network Southeast on 10 June 1986.

Privatisation of the Railways following the Railways Act 1993 saw the station and its lines franchised to Connex, who operated them under their South Central subsidiary. A further management change occurred on 26th August 2001, when the new franchisee of the line Govia bought out the remaining two years of the Connex agreement to assume services early.

The final management change thus far happened on 27th April 2010 when London Overground assumed operation of the new East London Line, although services did not commence until the 23rd May. At this time, a pedestrian footbridge, with stairs and lifts on either side was constructed.