Orpington railway station

Orpington railway station serves the town of Orpington in the London Borough of Bromley, and is in Travelcard Zone 6. Located in Crofton Road, the station is a 500 m west of the southern end of Orpington High Street.

The station has eight platforms. Platform 1 is a bay platform which is rarely used. Platform 2 is used for fast services to Charing Cross or Cannon Street. Platforms 3 and 4 are an island, 3 used by trains towards Ashford International or Tunbridge Wells and 4 by stopping services from Sevenoaks to Charing Cross or Cannon Street. Platform 5 hosts the Sevenoaks slows with platforms 6-8 being bay platforms used by services starting at Orpington towards Charing Cross, London Victoria, Cannon Street and Luton/Bedford country end, the four tracks become two. At the London end there is a stabling and servicing area for trains.

There are two entrances, both with ticket offices and ticket barriers, the main one on the platform 1/2 side (Crofton Road), the other on the platforms 5-8 side (Station Approach and the bus interchange). Access to platforms is via an underground subway (unsuitable for wheelchair users) or via a new bridge opened in 2008 which incorporates lift access to all platforms.

History
The station was opened on 2 March 1868, when the South Eastern Railway opened its cut-off line between Chislehurst and Haysden Junction. Previously, trains between London and Tunbridge Wells had taken a circuitous route via Redhill. The line was widened and the station rebuilt in 1904, expanding to six platforms. Third rail electrification reached Orpington in 1925, and extended to Sevenoaks ten years later. Crofton Roman Villa was partly destroyed by a railway cutting in the late 1900s but was (re)discovered in 1926 when work was carried out to the area to the west of the station entrance as an entrance to a new Council building. Platforms 7 and 8 were built in the early 1990s on the site of former carriage sidings. In 2008, the station became fully accessible following the opening of a new footbridge providing lift access to all platforms.

Services
All train services from the station are operated by Southeastern and link to London at Victoria, London Bridge and Charing Cross. Access to international services for Europe is provided by interconnecting service at Ashford International. The domestic services are operated by Class 375 & 376 Electrostar and Class 465 & 466 Networker EMUs. The typical off-peak service from the station is:


 * 6tph (trains per hour) to London Charing Cross, of which four run fast to London Bridge and two call at all stations to Hither Green before running fast to London Bridge
 * 2tph to London Cannon Street, calling at all stations
 * 4tph to London Victoria, calling at all stations via Bromley South and Herne Hill
 * 2tph to Tunbridge Wells, calling at Sevenoaks then all stations to Tunbridge Wells
 * 2tph to Hastings, via Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells
 * 2tph to Sevenoaks, calling at all stations

This is supplemented by services to Luton via London Blackfriars in the morning peak, operated by First Capital Connect dual voltage Class 319s.