Lewisham station

Lewisham station is a National Rail and Docklands Light Railway station in Lewisham, south east London. It is on the south-east London commuter rail network operated by Southeastern. The Docklands Light Railway station opened in 1999 on a southward extension from Island Gardens on the Isle of Dogs. British Transport Police maintains a neighbourhood policing presence at Lewisham.

Station layout
There are four platforms for main-line trains: 1 and 2 on the North Kent Line, and 3 and 4 on a loop off the South Eastern Main Line (which are also known as the mid-Kent route). The former opened on 30 July 1849, the latter on 1 January 1857.

In 1929 large-scale remodelling of the junction was undertaken to enable cross-London freight traffic to be routed via Nunhead and Loughborough Junction. The new route utilised part of the former Greenwich Park branch and included a flyover. Some trains heading to/from London use the flyover and then descend via Tanners Hill Junction to rejoin the main line, using a reversible line which opened in 1976. This junction is being further developed in 2012.

Kent trains from London, having passed through the station, curve round under the main line to Hither Green en route to Ladywell.

Platforms 5 and 6 are served by Docklands Light Railway trains to Bank and Stratford

From December 2009, Lewisham was fitted with electric ticket gates, in line with the Government's new strategy to give all Greater London National Rail stations Oyster card accessibility and closing access to those who attempt to travel without tickets. The part-time exit from platform 4 is ungated and does not have an Oyster reader and the gates on the secondary entrance to platform 1 are regularly left open.

Planned Jubilee line service
Lewisham tube station was planned to be built on the Jubilee Line on the London Underground. Preliminary construction work was begun before the plan was delayed by lack of funds. Eventually the route was changed and the station cancelled.

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


 * 4 to London Charing Cross
 * 8 to London Cannon Street
 * 2 to London Victoria
 * 2 to Orpington
 * 4 to London Cannon Street via Sidcup or via Bexleyheath
 * 2 to Hayes
 * 4 to Dartford via Bexleyheath
 * 2 to Gillingham via Woolwich Arsenal
 * 12 to Bank via Canary Wharf

Lewisham is the southern terminus of the DLR, the previous station being Elverson Road. It is on the boundary of Travelcard Zone 2 and Zone 3 and is a major transport hub, with many buses passing through or terminating here.

There are a number of freight trains that are generally routed through platforms 3 and 4. In 2012 these include freightliner trains (Isle of Grain), gypsum (Hothfield), aggregates (Angerstein Wharf) and nuclear material (Dungeness).

Destinations
Southeastern trains operate to:
 * St Johns, New Cross, London Bridge, Waterloo East, Charing Cross and Cannon Street (some trains non-stop to London Bridge, with a limited number running non-stop to Waterloo East in the morning peak).
 * Nunhead, Peckham Rye, Denmark Hill and Victoria
 * Dartford via Woolwich Arsenal, Bexleyheath or Sidcup (some trains continue to Gillingham via Gravesend)
 * Hayes via Catford Bridge
 * Orpington via Grove Park (during the day, trains continue to Sevenoaks but generally do not call at Lewisham)

Docklands Light Railway trains operate to Canary Wharf, and continue onwards either to Bank or Stratford. At peak times or following service disruption, it is not unusual to see trains terminating at rather odd locations, such as All Saints or Gallions Reach.

Plans
In its draft Kent Route Utilisation Strategy, Network Rail mentions the possibility of extending the Bakerloo line from Elephant & Castle to Lewisham, and then taking over the Hayes branch line.

Network Rail states that this would free up six paths per hour into central London and so increasing capacity on the Tonbridge main line, which would also relieve the junctions around Lewisham. This would not be undertaken until after 2015.

Bus links
Bus routes 21, 47, 75, 89, 108, 136, 178, 180, 181 185, 199, 208, 225, 261, 273, 284, 321, 380, 436, 484, P4, school route 621 and night routes N21, N47, N89 and N136.