Brixton railway station

Brixton Railway Station is a commuter railway station in South London, UK. It is on the Chatham Main Line from London Victoria to Orpington and beyond. Trains are operated by Southeastern. The typical service is one train every 15 minutes in both directions.

It is about 100m north of Brixton tube station, high above ground level on a railway bridge that can be seen from the tube station. Access is from Atlantic Road via staircases.

History
Brixton was opened as Brixton and South Stockwell in 1862 by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LC&DR) to serve the affluent Victorian suburbs of South London. Services ran from Moorgate to London Victoria via Holborn Viaduct railway station, Camberwell New Road and Brixton and South Stockwell to Grosvenor Road.

Services
The typical off-peak train service per hour is:
 * Four trains per hour non-stop to London Victoria
 * Four trains per hour to Orpington, calling at all stations via Herne Hill and Bromley South

London Overground extension
The South London Line passes above the platforms, but with no platforms. Until 1976 trains stopped at nearby East Brixton railway station. As part of phase 2 of the East London line extension project, the South London Line will become part of the London Overground network. When completed in 2012, this extension will connect the South London Line to the East and West London Lines, from Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction. This will create an orbital network around Central London, fulfilling the Orbirail concept.

The line passes over both Loughborough Junction and Brixton stations, and the proposals have been criticised for not including new interchange stations at these locations. No London Overground stations were included in the plans at Brixton of Loughborough Junction as the line is on high railway arches, making the cost of any station construction prohibitive.

This extension was opened in December 2012 and involved the withdrawal of the former South London Line shuttle service between Victoria and London Bridge via Denmark Hill. A replacement London Victoria to Bellingham service was mooted by previous mayor Ken Livingstone, but funds for this were transferred by current mayor Boris Johnson and TfL to pay for the East London Line extension to Clapham Junction. There is a suggestion that this extension could be funded as preliminary works for the Thameslink Programme.

Artworks
A number of colourful murals have been painted on the outside of the station. Inside the station, three bronze sculptures stand on the platforms. This work, Platforms Piece by Kevin Atherton, was erected in 1986 and the statues are life casts of three people - two black, one white - who regularly travelled from Brixton.

Transport Links
Bus routes 2, 3, 35, 37 (at Lambeth Town Hall), 45, 59, 109, 118, 133, 159, 196, 250, 322, 333, 345 (at Brixton Police Station), 355, 415, 432, P4, P5 (at Electric Lane); school routes 689 and 690; and Night routes N2, N3, N35, N109 and N133