West Croydon station



West Croydon station is a transport interchange for National Rail and Tramlink services and London Buses. It is in the London Borough of Croydon and Travelcard Zone 5. The East London line, part of London Overground, was extended to the station on 23 May 2010.

Railway station
The main entrance to West Croydon station is on London Road, a short distance from the main shopping area. There are ticket barriers protecting the platforms. Trains run to London Victoria,, Highbury & Islington, and Sutton and from there to west Surrey and West Sussex.

By December 2009 station remodelling work and track laying as part of the southern extension of the East London Line, for which West Croydon is the terminus, was completed. The space occupied by former bay platform 2, out of use since the Wimbledon service was withdrawn in 1997 and replaced by Tramlink in 2000, has been utilised to extend platform 3, the London-bound platform. Bay platform 1 has been retained.

In April 2012, a new entrance was constructed in Station Road, allowing direct access to the railway station from the adjacent bus and tram stops.

Bus station and tram stop
A short distance from the main entrance is Station Road, where West Croydon bus station and tram stop are located. The tram stop is next to, but was for a long time physically separate from the rail platforms, until the construction of the new entrance. All Tramlink routes use West Croydon, which is a single platform stop on the unidirectional loop around central Croydon.

The bus station is a hub for London Buses, with a total of 19 routes either terminating or passing through.

History
From 1809 to 1836 the site of the station was the terminal basin of the Croydon Canal. The canal was drained and became part of the route of the London & Croydon Railway, opening on 5 June 1839. In 1845 the L&C inaugurated the atmospheric system of propulsion; it worked for about a year but was not successful. The station was originally named Croydon; in April 1851 it became West Croydon.

The canal basin was served by a short private branch from the terminus of the Surrey Iron Railway (SIR) at Pitlake. From 1855 the station was the terminus of the West Croydon to Wimbledon Line, which followed much of the route of the SIR. This line closed on 31 May 1997, to be replaced by Tramlink. Platform 2, the terminal bay for the Wimbledon line, was trackless until 2008. Very little remains of this platform apart from a little section at the western end, as most of it was filled in to extend platform 3 to allow trains to stop closer to the stairs.

A sad event occurred here in 1912 when the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912), resident of Croydon, collapsed from overwork and pneumonia, dying a few days later.

During the 1930s the station saw major alterations and reconstruction. A new ticket office was built fronting on to London Road. The original station buildings, ticket office and entrance in Station Road were closed and are still standing, converted to a shop.

Services
Trains are provided by Southern and London Overground. West Croydon is Croydon's second station, used mainly by suburban trains: the main station is East Croydon, served by express trains to London and the South Coast and suburban trains.

The Monday-Saturday off-peak service includes the following trains per hour:


 * 6 to London Victoria:
 * 4 via Selhurst, Thornton Heath, Norbury, Streatham Common, Balham, Wandsworth Common, Clapham Junction and Battersea Park, taking 22 minutes.
 * 2 via Norwood Junction, Crystal Palace, Gipsy Hill, West Norwood, Streatham Hill, Balham, Wandsworth Common, Clapham Junction and Battersea Park, taking 31 minutes.


 * 2 to via Selhurst, Thornton Heath, Norbury, Streatham Common, Streatham, Tulse Hill, North Dulwich, East Dulwich, Peckham Rye, Queens Road Peckham and South Bermondsey, taking 40 minutes, Monday to Friday only.


 * 4 to Highbury & Islington via Norwood Junction,, , Sydenham, Forest Hill, , , New Cross Gate, , , , , , , Shoreditch High Street, , , and , connecting at Norwood Junction for London Bridge via New Cross Gate.


 * 4 to Sutton (Surrey) via Waddon, Wallington and Carshalton Beeches, taking 18 minutes.


 * 1 to Epsom Downs via Waddon, Wallington, Carshalton Beeches, Sutton (Surrey), Belmont and Banstead, taking 37 minutes.


 * 1 to Epsom via Waddon, Wallington, Carshalton Beeches, Sutton (Surrey), Cheam and Ewell East, taking 33 minutes.


 * At peak times there are trains from London Bridge via Sydenham to Sutton and Dorking or Guildford

Transport links
London bus routes 60, 64, 109, 154, 157, 166, 194, 198, 250, 264, 289, 367, 403, 405, 407, 410, 412, 455, T33; St Michael's Road for routes 50, 75, 468, express service X26, mobility service 917 and night routes N64, N68 and N109.