| Camberwell | |
|---|---|
 The former station building in 2016 | |
| Location | Camberwell |
| Local authority | London Borough of Southwark |
| Number of platforms | 4[1] |
| Railway companies | |
| Original company | London, Chatham and Dover Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 6 October 1862 | Opened |
| 3 April 1916 | Closed to passengers |
| 18 April 1964 | Closed to all traffic |
| Other information | |
 London transport portal | |
Camberwell is aclosed railway station inCamberwell,South London,England. It opened in 1862 but was closed to passengers in 1916 and closed to all traffic in 1964. The possibility of the station's re-opening has been raised in recent years.
Camberwell station was opened on 6 October 1862 by theLondon, Chatham and Dover Railway (LC&DR) as part of the company's ambitious "City Branch" from Herne Hill to Blackfriars. It was constructed on aviaduct with entry at street level. On 1 May 1863 the name was changed toCamberwell New Road. The station initially had two facing platforms, but was expanded to four lines with the addition of a central island lines with the additional lines opening on 1 January 1866. Thesignal box built at the northern end of the island in the late 1890s isGrade II listed.
In 1879 the LCDR was running the following services that stopped at Camberwell:[2]
The LCDR was part of the jointly managedSouth Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1899. In October 1908 the station name reverted to Camberwell. As with many other London stations duringWorld War I, wartime restraints forced it to close to passenger traffic on 3 April 1916. Before the outbreak of war, the station had suffered dwindling passenger usage following the introduction of electric tram services in the area. It remained in use for goods traffic until 18 April 1964.[3]
Today, the original station building located on the west side of Camberwell Station Road is in converted use as a mechanic's garage.[4] At track level, nothing of the two side platforms remain but small fragments of the degradedisland platform are still visible. The goods yard is now occupied by a residential development.
Camberwell station was mentioned in the 1956 filmPrivate's Progress as a good place to get off a train and avoid paying a fare. It was made to sound like a working station, despite the fact that it had closed nearly 40 years before the film was set.
The station was considered byBritish Rail for reopening as part of theThameslink route in the 1980s, along withSouthwark Park andWalworth Road.[5]
In 2002, a study undertaken by a rail expert, Nick Alexander, concluded that a "station located at the old Camberwell station site should be considered if the option were to be considered in future".[citation needed]
In June 2014,Transport for London (TfL) commissionedSteer Davies Gleave to undertake a feasibility study to consider the possibility of re-opening Camberwell andWalworth railway stations on the line where trains run non-stop betweenLoughborough Junction orDenmark Hill andElephant & Castle. The study concluded that a re-opened Camberwell station could cater for 8- or 12-car trains, but that complete reconstruction might be required. The cost of a 12-car station would be £27.5m (£20.7m cheaper than Walworth). 40% of the cost was the cost of rebuilding four bridges.[6]
In December 2015, TfL announced that its proposedBakerloo line extension would follow a route via theOld Kent Road toLewisham, rather than through a new underground station inCamberwell andPeckham to the same destination.[7] In March 2016, it was reported thatMayor of LondonBoris Johnson understood the Bakerloo line extension did not solve Camberwell's poor rail connectivity, adding that TfL were investigating the re-opening of Camberwell railway station in consultation with stakeholders, including theLondon Borough of Southwark and theLondon Borough of Lambeth, and that initial feasibility studies indicate it would be possible to construct a modern station on the site if timetables could be modified to accommodate Camberwell as an additional stop.[8][9]
In June 2017, Steer Davies Gleave produced a TfL-commissioned report discussing the possibility of the station's re-opening in 2026 in three future land use densities across three levels of operational use (four 8-car trains per hour, six 8-car trains per hour and six 12-car trains per hour) to give a total of nine scenarios. It estimated the capital cost of an 8-car station at £36.74m and a 12-car station at £38.50m. Its transport user analysis concluded that no scenario produced a net benefit, because Camberwell station users' journey time benefit would be more than offset by those travelling into London from further afield. It also concluded the wider economic impact would be negative and that the increase to land value in the area would be modest.[10] SDG's journey time benefit analysis was based on aMott MacDonald report that reached similar conclusions, but that the journey time cost would be unlikely to be noticed by users, and that the overall impact of the opening of the station would be minimal.[11]
TheLabour Party included a promise to campaign for the station's re-opening in its manifesto ahead of the2018 Southwark London Borough Council election held in May.[12]
In September 2018, TfL published a strategic business case to explore the station's reinstatement. It acknowledged the area's poor transport connectivity and that the reopening of theNational Rail station was the best of eight options examined. While it concluded the local area would benefit from the station's re-opening, its conclusions were similar to Steer Davies Gleave's 2017 report.[13]
In July 2020, the station was included in a shortlist of stations under consideration for reopening as part of the third round of theNew Stations Fund scheme, but ultimately was not successful.[14]
| Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walworth Road Line open, station closed | London, Chatham & Dover Railway City Branch | Loughborough Junction Line and station open | ||
51°28′25″N0°05′52″W / 51.4736°N 0.0977°W /51.4736; -0.0977
