| Crystal Palace Line | |
| Box Width: | auto |
| Type: | Suburban rail |
| System: | National Rail |
| Status: | Operational |
| Locale: | Greater London |
| Start: | Balham |
| End: | Beckenham Junction |
| Stations: | 7 |
| Open: | 1856-1858 |
| Owner: | Network Rail |
| Operator: | Southern Thameslink (non-stop) |
| Stock: | Class 377 |
| Tracks: | 1-2 |
| Electrification: | 750 V DC Third Rail |
| Speed: | 60mph maximum |
| Map: | (Click to expand) |
| Map State: | uncollapsed |
The Crystal Palace Line is a railway line in London which runs from Balham Junction to . The engineer's reference for this line is BBJ.[1]
The line runs from Balham Junction on the Brighton Main Line route into to, via and . The line has a junction with the Portsmouth Line[2] [3] at Norwood, and again meets the Brighton Main Line, this time the line into, just beyond Crystal Palace. The line runs alongside the London Tramlink between and Beckenham, and has junctions with the Mid-Kent Line and the Chatham Main Line where it terminates at Beckenham Junction.
The first part of the line, between New Wandsworth and Crystal Palace (Low Level), opened 1 December 1856 as the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway. In 1857 the route was extended to Norwood. On 3 May 1858 the company opened an extension from Bromley Junction (near Norwood Junction) to Shortlands railway station (then called Bromley) via Beckenham Junction station. The following year the original line from Pimlico to Norwood Junction was sold to the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, and the section from Bromley Junction to Shortlands to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, but the WEL&CPR continued to provide its own passenger services. The two halves were reunited in 1921 as part of the Southern Railway following enactment of the Grouping Act.
Southern provides most services, with trains from running through to and services from London Bridge terminating at .[4]
The line also provides a diversionary route for Thameslink services avoiding – usually this is only in the peaks or during the night, but the Thameslink Programme engineering works have made it necessary for some to services to take this route throughout the day. These generally do not stop at any of the stations on the line.
The section from Beckenham Junction to is partly converted for Tramlink, with trams running from Beckenham to Croydon and .