Station code BRX Fare zone 2 Number of platforms 2 | DfT category E 2011–12 0.843 million | |
![]() | ||
Similar Brixton tube station, West Dulwich railway st, Otford railway station, Sydenham Hill railway station, Kent House railway st |
15 minutes at brixton railway station
Brixton railway station is a commuter railway station in Brixton, 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.
Contents
- 15 minutes at brixton railway station
- History
- Services
- London Overground extension
- Artworks
- Connections
- References

It is about 110 yards (100 m) 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. It is also a busy junction, with the Catford Loop via Peckham Rye and Bellingham leaving the Chatham Main Line immediately west of the station.

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, following the opening of the link northeastwards to London Blackfriars via Loughborough Junction in 1864. The station was also connected to the LC&DR's branch to Crystal Palace High Level via Nunhead soon afterwards, with this section (via Denmark Hill) becoming part of the modern-day Catford Loop Line.

The station is currently served only by trains on the main line towards Herne Hill. The Denmark Hill line platforms were closed in April 1916 as a wartime economy measure and have been demolished except for a short section of the up platform. However, the line itself remains in regular and frequent use by both freight and passenger services.
Services
The typical off-peak train service per hour is:

On Sundays, there is a half-hourly service each way.
London Overground extension
The London Overground network passes above the station without stopping. This segment of the South London Line became part of the network as the second phrase of the East London line extension project. Completed in December 2012, the extension connected the South London Line to the East and West London Lines, from Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction.
The line also passes over Loughborough Junction. Adding both stations to the route was excluded from the plan due to the prohibitive cost of building on the high viaducts at each location. The proposals drew criticism for not including new interchange stations at these locations. Until 1976 trains stopped at nearby East Brixton.
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. The statues, believed to be the first sculptures of black British people in a public place in the UK, were given Grade II listed status in November 2016.
Connections
London Buses 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, 689, 690, P4, P5 and night routes N2, N3, N35, N109 and N133 serve the station.