Type Commuter rail Status Operational Opened 1 July 1863/1 Jan 1869 Owner Network Rail | System National Rail Locale Greater London Operator(s) South West Trains | |
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Rolling stocks British Rail Class 455, British Rail Class 456 | ||
The Kingston loop line is a railway line built by the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) in South West London. It runs in an overall southeasterly direction from a junction west of Twickenham on the Waterloo to Reading Line to join the South West Main Line west of New Malden; both connections face Central London, permitting a continuous loop service from Waterloo back to Waterloo. The five stations on the loop line are:
Between Strawberry Hill and Teddington a triangular junction connects the Shepperton Branch.
History
The line opened as far as Kingston on 1 July 1863 from a flat junction west of Twickenham station. The line on to the station now named "New Malden" was opened in 1869. The Shepperton Branch was built in 1864 with its connection facing Twickenham, Strawberry Hill station was not opened until 1 December 1873. The connection at Twickenham was converted to a flying junction in 1882. The Shepperton Branch chord towards Teddington opened for freight on 1 July 1894 and was first used by passenger trains on 1 June 1901. The engine depot built inside the triangular junction in 1897 is now a base for Siemens to maintain EMUs for South West Trains, currently classes 450.
Teddington, Kingston and Norbiton stations had adjacent goods yards. That at Malden or Coombe and Malden, as it was called before 1957, was accessed from the Kingston Loop as the station itself is on an embankment with the loop line junction grade-separated from the start. A long west-facing bay platform at Kingston has been used for past curtailments of the Shepperton service and allows reversal of trains coming via Twickenham when there is a closure east of Kingston of either the loop or the main line.
The line was electrified by the L&SWR on the third rail system at 630 volts in 1916.