Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 23, 2012

Herne Hill railway station is a passenger railway station in Herne Hill in the London Borough of Lambeth, South London, England, on the boundary between London fare zones 2 and 3. Direct rail services are provided by First Capital Connect to London Blackfriars, Farringdon, St. Pancras International and Luton Airport on the Thameslink route and by Southeastern to London Victoria and Orpington on the Chatham Main Line. Trains to Victoria call at Brixton, where passengers can transfer to the London Underground. The station building on Railton Road was opened in 1862 by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. Initially passengers could travel only to Victoria, but by 1869 direct services were available to the City of London, King's Cross, Kingston (via Wimbledon) and Kent, including express trains to Dover Harbour for boat trains to continental Europe. The arrival of the railways transformed Herne Hill from a wealthy suburb with large residential estates into a densely populated urban area. The future pattern of passenger services is uncertain. Network Rail has recommended terminating all northbound First Capital Connect services from Herne Hill at Blackfriars from 2018; passengers for other central London stations on the Thameslink route would then have to change trains at Blackfriars.