Forest Hill
Forest Hill Location of Forest Hill in Greater London
Location	Forest Hill
Local authority	London Borough of Lewisham
Managed by	London Overground
Owner	Network Rail
Station code	FOH
DfT category	C2
Number of platforms	2
Accessible	Yes
Fare zone	3
National Rail annual entry and exit
2018–19	5.292 million[1]
2019–20	5.000 million[1]
2020–21	1.322 million[1]
2021–22	2.947 million[1]
2022–23	3.757 million[1]
Key dates
5 June 1839	Opened as Dartmouth Arms
1845	Renamed Forest Hill
Other information
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°26′20″N 0°03′11″W / 51.439°N 0.053°W / 51.439; -0.053
London transport portal

Forest Hill railway station serves Forest Hill in the London Borough of Lewisham, south London. The station adjoins a road which serves as part of the A205 South Circular Road.

The station is managed by London Overground, with Overground and Southern trains serving the station. Thameslink services also pass through the station. It is 5 miles 50 chains (5.63 miles, 9.05 km) down the line from London Bridge, between Honor Oak Park and Sydenham, in Travelcard Zone 3. There are four tracks through the station, although only the slow lines (the two outer tracks) have platforms.

There are two entrances, the main one being on platform 1 at the bottom of the South Circular Road, and a side entrance on platform 2 on Perry Vale. The ticket office is placed in the main entrance, although there are ticket machines outside both entrances.

History

The station was opened by the original London & Croydon Railway (L&CR) on 5 June 1839, as Dartmouth Arms (the name of the local inn).

The line was also used by the London and Brighton Railway from 1841 and the South Eastern Railway (SER) from 1842. In 1844, the station was chosen by the L&CR as the northern terminus for Phase 1 of an experimental atmospheric railway to West Croydon. A pumping station was also constructed at the station.^[2] The L&CR and the L&BR merged to form the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) in July 1846; the following year "atmospheric" working was abandoned. In 1845 the station became Forest Hill for Lordship Lane.^[3][4]

The LB&SCR moved the Down platform during the early 1850s when the line was quadrupled, and extended the island platform around 1864.^[5]

The LB&SCR station buildings were badly damaged by bombing during World War II but were patched up and survived until British Rail demolished them in 1972 and built a much smaller CLASP system-built prefabricated station building that remains in use to this day. The short narrow island platform serving the fast lines was demolished in the early 1960s.^{[citation needed]}

Services

v t e East London Line
Legend
London Overground
Highbury & Islington Canonbury Dalston Junction Haggerston Kingsland Viaduct Hoxton Shoreditch High Street Whitechapel Shadwell ( Shadwell) Wapping Thames Tunnel under River Thames Rotherhithe Canada Water Surrey Quays Queens Road Peckham New Cross Peckham Rye New Cross Gate Denmark Hill Brockley Clapham High Street ( Clapham North) Honor Oak Park Wandsworth Road Forest Hill Clapham Junction Sydenham Crystal Palace Penge West Anerley Norwood Junction West Croydon

Services at Forest Hill are operated by Southern and London Overground using Class 377 and 378 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[6][7]

• 2 tph to London Bridge
• 8 tph to Highbury & Islington via Surrey Quays
• 2 tph to London Victoria via Streatham Hill
• 4 tph to Crystal Palace
• 4 tph to West Croydon

The station is also served by a single early morning and late evening service to East Croydon via Norwood Junction, with the early morning service continuing to Tattenham Corner and Caterham.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Honor Oak Park		Southern Brighton Main Line Stopping Services		Sydenham
Preceding station	London Overground			Following station
Honor Oak Park towards Highbury & Islington		East London line		Sydenham towards Crystal Palace or West Croydon

Connections

London Buses routes 122, 176, 185, 197 and 356 serve the station.^[8][9]