Kent Rail

London Victoria

Final Southern Railway Years

Concurrent with the aforementioned Maidstone electrification project, the opportunity was taken to replace Victoria’s semaphore signals with colour aspect lights. This became the last of the SR’s London termini to be converted to colour light operation, and the new signalling came into use as follows:
 

 

The scheme involved the commissioning of a new 80-foot-long brick built signal box on the western side of the Central Section approaches to Victoria, which housed a 225-lever electrically-powered frame. This worked in conjunction with Victoria ‘’A’’ Box, the SE&CR cabin of 1920 that was retained after re-signalling and modified to work colour lights. The following signal boxes were abolished:
 


The year 1939 also saw the commencement of yet another international rail service, but this was by no means a conventional boat train. Known as the ‘’Flying Boat’’, this was a train which ran from Victoria to the Empire Marine Air Base at Hythe (Southampton). The latter had come into use in 1939, and was served by a fleet of 28 Short C Class ‘’Flying Boats’’, belonging to ‘’Imperial Airways’’. The latter had established a terminal along Buckingham Palace Road, adjacent to Victoria station, in the same year. The primary use of the air service was for delivery of international mail to the far flung corners of the British Empire, flights extending as far out as Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, and Africa. We shall return to the topic of Imperial Airways and their West End premises anon.

The outbreak of war on 3rd September 1939 inevitably led to the withdrawal of Victoria’s continental trains. Both ‘’Night Ferry’’ and ‘’Golden Arrow’’ services ceased to run immediately, but general boat trains continued to operate until May of the following year, when the Germans invaded Northern France. Previously, on 1st September 1939, blue lights replaced standard lighting at Victoria, and a blackout precaution was put in place the following day. There were also drastic and immediate reductions in general train services across the SR network, during both the peak and slack hours, despite the fact that commuter traffic was, initially, largely unchanged. Then, in September 1940, began the ‘’Blitz’’, which saw large areas of the City of London destroyed by German bombs. This in fact increased the existing levels of commuter traffic at Victoria and Charing Cross, for bombed-out firms re-located from the City to the West End. Unfortunately, Victoria did not wholly escape damage and on 27th June 1944, a ‘’flying bomb’’ struck the offices of the ex-SE&CR station.

The famous pre-1939 boat trains did not make an immediate return to Victoria after Victory in Europe in May 1945. On 15th April 1946, ‘’Golden Arrow’’ and Newhaven boat trains recommenced from Victoria’s Eastern Section; previously, the Newhaven service had been handled in the Central Section platforms. The ‘’Night Ferry’’ did not return until 14th December 1947, the military having relinquished the train ferries, but this service did in time improve - from 3rd June 1957 onwards, the train comprised a Brussels portion.

British Railways Takeover

Since 1939, the SR had been under the wartime control of the Government, and this continued after 1945. The company was finally absorbed into ‘’British Railways’’ in 1948, and came under the control of the British Transport Commission (BTC). In this year, works were authorised for the internal reconstruction of the bomb damaged offices on the Eastern Section of the station, and contracts were let. This involved the provision of a spacious new booking hall with six ticket booths, terrazzo flooring, and illumination in the form of cold cathode tubing. Of the ticket booths, three issued Third Class tickets only, one issued both First and Third Class tickets, and two issued First Class fares only. The new booking hall came into use on 5th February 1951. At the same time, the BTC authorised improvement works on the refreshment rooms of the Grosvenor Hotel.

In February 1956, the BTC authorised the Kent Coast Electrification Scheme, which sought to eliminate steam traction from South Eastern Division metals. For those pockets of the network which escaped third rail, diesel traction would be used. The project was split into two parts, of which the first concentrated on ex-LC&DR lines to Ramsgate and Dover, and included the branch line to Sheerness-on-Sea. As part of this scheme, platform lengthening was to take place at Victoria to accommodate longer electric formations. Although the full accelerated electric timetable on the ‘’Chatham’’ route came into use on 15th June 1959, works at Victoria did not begin until the following September. These involved the complete reconstruction of Ecclestone Bridge, which straddled the tracks at the southern end of station, to provide a single-span under which the platforms could be extended. Track layout alterations as a result of these works saw crossovers and points moved further south and the signalling altered accordingly. Furthermore, re-slewing of track required the abolition of the southern end of the Central Section’s platform 9. As mentioned earlier in this section, when the LB&SCR rebuilt its terminus between 1901 and 1908, platform capacity was doubled by southward extension of the station, since westward and eastward expansion was prevented by Buckingham Palace Road and the SE&CR station respectively. Thus, incredibly long platform surfaces were made, which allowed two separate trains to be stabled alongside at any one time. Between January and May 1960, the Eastern station was closed completely for eight weekends, and as a result of the works, the following train lengths could be accommodated:

 


Upon the lengthened platforms were installed V-shaped canopies of steel and glass construction; the existing riveted steel canopies of the SR were taken down. During closure of the Eastern station, the Central Section platforms handled Kent Coast traffic, whilst suburban trains were transferred to Blackfriars. For long, the only physical connection between the two stations had been a siding sandwiched in-between platforms 8 and 9, but a practical, usable link was eventually brought into use in 1938. On the Eastern Section, a siding south of the station, extending as far as Battersea Pier Junction, was converted into a running line: thus, a pair of ‘’down’’ tracks and a pair of ‘’up’’ tracks now formed the Eastern Section approaches.

Phase 2 of the Kent Coast Electrification Scheme dealt mainly with ex-SER lines, notably Sevenoaks to Dover via Tonbridge and Ashford, Paddock Wood to Maidstone West, Ashford to Ramsgate via Canterbury West, and finally, the Folkestone Harbour branch. Of ex-LC&DR routes, third rail was to be taken beyond Maidstone East to Ashford. Whilst most of the alterations to Victoria’s Eastern Section had been completed as part of Phase 1, further works were still ongoing during Phase 2. These included, in 1961, the electrification of the tracks within Grosvenor Carriage Shed, for this would now be used to stable electric multiple units. On 11th June of the same year, the ‘’Golden Arrow’’ was steam-hauled for the last time, Rebuilt Bulleid Light Pacific No. 34100 ‘’Appledore’’ being at the helm. The ‘’Night Ferry’’ had been electrically-hauled since 8th June 1959. The full accelerated electric timetable for Phase 2 came into use on 18th June 1962.

Rail-Air and Chunnel Links

1963 marked the elimination of the last steam workings into Victoria (Central), which had until now survived on the non-electrified Oxted and Lewes via Uckfield lines, and the truncated East Grinstead branch. In the same year, the first wave of building over the tracks at the terminus begun. This involved extending the 1939-opened Imperial Airways terminal (by this time owned by the ‘’British Overseas Airways Corporation’’) across the southern ends of platform Nos. 15 to 17. A concrete slab was suspended above the tracks and an eight-storey-high office block built upon it - sadly, it was the sign of things to come.

During the 1950s, several nightmarish schemes had been put forward for razing the existing Victoria station to the ground. In its place, a sea of office blocks, hotels, and even a heliport, were to be constructed over the platforms. Thankfully, all of these proposals fell on stony ground, but this did not stop new structures from being erected within the boundaries of the terminus. Air travel very much became the theme at Victoria, more so than the existing continental boat trains, and as a result, an airline terminal was erected over the northern ends of platform Nos. 15 and 16, across the cab road. The structure was described at the time as comprising a ‘’two-pin portal frame’’ of steel construction, clad with glass, and was authorised in 1961 at a cost of £100,000. The terminal was suspended 15-feet above the cab road upon a concrete slab on stilts, and all steelwork was manufactured and erected by ‘’Hotchkiss Engineers’’. The facility, owned by ’’British United Airways’’, came into use on 1st May 1962: air passengers could use this ‘’check-in’’ point at Victoria, and then be taken to Gatwick on a forty-minute train journey.

By the mid-1960s, the airline boom was in full swing and both Gatwick and Heathrow were fast developing into major airports, the latter more so. Gatwick already had a direct rail connection with Central London, by means of the ‘’Brighton’’ line from Victoria, but Heathrow was not on a public transport corridor. Consequently, in 1967, the UK Government unveiled plans for two new railway links between Central London and Heathrow Airport. The first was a branch from Victoria, which would involve making a direct connection between Central Division tracks and the below Windsor Lines, in the vicinity of the maze of lines at Stewarts Lane. The second rail link would be an extension of London Transport’s Piccadilly Line, and it was expected that work on both schemes would commence in early 1968. Both connections were each priced at £13million and it was hoped that the railways would be operational by summer 1971. The Victoria to Heathrow link had a projected journey time of 22-minutes, and the scheme was to involve a complete reconstruction of the terminus station.

The rebuilding schemes of the 1950s had seemingly returned with a vengeance and, once again, the demolition of LB&SCR and SE&CR stations was on the cards. Essentially, the station was to become a satellite terminal of Heathrow and Gatwick Airports. Emphasis was put on a terminus reconstructed in the style of a modern airport, complete with new hotel accommodation and offices for airline companies. Dedicated rail links, rather than rail-air services, had not, however, been wholly forgotten. In 1968, Victoria was selected as the London terminus for direct trains from the continent, via a proposed Channel Tunnel. A complete rebuild was deemed necessary, for it was claimed at the time that the terminus could barely cope with its existing traffic, let alone more generated by airport and Channel Tunnel links. It was envisaged that a rebuilt Victoria would accommodate trains designed for the larger continental loading gauge.

In April 1971, work commenced on the Heathrow extension of the Piccadilly line from Hounslow West. This eventually opened in two sections; Hounslow West to Hatton Cross on 19th July 1975, and Hatton Cross to Heathrow Central, on 16th December 1977. The Victoria project was not proceeded with, but reconstruction of the terminus was still on the agenda for the Channel Tunnel project. In November 1973, the British and French Governments signed a Treaty for the tunnel’s construction. In December of the following year, it was announced that the Treaty would not be ratified and, as a result, the project was cancelled in January 1975, killing the Victoria redevelopment plans stone dead.

 

22nd October 2004

 

4 Cig No. 1404 is seen being led out of the Central Section terminus towards Grosvenor Bridge by a 4 VEP.

On the left is the carriage shed, which today covers nine tracks; it formerly accommodated twelve. Also of

note is the SR red brick substation, in the background, which was commissioned for the 1925 Orpington

electrification. © David Glasspool

 

22nd October 2004

 

The new Gatwick Express: Class 460 No. 460005 is seen ascending the 1 in 64 gradient towards Grosvenor

Bridge. As will later become clear, the Electro-Diesels and Mk 2 coaches had not yet wholly vanished from

this working. © David Glasspool

 

22nd October 2004

 

Attractive, but short-lived livery: 4 CIG No. 1861 glides down the slope towards Victoria with a service from

East Grinstead. In the foreground is a spur leading to a pair of electrified sidings. © David Glasspool

 

22nd October 2004

 

Old and the new: Class 375 No. 375711 is seen alongside 4 VEP No. 3547, which is forming a service to Margate.

Although slam-door stock was in terminal decline, 4 VEP units were destined to last on the South Eastern Division

until 7th October 2005. © David Glasspool

 

 

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