25 Places with two stations: 25 Suburban London

Saturday 13th December 2025

Something a little different to conclude this year’s fortnightly series. I spent a couple of days this week visiting those London suburbs which are blessed with two stations located relatively close to each other but on completely different lines, offering a choice of destinations.

Many of these have kindly been suggested by readers and make for an interesting comparison of destinations and facilities and not forgetting in some cases passengers also enjoy the option of using an Underground station close by.

I’ve taken as read an Overground station, even though run by TfL, is a National Rail station and pertinent to include in this analysis.

So join me on a wander around the Capital visiting eight pairs of stations.

Enfield

And we begin our travels in the north of London in Enfield, where its station pair, Enfield Town and Enfield Chase, are located half a mile apart on the main east-west A110 axis (Southbury Road/Church Street/Windmill Hill).

• Which came first? Enfield Town opened in 1849 with Enfield Chase 22 years later in 1871, relocating slightly east down Windmill Hill in 1910.
• Which is the busiest? Enfield Town with 2,343,000 has almost exactly double Enfield Chase at 1,166,000 passenger entries and exits in 2024/25.
• Who operates each station? Enfield Town is TfL Overground and Enfield Chase, Great Northern.
• How do the train services compare? There’s a similar service from both being half hourly during the day with 15 minutely in the peaks. Enfield Town is the terminus of the Weaver Line to Liverpool Street taking 34 minutes and Enfield Chase is on the Stevenage/Hertford North to Moorgate line taking 35 minutes to reach the London termini.
• What about the facilities? Both have a ticket office, gateline and toilets. Enfield Town is at ground level with three accessible platforms (two covered and shelters on the third) while Enfield Chase has many steps up to two high level platforms with a traditional canopy cover and a small coffee stall on platform 1 and waiting area.
• Anything else? Enfield Chase is obviously looked after by a dedicated team with interesting displays of both artwork and greenery on show.

Here are a few photographic highlights.

Dalston

Moving nine miles south where Dalston Kingsland and Dalston Junction are both located in the heart of the retail area just 100 yards apart on Kingsland High Street and Dalston Lane.

• Which came first? An interesting history with Kingsland opening first in 1850 but closed in 1865 when Dalston Junction opened but that closed in 1986 because Dalston Kingsland had reopened in 1983. Dalston Junction reopened again in 2010, initially as a temporary northern terminus of the East London line but fully reopened in 2011 with through services on the restored link towards Highbury & Islington.
• Which is the busiest? Dalston Junction saw 5,649,000 passengers in 2023/25 with Dalston Kingsland not far behind on 5,134,000.
• Who operates each station? Both are operated by TfL Overground.
• How do the train services compare? Dalston Junction has 16 trains an hour southbound with four each to New Cross, West Croydon, Crystal Palace and Clapham Junction operating through Wapping, Rotherhithe and the Thames Tunnel. Northbound, eight of these terminate in Dalston Junction (from New Cross and Clapham Junction) and eight continue through to Highbury & Islington. Dalston Kingsland sees 9-10 trains an hour eastbound to Stratford and westbound to Willesden Junction where alternate trains run to Clapham Junction or Richmond. Passenger travelling to Clapham Junction can travel either via Shoreditch (from Junction) taking 49 minutes or via Willesden (from KIngsland) taking 58 minutes.
• What about the facilities? Both have a ticket office and gateline but no toilets.
• Anything else? Dalston Junction is fully accessible but Dalston Kingsland isn’t. There are two street entrances to Dalston Junction which has four platforms two of which are bay platforms for terminating trains.

Here are a few photographic highlights.

Kentish Town

Moving almost three miles due west from Dalston brings us to Kentish Town which has one station named Kentish Town and another half a mile away, south west, unsurprisingly called Kentish Town West.

• Which came first? Kentish Town West opened in 1867 beating its neighbour Kentish Town by just one year although the now integrated entrance for the Northern line Underground station didn’t come along until 1907.
• Which is the busiest? Kentish Town seeing 2,590,000 passengers in 2024/25 is much busier than Kentish Town West at 1,886,000.
• Who operates each station? Kentish Town is run by Thameslink although the main entrance is integrated with the TfL operated Underground station and TfL Overground run Kentish Town West.
• How do the train services compare? Kentish Town has four Thameslink trains an hour on the Wimbledon/Sutton loop, and northbound stopping trains are four an hour to St Albans City.as well as some peak hour Orpington services and occasional Rainham trains before the morning peak and after the evening peak. Over at Kentish Town West, Overground trains on the Mildmay line see 9-10 trains an hour east to Stratford and, as with Dalston KIngsland above, westbound trains head to Willesden Junction where alternate trains run to Clapham Junction or Richmond.
• What about the facilities? Kentish Town uses the TfL entrance but has an information point on the southbound platform while Kentish Town West’s ticket office “is now closed for issuing tickets”. Neither stations has toilets or are accessible but there are waiting areas.
• Anything else? The two platforms for stopping trains at Kentish Town sit alongside two platforms on adjacent lines for fast Thameslink and EMR trains. Kentish Town West has very limited facilities but there is a book lending library.

Here are a few photographic highlights.

West Hampstead

Moving two miles due west again and we soon come to West Hampstead, perhaps most famous for having its two stations (West Hampstead and West Hampstead Thameslink) literally a stones through away from each other on West End Lane and, of course, the Jubilee line is an even shorter stones throw further on which sits alongside the Metropolitan and Chiltern line tracks.

• Which came first? West Hampstead Thameslink (originally called ‘West End for Kilburn and Hampstead’) opened in 1871 with West Hampstead (originally called ‘West End Lane) opening 17 years later in 1888.
• Which is the busiest? West Hampstead Thameslink is roughly double as busy as West Hampstead with the former having 936,000 entries and exits in 2024/25 and the latter 574,000. By comparison the Jubilee line Underground station sees 8,423,000.
• Who operates each station? As with Kentish Town it’s a Thameslink/Overground split with the former unsurprisingly running West Hampstead Thameslink and Overground runs West Hampstead.
• How do the train services compare? Again, it’s a similar picture to as desribed above for Kentish Town/Kentish Town West with West Hampstead Thameslink one station north of Kentish Town and West Hampstead three stations west of Kentish Town West on the Mildmay line.
• What about the facilities? Both have a ticket office although I wonder for how much longer that will be the case at West Hampstead as it’s located in the old entrance building to the station which looks very much as though it’s on it’s last knockings with the more recently opened entrance next door without a ticket office facility, whereas over at West Hampstead Thameslink there’s a new entrance building incorporating a ticket office. Both stations are accessible with lifts and footbridge installed as part of the revamped entrances.
• Anything else? There’s a piano in the vast area behind the gateline of the new West Hampstead entrance and over at West Hampstead Thameslink the original entrance from West End Lane and footbridge is still open with a gateline. As at Kentish Town the two platforms for stopping trains sit alongside two platforms on adjacent lines for fast Thameslink and EMR trains, with the former using them to serve the station.

Here are a few photographic highlights:

That’s it for north London, let’s head south of the River, but only just, as we reach…

Battersea

Another two stations located very close together (350 yards apart) are Battersea Park and Queenstown Road (Battersea) both of which offer architecturally impressive entrance halls but very basic platforms alongside multiple lines heading into Victoria and Waterloo respectively.

• Which came first? Battersea Park opened in 1867 beating its near neighbour by ten years which when it opened was simply called Queens Road as inscribed above the entrance.
• Which is the busiest? Battersea Park is by far the busier of the two with 2,184,000 passengers compared to Queenstown Road (Battersea) on 806,000 in 2024/25.
• Who operates each station? Battersea Park is a Southern station and Queenstown Road (Battersea) a South Western Railway one.
• How do the train services compare? Battersea Park has an off peak pattern of six trains an hour northbound to Victoria and in the other direction half hourly via Crystal Palace and round to London Bridge, half hourly via Crystal Palace to West Croydon and half hourly via Norbury, West Croydon and Sutton to Epsom Downs, while over at Queenstown Road trains four trains an hour go northbound to Waterloo with two an hour south to Richmond and Teddington (before returning to Waterloo via Wimbledon) and two an hour to Weybridge via Hounslow and Staines. Peak hour extras run between Battersea Park to Victoria from/to Sutton and East Croydon. Trains from both stations take you one stop south to Clapham Junction but on completely different lines. In addition there’s a quirky arrangement at Battersea Park, which sees an early morning and late evening London Overground Windrush line journey terminate in the bay platform (Platform 2) rather than Clapham Junction to keep driver knowledge of an alternative destination during times of disruption.
• What about the facilities? Battersea Park has a ticket office, but not Queenstown Road. Battersea Park has toilets off the ticket hall and both stations are characterised by narrow staircases and neither is accessible. There’s a waiting room at Battersea Park and shelters at Queenstown Road.
• Anything else? Both stations sit alongside the fast lines to and from Victoria/Waterloo and both have an abandoned platform. At Battersea Park this is opposite the platform that now forms the bay terminating area for the occasional Windrush line trains. Queenstown Road has a lovely café/coffee stall occupying the former ticket office where the original windows into the booking office are still in situ as in the photo below.

Here are a few photographic highlights:

Penge

Moving south eastwards from Battersea brings us to Penge which has a traditionally named pair of stations in Penge West and Penge East located 530 yards from each other.

• Which came first? Penge West opened as early as 1839 with Penge East arriving 24 years later in 1863.
• Which is the busiest? Penge West had 1,236,000 passengers in 2024/25 roughly double Penge East’s total of 635,000.
• Who operates each station? TfL Overground runs Penge West and Southeastern looks after Penge East.
• How do the train services compare? Penge West has four Overground trains an hour on the Windrush line between West Croydon and Highbury & Islington supplemented in the peaks by Southern trains between Norwood Junction and London Bridge. Penge East has four trains an hour northbound via Brixton to Victoria and southbound via Bromley South to Orpington .
• What about the facilities? Both stations have ticket offices (both being currently suitably dressed for the festive season) and both have toilets. Both platforms at Penge East have an extensive covered canopy and a small canopy is available on the northbound platform at Penge West and a shelter on the southbound platform. There are ground level pedestrian entrances to both platforms through a gateline and there’s a footbridge but with no lifts. The footbridge sits outside the gateline whereas the footbridge at Penge West is inside the gateline and there’s just the one entrance for the northbound platform.
• Anything else? There’s a substantial library with many shelves packed with books in the waiting room at Penge East together with a piano. Penge West has a lovely floral display on the northbound platform which is even colourful at this time of year. Both stations are clearly well looked after by the staff.

Here are a few photographic highlights:

Bromley

It’s not far to head further south eastwards from Penge to arrive at our penultimate suburban station pair located at either end of Bromley’s retail centre which explains their geographic names of Bromley North and Bromley South.

• Which came first? Bromley South opened as simply Bromley in 1858 with Bromley North opening 20 years later in 1878. Bromley was renamed Bromley South in 1899.
• Which is the busiest? There’s no contest as Bromley South recorded 6,194,000 passengers in 2024/25 whereas Bromley North saw just 226,000.
• Who operates each station? Both are operated by Southeastern.
• How do the train services compare? There’s a huge difference between the half hourly shuttle service between Bromley North (with a stop at Sundridge Park) and Grove Park (an extra departure runs in the morning and evening peak) and the plethora of departures to a wide selection of destinations available at Bromley South. These include four trains an hour between Orpington and Victoria (via Herne Hill and Penge East – see above), two fast trains an hour to/from Victoria from/to Kent via Chatham (one via Canterbury East to Dover and one to Ramsgate each hour); an hourly service between Ashford, Maidstone East and Victoria and a half hourly Thameslink service between Sevenoaks and Blackfriars with peak hour extensions to Luton or Welwyn Garden City as well as a link to Orpington making for four trains an hour. There’s also an hourly semi-fast between Gillingham and Victoria.
• What about the facilities? Both stations have a ticket office including an extensive queuing system at Bromley South. There are toilets at Bromley South with ladies on both platforms but gents on only one. Both stations are accessible with lifts at South and North being at Street level.
• Anything else? Bromley North is a shadow of its former self with the entrance area now dominated by closed down retail units and looking rather sorry for itself. There is an accessible toilet. On the plus side the front of the building retains its former glory and there’s a rather nice montage of historic photos on the wall next to the ticket office window. Over at Bromley South there are four tracks going through the station with two island platforms and buildings on both which make for quite a narrow area to wait ‘behind the yellow line’. There’s a footbridge at the western end of the platforms with what looks like a lift shaft but is not in use if it is one. Lifts are at the eastern end of the platform by the entrance hall.

Here are a few photographic highlights:

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Coulsdon

And finally we move south westwards to the most southerly point of our travels and arrive in Coulsdon which has Coulsdon South and Coulsdon Town.

• Which came first? Coulsdon South opened in 1889 with Coulsdon Town opening 15 years later in 1904 as Smitham being renamed to Coulsdon Town as recently as 2011.
• Which is the busiest? Coulsdon South is another ‘by far the biggest of the pair’ example seeing 1,960,000 passengers in 2024/25 with Coulsdon Town only seeing 97,562.
• Who operates each station? Both are operated by Southern.
• How do the train services compare? Coulsdon Town sees just a half hourly service between London Bridge and Tattenham Corner with five coach trains joining/splitting from the half hourly train serving Caterham at Purley whereas Coulsdon South has the half hourly service between Victoria and Reigate as well as the half hourly Thameslink service between Peterborough and Horsham with journeys between Bedford and Three Bridges also calling in peak hours.
• What about the facilities? There’s a ticket office at Coulsdon South but at Coulsdon Town a ticket office window is in a small modern building but was closed the day of my visit. There are toilets at Coulsdon South but not Coulsdon Town but the latter is accessible with a new footbridge and lifts whereas over at Coulsdon South there is level access for pedestrians to both platforms as well as a new footbridge with lifts at the southern end of the platforms with the original footbridge at the northern end.
• Anything else? A strange arrangement for waiting rooms at Coulsdon South has one either side of the gateline with a dividing glass partition separating the one room which also houses the ticket office window. There’s a gateline at Coulsdon South but not at Coulsdon Town.

Here are a few photographic highlights:

And that completes this year’s review of what ended up as 33 places characterised by having two stations on separate lines offering a range of destinations.

Thanks for the suggestions of places to include next year. So far I have six more to visit: Burscough, Marple, Oulton Broad, Heath, St Budeaux and Thorne and Lichfield and Rugeley may also qualify. Let me know if there are any more.

And finally, here are those places previously featured in this series, in case you missed any.

1: Hertford; 2: Canterbury. 3: Wigan, 4 Dorchester, 5 Windsor, 6 Wakefield, 7 Reddish, 8 Yeovil, 9 Newark-on-Trent, 10 New Mills, 11 Tyndrum, 12 St Albans, 13 Falkirk, 14 Catford, 15 Helensburgh, 16 Gainsborough, 17 Edenbridge, 18 Bicester, 19 Worcester, 20 Epsom and Ewell, 21 Wrexham, 22 Runcorn, 23 Farnborough, 24 Bradford.

Roger French

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