map of lines around the Crystal Palace railway station, as well as surrounding lines From the outset trains were operated by the
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR). Initially the station was the terminus of a spur line from
Sydenham. In 1856 the station was able to take through train services to
Wandsworth via
West Norwood and
Streatham Hill, following the completion of the 746 yard (690 m) Crystal Palace Tunnel. Although relatively short, the tunnel was regarded as a major engineering achievement as it was cut
"through the same treacherous material [clay], through the hill on which the Crystal Palace stands, and immediately under one of the great water towers, a superincumbent weight of 2,200 tons which taxed in its execution all the skill and workmanship of the eminent contractors." In 1857, an eastward connection was made to (for the Brighton line to the south) and in 1858 the WEL&CPR was extended as far as
Beckenham. From 1860 direct services were extended to
London Victoria. As originally constructed, the station contained three island platforms, arranged to provide two terminal
bay platforms and two through lines with
platforms on either side. By the 1890s the central island had been removed and replaced by carriage sidings. The frontage of the station was rebuilt in 1875, and was described: "Although the Roman Catholic chapel room is no longer used the station still has a cathedral-like atmosphere as one passes from the period booking hall to the vault-like station and the stairs down to the original station area". This is a description of the station trainshed roof above the staircases at the west end. Originally the whole length of the platforms beyond the bottom of the massive staircases was covered by an elegant dual bow-spring arch iron roof. This was removed as a precautionary measure shortly after the collapse of the similar structure at
Charing Cross in 1905. In 1905–08, Crystal Palace station was included in a proposal for an unusual new form of underground railway, the
Kearney High-Speed Tube, devised by the Australian-born engineer
Elfric Wells Chalmers Kearney. He envisaged the construction of a tunnel which would run from Crystal Palace to in north-west London, with a branch line terminating at
Strand. It was to be operated with an unusual
monorail system patented by Kearney which would be powered by gravity, like a type of underground
roller coaster. Kearney failed to attract support for his scheme and the line was never built. The line was
electrified between
Balham and Crystal Palace on 12 May 1911, using the LBSCR overhead system, in time for the
Festival of Empire coinciding with the coronation of
King George V. Electric trains from Victoria were advertised to complete the journey in fifteen minutes – a running time that has never been equalled. The station is built on the junction of two lines: the original station platforms lying on the
Sydenham route, and the later platforms on the southern spur to
Norwood Junction and
Beckenham Junction. Following the fire in 1936 which destroyed the Crystal Palace, passenger numbers fell and most services through the station were diverted to serve London–Croydon routes rather than running along the London Bridge–Victoria loop. The southern platforms became the busier pair and the entrance to the station was moved to the south side of the building in the 1980s. A glazed ticket hall, which echoed the profile of the Crystal Palace with its arched roof structure, was constructed at this time on the southern flank of the Victorian building. The two outer
bay platforms, which were used by terminating trains, were abandoned in the 1970s and the third rail was removed, although the track and
buffers were left in place. The southern bay was brought back into use in May 2010 as part of the
East London line development. The original station was partially refurbished in 2002 by Railtrack at a cost of £4 million. This included a substantial amount of work on the roof of the building and refurbishment of office space on the top floor. ==Station redevelopment for East London line==