Brixton was opened as Brixton and South Stockwell in 1862 by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway to serve the affluent Victorian suburbs of South London. Services ran from Moorgate to London Victoria via Snow Hill, Camberwell New Road and Brixton and South Stockwell to Grosvenor Road, following the opening of the link northeastwards to via in 1864. The station was also connected to the LC&DR's branch to via soon afterwards, with this section becoming part of the modern-day Catford Loop Line. The station is currently served only by trains on the main line towards Herne Hill. The Denmark Hill line platforms were closed in April 1916 as a wartime economy measure and have been demolished except for a short section of the up platform. However, the line itself remains in regular and frequent use by both freight and passenger services.
Services
The typical off-peak train service per hour is:
Four trains per hour non-stop to London Victoria
Two trains per hour to Orpington, calling at all stations via Herne Hill and Bromley South
Two trains per hour to Bromley South, calling at all stations via Herne Hill.
On Sundays, there is a half-hourly service each way.
Future Proposals
The London Overground network passes above the station without stopping. This segment of the South London Line became part of the network as the second phrase of the East London line extension project. Completed in December 2012, the extension connected the South London Line to the East and West London Lines, from Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction. The line also passes through Loughborough Junction. Adding both stations to the route was excluded from the plan due to the prohibitive cost of building on the high viaducts at each location. The proposals drew criticism for not including new interchange stations at these locations. Until 1976 trains stopped at nearby. It has been proposed that this disused station could be reopened instead as the site is close to both Brixton and Loughborough Junction.
Artworks
A number of colourful murals have been painted on the outside of the station. Inside the station, three bronze sculptures stand on the platforms. This work, Platforms Piece by Kevin Atherton, was erected in 1986 and the statues are life casts of three people - two black, one white - who regularly travelled from Brixton. The statues, believed to be the first sculptures of black British people in a public place in the UK, were given Grade II listed status in November 2016.
