The Sutton Loop

There are two main types of railway termini - the first is where the mode of transport stops progressing past a certain point, and the second is where it halts briefly before continuing to operate around a loop back to where it started. Arguably the most famous of these loops in London would have been the Circle line, an offshoot of the Metropolitan and District Railways where trains ran continuously in a loop from 1884 around the City of London up until 2009, when it was extended to the west at Hammersmith, where the trains now terminate.

But there are still many loops on the railways (and one tramway) in London - and I've decided to blog about one of these loops, which I rode, albeit partially, and in two parts.

Sutton loop

Recently, I travelled from Streatham to Sutton, cutting through suburban areas of Merton. Whilst the trains might say on their display that they are terminating at Sutton, they then carry on after Sutton towards either St Albans or Blackfriars, depending on the direction they're going in - if travelling towards Sutton, like my train, it headed towards St Albans, if travelling away from Sutton, towards London Blackfriars (as a departure board at West Sutton informed me).

The stations along the first half of the loop are rather simple, with a track either side of a lengthy platform, perhaps with a waiting room or a plastic bag for a bin. The signage varied from the older-looking signs at stations such as Haydons Road (the closest station to League Two club AFC Wimbledon) or newer signage at Tooting, and perhaps since I travelled at off-peak times, the stations were rather empty with few getting on or off - though many do seem to usually be sparsely used anyways. 

(Using data from the first spreadsheet on this link), West Sutton only had about 180,000 entrances and exits from 2021-22, for example, with Morden South only at 54,000 and South Merton at about 90,000. There are also only two interchanges along the loop between transport modes - Wimbledon (which undoubtedly would have seen a peak in passenger movements recently due to the tennis), which has links to the tram, South Western Railway and District line, and Mitcham Junction, where a single tram line intersects with the loop, running from Wimbledon via Croydon up towards Beckenham. From Sutton to Mitcham Eastfields along, Southern trains also run towards Watford Junction or London Victoria, and there used to be a limited Southern service around the whole loop as well, though that stopped a few years ago.

The loop has been in operation for a while now, with the first stretch from Wimbledon to Sutton a result of construction during the 1920's as part of the Wimbledon and Sutton (aptly named!) Railway, and opened in 1930, initially part of a plan to extend the District line. However, this line of railway was later amalgamated with parts of the Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway (up to Tooting, itself a loop) and the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (down from Streatham). Trains used to run up to Luton from the loop after Thameslink began operating services on the loop in the late 1980s, but that changed after 2015 when services were stopped at Blackfriars despite a government report claiming passengers wouldn't have to change at Blackfriars.

My journey may have not been exciting, what with only overgrown greenery and suburban houses to look at, but the Sutton loop itself is quite an interesting line of railway historically, and as one of the few railway loops in London, perhaps take a ride before trains are made to permanently halt at Sutton, perhaps if (though not currently proposed) they decide to take the trams there.