Hither Green marshalling yard

Freight traffic was considered to be of minor importance for much of the existence of the South Eastern Railway, but during the early 1890s the situation began to change.

[1][2] A growth in freight traffic was experienced to and from London, Kent and the Continent, and also for transfer to other railways in the north of England.

This traffic was beginning to overwhelm the existing facilities at Bricklayers Arms which was also poorly sited with respect to transfer freight using the East London Line.

The yards passed into British Railways ownership in 1948, and in 1960 a new freight depot opened south of St Mildreds Road, handling at its peak over two million tonnes a year of continental fruit and vegetables.

[5] However, following the decline of rail freight the St Mildreds site was developed to become the Up side Electric Multiple Unit stabling roads of Grove Park depot.