Bromley's first station opened in 1858 as part of an extension of the Mid Kent line from Beckenham.

Comparitively late to receive a rail link to London, the town had suffered a decline since the prosperous days of the 1820s, but the new line quickly changed that.

Almost immediately the suburb of New Bromley to the north and east of the town began to appear. The town was on the road to recovery.

Behind the main station building are a row of railway workers' cottages which were added after 1863. The goods shed is just visible between the bridge and the station building.

All changed in 1893 when the line was quadrupled and the present station on the over bridge constructed.

The suffix 'South' was added in 1899 when the owners, the London, Chatham and Dover Railway and their rivals the South Eastern Railway, owners of Bromley's other station, formed an alliance.