The original Penge station was opened by the London and Croydon Railway in 1839, probably more for logistical reasons than anything else: the railway crossed the nearby High Street by a level crossing, and the station would have provided a place for trains to wait while the crossing gates were opened for them. The population of Penge was only around 270 at this time, not enough to make the station commercially viable. It was closed in 1841, and the level crossing was converted to a bridge soon afterwards.[3] The entrance to the station was actually on Penge High Street, and not its current position. Evidence of the original entrances can still be seen in the brickwork on either side of the bridge as the track passes over the road.
A large building on the down platform served as a ticket office and goods office and included the waiting room and Station Master's office. A wide road from the corner of Oakfield Road and Penge High Street provided access to these buildings and sidings which served a coal yard and timber yard on the site of the old brickfield.[6] The sidings were removed, the buildings demolished and the access road closed when the land was sold for the construction of a Homebase store. Since then access to the down platform has been via a footbridge from the up platform. Previously the only passenger access between the two platforms was via Penge High Street.
The 1863 station building serving the Up platform remained in use until April 2005 when it was damaged in a fire set by arsonists.[7][8] After a period of limited station facilities, reconstruction work commenced in the summer of 2006 and was completed in December that year.
The station is also served by a limited Southern service of one train per day to London Bridge and two trains per day to East Croydon, one of which continues to Tattenham Corner and Caterham. All day off-peak services to London Bridge were axed in September 2022. These services are operated using Class 377 EMUs.