Tattenham Corner line

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox rail line The Tattenham Corner line is an Template:Cvt railway line in Surrey and Greater London, England. It runs from its western terminus at Template:Rws, near Epsom Downs Racecourse, to a junction with the Caterham line south of Template:Rws. There are intermediate stations at Template:Rws, Template:Rws, Template:Rws, Template:Rws, Template:Rws and Reedham. All seven stations are managed by Southern, which operates all passenger trains. Most services run between Tattenham Corner and Template:Rws via Template:Rws.

The line was promoted in two parts by the Epsom Downs Extension Railway and the Chipstead Valley Railway companies. The first section, between Purley Junction and Kingswood, opened on 2 November 1897 as a single-track line. The South Eastern Railway (SER) operated all services from the outset. The SER took over the line in 1899 and was responsible for finishing its construction and the provision of double track. Tattenham Corner station finally opened on 4 June 1901, the day of the Epsom Derby. The Southern Railway electrified the line using the 750 V DC third-rail system in 1928.

Infrastructure and services

Template:Tattenham Corner Line The Tattenham Corner line is a railway line in Surrey and Greater London, England. It runs for Template:Cvt from its terminus at Tattenham Corner station to an at-grade junction with the Caterham line, Template:Cvt down the line from London Charing Cross and Template:Cvt south of Purley station.Template:Sfn The maximum speed permitted on the branch is Template:Cvt.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The line is electrified using the 750 V DC third-rail system and is double tracked throughout. Signalling is controlled from Three Bridges and Track Circuit Block is in operation.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn There are two tunnels on the line – the Template:Cvt Kingswood Tunnel and the Template:Cvt Hoppity Tunnel – both of which are to the east of Tadworth station.Template:Sfn The steepest gradient on the line, between Chipstead Viaduct and the summit at Tadworth Street Bridge, is 1 in 80.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The seven stations on the branch are managed by Southern, which operates all services.<ref name=timetable>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Tattenham Corner has three operational platforms, but the other six stations have two platforms each.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn The buffer stops at Tattenham Corner are Template:Cvt down the line from London Charing Cross, when measured via Template:Rws.Template:Sfn

The off-peak service pattern is two trains per hour in each direction between Tattenham Corner and London Bridge. At Purley, trains join with or split from a train travelling to or from Template:Rws. Most trains serve all stations between Template:Rws and Tattenham Corner, but run non-stop between London Bridge and East Croydon.<ref name=timetable/> Off-peak trains from Tattenham Corner typically reach Purley on the Brighton Main Line in around 23 minutesTemplate:Sfn and arrive at London Bridge in about an hour.<ref name=timetable/> The entirety of the Tattenham Corner line is in Zone 6 of the London fare zones.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

Proposals and authorisations

Template:Infobox UK legislation The first proposals for a railway serving Tattenham Corner and Tadworth were drawn up in 1891 and a private bill was presented to Parliament in December 1891.<ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> The line, called the Epsom Downs Extension Railway (EDER), was to run from a station near Walton-on-the-Hill northwards to a junction with the Epsom Downs Branch near the Drift Bridge. The driving force behind the scheme was a group of local landowners, including Cosmo Bonsor, later the chairman of the South Eastern Railway (SER).Template:Efn Although the Template:Visible anchor (55 & 56 Vict. c. cxlv) was passed, there were several objectors including the Epsom Grand Stand Association, who feared that their plans to extend the racecourse would be jeopardised by the construction of the line.Template:Sfn The Surrey Advertiser and County Times reported a formal ceremony on 6 June 1892 marking the start of construction,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> although royal assent was not granted until 27 June.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Purley, Red Hill & Stoats Next RJD 130.jpg

A 1905 Railway Clearing House map showing the eastern end of the Tattenham Corner line and its connection to the Caterham line and Brighton Main Line

Template:Infobox UK legislation Template:Infobox UK legislation A second line, the Chipstead Valley Railway (CVR), running from the southern terminus of the EDER to a junction with the SER Caterham line south of Purley, was proposed in 1893. Authorisation was granted by an act of Parliament, the Template:Visible anchor (56 & 57 Vict. c. cliii), on 27 July of that year.Template:Sfn In proposing this second scheme, Bonsor had intended that the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) would take over both the CVR and the EDER, and combine them into a single railway that it would then operate. The LBSCR refused and the CVR began to purchase the necessary land to construct their line.Template:Sfn In October 1896, the SER agreed to seek parliamentary approval to take over both lines, which were by then under construction.Template:Sfn The following year, the EDER was given approval in the Template:Visible anchor (60 & 61 Vict. c. xlii) to abandon its plans to build the section of its line north of Tattenham Corner.Template:Sfn The SER formally absorbed the CVR and EDER in 1899.Template:Sfn

Construction and openings

File:Tadworth Station 09.jpg

Template:Rws station. The line is in a deep cutting at this point and the main station building is on a bridge above the tracks

As initially surveyed, the CVR was to have been a single-track railway costing £11,000 per mile to build. The SER was unhappy with the proposals and provided an additional £3000 per mile to widen the formation for two tracks and to reduce the maximum gradient from 1 in 60 to 1 in 80.Template:Sfn On 2 November 1897, the section between Purley Junction and Kingswood opened as a single-track line with a passing loop at Chipstead, the only intermediate station.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn From the outset, the line was worked by the SER. The section to Tadworth was opened as a single line on 1 July 1900.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Double track was commissioned between Purley and Kingswood the following dayTemplate:Sfn and to Tadworth in November of the same year.Template:Sfn All three CVR stations were provided with goods yards.Template:Sfn

File:Tattenham Corner railway station.jpg

Template:Rws station in 1901

The final section of the line, between Tadworth and Tattenham Corner stations, opened on 4 June 1901, the day of the Epsom Derby.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The terminus was laid out to cope with the volume of passengers travelling to the racecourseTemplate:Sfn and had six operational platforms.Template:Sfn Between 1902 and 1928, it saw no regular timetabled services and only opened for race day and summer excursion specials.Template:Sfn Trains taking horses to the racecourse also used the station and the Epsom Grand Stand Association erected stables for 100 horses nearby.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Later 20th century developments

Detailed plans for Smitham station (now Coulsdon Town) had been drawn up in 1898 and 1899, but it was not opened until 1 January 1904.Template:Sfn It was very close to Template:Rws station on the Brighton Main Line, which had opened on 5 November 1899 and closed on 1 October 1983.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Reedham station opened on 1 March 1911 as a halt. It closed for two years between 1 January 1917 and 1 January 1919, and became a staffed station on 5 July 1936.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

During the First World War, racing at Epsom Downs was suspended and the area was used for military training camps. The line was used extensively for transport of troops and supplies.Template:Sfn Following the end of the war, sidings at Tattenham Corner station were used to store surplus War Department locomotives.Template:Sfn During the Second World War, casualties from the liberation of France were transported to a field hospital at Epsom Downs Racecourse via the line.Template:Sfn

Electrification was first proposed in 1913 by the LBSCR. The company offered to install its overhead 6,700 V system, on the condition that it could lease the line from the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR, the successor to the SER) and operate all services. Following the end of the First World War, the SECR engineer, Alfred Raworth, recommended that the LBSCR scheme should be adopted.Template:Sfn The plans were not pursued and under the Railways Act 1921, the Tattenham Corner line became part of the London Central Division of the Southern Railway in 1923.Template:Sfn A new proposal to electrify the line using the 750 V DC third-rail system was authorised in August 1926.<ref name=ES_electric>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn Electric services started running between Purley and Tadworth on 25 March 1928 and the platforms at Reedham, Chipstead and Kingswood were lengthened to accommodate the new rolling stock.Template:Sfn Initially the new trains used the same timings as their steam-hauled predecessors, but on 17 June 1928 a new, accelerated timetable was introduced, which also restored regular services to Tattenham Corner.Template:Sfn

Woodmansterne station opened on 17 July 1932. Taking the form of an island platform, linked by a concrete bridge to both sides of the line, it served a new area of semi-detached and terraced housing. The necessary land was donated by the developers, who also contributed around a fifth of the cost of construction.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Woodmansterne signal box opened on 13 April 1932 and closed on 12 May 1963.Template:Sfn Kingswood signal box closed on 2 December 1962.Template:Sfn

A major resignalling project, in which colour light signals were installed, was commissioned on in the second half of 1970.Template:Sfn Smitham signal box closed on 16 August,Template:Sfn followed by the box at Tadworth on 29 November that year.Template:Sfn

File:Tattenham Corner station building - geograph.org.uk - 927728.jpg

Template:Rws station building, opened in August 1994<ref name=Johnston_1994>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

The track layout at Tattenham Corner was altered in 1971, reducing the number of operational platforms to three.Template:Sfn The redundant land no longer required for the terminus was sold in 1979 and 1980 for housebuilding.Template:Sfn The original wooden station building was damaged beyond economic repair on 1 December 1993, when a train crashed through the buffer stops.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The current single-storey ticket office was opened the following August.<ref name=Johnston_1994/>Template:Sfn

21st century

File:Coulsdon Town Railway Station (May 2011) (4).JPG

The new station building at Template:Rws in May 2011

Smitham station was renamed "Coulsdon Town" in May 2011, following a consultation with local residents.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A new building had been constructed at the station the previous year.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Under the Thameslink Programme, the Tattenham Corner line was to have been served by 8-car Class 700 trains to destinations north of the River Thames via Template:Rws.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, in late 2017, these plans were altered and the line was dropped from the programme in favour of running Thameslink trains to Rainham, Kent.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The following May, Southern introduced 10-car trains to the Tattenham Corner line and reduced journey times to London.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2022, the Sunday service on the route was reduced to a shuttle between Tattenham Corner and Purley, requiring passengers to change trains to continue their journeys to London.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Bibliography

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Further reading

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