Chessington South railway station

Chessington South
Chessington South Location of Chessington South in Greater London
Location	Chessington
Local authority	Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Managed by	South West Trains
Station code	CSS
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	2 (1 in use)
Fare zone	6
National Rail annual entry and exit
2008–09	0.526 million[1]
2009–10	0.505 million[1]
2010–11	0.503 million[1]
2011–12	0.518 million[1]
2012–13	0.493 million[1]
Key dates
1939	Opened
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London Transport portal UK Railways portalCoordinates: 51°21′25″N 0°18′29″W / 51.3569°N 0.308°W

Chessington South railway station is in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in Greater London, England, the terminus of the Chessington branch. It is served by South West Trains, and is 13.91 mi (22.39 km) from London Waterloo, in Travelcard Zone 6. It is the station for visitors to Chessington World of Adventures.

History

The station was built in 1939 as a through station on the line being built to Leatherhead. Construction of the line stopped, never to be resumed, on the outbreak of World War II and the up platform was never used for passenger trains. There was a goods yard beyond the passenger station. After the continuation to Leatherhead was abandoned, part was used from the mid-1960s to the end of the 1980s for a coal concentration depot. Today the line south of the station and the sidings to the coal depot are buried under trees.

The ticket office is at rail level. There is one automated ticket machine at surface level, and a permit to travel machine adjacent to the ticket office.

Services

South West Trains operates all services. The service interval is 30 minutes during both peak and off-peak hours. All trains run to or from London Waterloo, calling at all intermediate stations (except Queenstown Road which has platforms on only the Windsor Line).^[2] The journey to Waterloo takes 37 minutes.

In common with the 16 hourly off-peak closer commuter services to/from London Waterloo calling at Earlsfield railway station and all intermittent London stations all managed by South West Trains,^[3] trains must stop at every intermittent station. There are no fast services available to mid distance destinations, which gives overcapacity towards the suburban terminus (Chessington) due to the longer journey time and overcrowding during the inner city phase of journeys.^[4] This situation can be contrasted to some other routes to destinations just outside Greater London where there are fewer stops at stations nearer to central London.^[5]

Connections

London Buses routes 65, 71 and 467 serve the station.

Gallery

• 

  Looking north, with unit 5734 awaiting return to London. The up (London-bound) platform on the left has never seen passenger use.

• 

  Looking south, with unit 5734 awaiting return to London

• 

  Looking towards the abandoned extension to Leatherhead

• 

  Platform signage in South West Trains colours

• 

  Looking north from the road bridge

References

1. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
2. Chessington Branch Line timetable South West Trains Retrieved 2009-06-13
3. Namely:
   
   • 4tph to Guildford (2 via Cobham and 2 via Epsom) (ie excluding the fastest Portsmouth service)
   • 2tph to Chessington South
   • 2tph to Dorking
   • 2tph to Hampton Court
   • 2tph to Shepperton
   • 2tph to Woking
   • 2tph to Waterloo on thh Kingston Loop
4. "10-car SWT hangs in balance". Modern Railways (London): p. 52. December 2010.
5. e.g. New Southern Railway's Tonbridge, Reigate and East Grinstead services which until leaving London only call at Clapham Junction and at East Croydon.

External links

• Train times and station information for Chessington South railway station from National Rail