Coulsdon South railway station

Coulsdon South
Coulsdon South Location of Coulsdon South in Greater London
Location	Coulsdon
Local authority	London Borough of Croydon
Managed by	Southern
Station code	CDS
DfT category	D
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	6
National Rail annual entry and exit
2004–05	0.921 million[1]
2005–06	1.04 million[1]
2006–07	1.362 million[1]
2007–08	1.555 million[1]
2008–09	1.39 million[1]
2009–10	1.421 million[1]
2010–11	1.49 million[1]
2011–12	1.563 million[1]
2012–13	1.706 million[1]
2013–14	1.714 million[1]
2014–15	1.753 million[1]
Railway companies
Original company	South Eastern Railway
Pre-grouping	South Eastern and Chatham Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
Key dates
1 October 1889	Opened
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London Transport portal UK Railways portalCoordinates: 51°18′57″N 0°08′17″W / 51.3157°N 0.138°W

Coulsdon South railway station serves Coulsdon in the London Borough of Croydon, and is in Travelcard Zone 6, on the Brighton Main Line. The station is served by Southern.

History

A 1905 Railway Clearing House map of lines around Coulsdon South railway station

Coulsdon is on a stretch of line between Croydon and Redhill which the UK Parliament insisted should be shared by the London and Brighton Railway (L&BR) route to Brighton, and the South Eastern Railway (SER) route to Dover. As a result, there have been a number of railway stations at Coulsdon.

Stoat's Nest

The first station in Coulsdon was opened by the L&BR on 12 July 1841, named after a nearby settlement. It stood approximately at the junction of present-day Windermere Road and Stoat's Nest Road. There are no remain of this station today. It was one mile south of Godstone Road (later called Caterham Junction and then Purley), and was the first station to serve Epsom Downs Racecourse, some eight miles distant.^[2] It was in service until December 1856, by which time the L&BR successor, the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) had its own route from Croydon to Epsom.

Coulsdon South

Coulsdon South in 1971 with a Class 423 at platform 2

This station was opened by the South Eastern Railway (SER) on 1 October 1889. The line is on a steep gradient climbing towards Merstham Tunnel. It has two platforms. It was originally called Coulsdon and Cane Hill, referring to the nearby psychiatric hospital: a covered way, supposedly built because of the hospital. By the 1960s, the covered way had been removed.

David Bowie's half-brother, a patient at the nearby Cane Hill psychiatric hospital, committed suicide by lying down on the tracks at Coulsdon South station.^[3]

Ticketing

The station remains staffed for most of the operational day, with a booking office located on the up (west) side of the station. At the entrance to the ticket office from the station approach road, there are two self-service ticket machines, one of which, most unusually, is wall-mounted.

A PERTIS self-service 'Permit to Travel' ticket machine was previously provided here but has been removed. Automatic Ticket Barriers were installed at the station in spring 2011

Other Stations in Coulsdon

• Stoats Nest for Coulsdon and Cane Hill (later Coulsdon North) was opened on 8 November 1899, by the LB&SCR on their Quarry Line which bypassed Redhill. It closed 3 October 1983.
• Smitham (later Coulsdon Town) was opened in 1904 by the SER on their Tattenham Corner Line and is named after another nearby settlement. This station was renamed from Smitham in 2011 as part of Southern Railway's new franchise agreement. This change was made as a result of a local consultation carried out by Croydon Council and it intended to better reflect the location of the station near Coulsdon town centre.

Services

The typical off-peak train service per hour is:

• 2tph to London Bridge (Southern)
• 2tph to Horsham (Southern)
• 2tph to Bedford (Thameslink)
• 2tph to Three Bridges (Thameslink)

On Sundays this is reduced to:

• 2tph to London Bridge
• 1tph to London Victoria
• 1tph to Horsham (stopping)
• 1tph to Bognor Regis (semi-fast to Horsham)
• 1tph to Tonbridge

There are also a few trains to further destinations such as Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings, Ore, Southampton Central and Portsmouth Harbour on early mornings, weekdays and weekends.

Connections

London Buses routes 60, 404, 405, 463 and night route N68 serve the station.

Notes and references

1. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
2. Turner, John Howard (1977). The London Brighton and South Coast Railway 1 Origins and Formation. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-0275-X. p.166.
3. see Documenting Cane Hill's Spooky Tales (Croydon Guardian)

External links

• Train times and station information for Coulsdon South railway station from National Rail
• Stoats Nest for Coulsdon and Cane Hill - with photograph of that name and other names used by Coulsdon North
• Coulsdon and Cane Hill - with photograph of the name
• Old Coulsdon website - with details of the rail crash of 1910