Guildford (Surrey) railway station

Guildford
Guildford Station, looking north (from Farnham Road road bridge)
Location
Place	Guildford
Local authority	Borough of Guildford
Grid reference	SU991496
Operations
Station code	GLD
Managed by	South West Trains
Number of platforms	8 (7 in use)
DfT category	B
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	6.543 million
2005/06	6.699 million
2006/07	7.186 million
2007/08	7.983 million
2008/09	8.115 million
2009/10	7.762 million
2010/11	7.809 million
2011/12	7.982 million
2012/13	7.957 million
2013/14	7.961 million
2014/15	8.091 million
History
Key dates	Opened 5 May 1845
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Guildford from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Guildford railway station is at one of three main railway junctions on the Portsmouth Direct Line and serves the town of Guildford in Surrey, England. It is 30.3 miles (48 km) from London Waterloo.

It provides an interchange station for two other railway lines: the North Downs Line northwards towards Reading, which has a connection to Aldershot; the same line eastwards to Redhill; and the New Guildford Line, the alternative route to Waterloo, via Cobham or Epsom.

Guildford station is the larger, more frequently and more diversely served of the two stations in Guildford town centre, the other being London Road (Guildford), on the New Guildford Line however its London services operator is the same.

History

A 1912 Railway Clearing House map of lines around Guildford railway station

Ascot to Guildford Line

Legend Miles and chains from London Waterloo via various routes 28mi 79ch AscotWaterloo to Reading Line 32mi 08ch Bagshot 35mi 30ch Camberley 37mi 48ch Frimley Mileage change South Western Main Line Alton Line 32mi 38ch Ash Vale North Downs Line Ash Lock (Basingstoke Canal) 35mi 00ch Aldershot (trains may reverse) Alton Line ǀ Mileage change 49mi 18ch Ash Mileage change 34mi 29ch Wanborough Mileage change Portsmouth Direct Line New Guildford Line 30mi 27ch Guildford North Downs Line Portsmouth Direct Line

The station was opened by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) on 5 May 1845, but was substantially enlarged and rebuilt in 1880.

The Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway opened its services on 4 July 1849, and was operated by the South Eastern Railway. LSWR services to Farnham via Tongham began on 8 October 1849 and the New Guildford Line to Leatherhead and Epsom Downs on 2 February 1885. On the latter line is the other Guildford station: London Road: the line to it describes a curve around the town on an embankment, crossing the River Wey by a high bridge.

Guildford station was also the northern terminus of the (now-closed) Cranleigh Line of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, which opened 2 October 1865 and closed almost one hundred years later on 12 June 1965.^[1] This line ran to Horsham by way of Cranleigh, Rudgwick and Christ's Hospital.

Accidents and incidents

• On 8 November 1952, an electric multiple unit suffered a brake malfunction approaching the station. It overran signals and collided with a stationary steam locomotive. Two people were killed and 37 were injured.^[2]
• On 28 July 1971, a parcels train was derailed at the station.^[3]

Platform layout

Looking towards the west from platform 2.

Platforms 6 and 7 serve the same single line.

Guildford Locomotive Depot 1965

An ex-Network SouthEast EMU operated by South West Trains at Guilford station in 2000.

The main station buildings are on the Down side. At the end of the Down side platform is a bay for the New Guildford Line. There are now three islands with seven platform faces plus the bay linked by both a long footbridge and a subway. Platforms 6 and 7 are opposite sides of the same line: these were used for unloading mail and parcels until the mid-1990s. The station was completely rebuilt (except for the platforms) by British Rail in the late 1980s.

• Platform 1 – Stopping services to London Waterloo via Epsom and peak time trains to London Bridge via Forest Hill, and London Victoria on the Sutton & Mole Valley Lines
• Platform 2 – Stopping services to London Waterloo via Cobham
• Platform 3 – Stopping services to London Waterloo via Woking [Small number of weekday services. Otherwise Sundays only]
• Platform 4 – Fast and stopping services towards Portsmouth; semi-fast services to Gatwick Airport
• Platform 5 – Fast services to London Waterloo
• Platform 6 – Stopping services to Redhill and Intercity services to Newcastle, Services to Ascot via Aldershot depart from either this platform or platform 8
• Platform 8 – Services to Reading. Services to Ascot via Aldershot depart from either this platform or platform 6

Platforms 6 and 7 are on opposite sides of the same single line. Automatic train doors only open on the platform 6 side. Today doors are not opened on platform 7 due to the live rail being on that side, hence rendering that platform disused. Platform 6 is signalled for bi-directional working – trains may approach from either direction.

Motive Power Depot

Guildford station was the site of an important motive power depot opened by the LSWR in 1845. The original building was demolished in 1887 to make room for the enlargement of the station, and was replaced by a semi-roundhouse which was substantially enlarged in 1897. This was closed and demolished in 1967.^[4] The Farnham Road multi-storey car park was built on the site in the 1990s.

Airtrack

Guildford station was to have been the southern terminus for the proposed Heathrow Airtrack rail service. The project, promoted by BAA, envisaged the construction of a spur from the Waterloo to Reading Line to Heathrow Airport, creating direct rail links from the airport to Guildford, Waterloo, Woking and Reading. Airtrack was planned to open in 2015, subject to government approval.^[5] In April 2011, BAA announced that it was abandoning the project,^[6] citing the unavailability of government subsidy and other priorities for Heathrow,^[7] such as linking to Crossrail and HS2.

Services

Class 206 3R unit, on a North Downs Line service, showing the pre-rebuild station. (June 1979)

The station is served by services operated by Great Western Railway from Reading to Gatwick Airport and South West Trains from London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour, Waterloo to Guildford via Cobham or Epsom and Ascot to Guildford via Aldershot. Occasional CrossCountry trains to Newcastle and Southern services on the Sutton and Mole Valley route towards West Croydon and London Bridge also call.

Southern Region steam in 1965 in Guildford.

4Cig in 1980 in Guildford.

South West Trains

• 8tph (trains per hour) to London Waterloo, of which:
  • 4tph run via Woking
  • 2tph run via Cobham
  • 2tph run via Leatherhead and Epsom
• 2tph fast services to Portsmouth Harbour
• 1tph stopping service to Portsmouth and Southsea
• 1tph stopping service to Haslemere
• 2tph to Ascot via Aldershot^[8]

Great Western Railway

• 2tph to Reading
• 2tph to Redhill, of which
  • 1tph continues to Gatwick Airport^[9]

Southern (peak hours only)

• 2 trains per day to London Victoria via Sutton and Norbury. One morning and one evening service both to and from London Victoria.
• 1 train per day to London Bridge via Sutton and Forest Hill. One morning service to and from London Bridge.
• 1 train per day which terminates at Sutton in the evening peak.^[10]

CrossCountry

• 1 train per day to Newcastle via Reading and Birmingham New Street^[11]

References

1. "Cranleigh Railway website". 2007-04-23.
2. Moody, G. T. (1979) [1957]. Southern Electric 1909-1979 (Fifth ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan Ltd. p. 122. ISBN 0 7110 0924 4.
3. Earnshaw, Alan (1991). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 7. Penryn: Atlantic Books. p. 44. ISBN 0-906899-50-8.
4. Griffiths, Roger and Smith, Paul (1999). The directory of British engine sheds and principal locomotive servicing points: 1. Southern england, the midlands, East Anglia and Wales. Oxford: Oxford Publishing Company. p. 77. ISBN 0-86093-542-6.
5. "Heathrow Airtrack". BAA. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
6. "Heathrow Airtrack Waterloo rail link shelved by BAA". BBC News London. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
7. Samuel, A. (11 April 2011). "Heathrow: 'No option but to withdraw proposed Airtrack link to Staines'". Rail News from Rail.co. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
8. GB eNRT 2015-16 Edition, Tables 148, 149, 152, 155 & 156
9. GB eNRT 2015-16 Edition, Table 148
10. GB eNRT 2015-16 Edition, Table 180
11. GB eNRT 2015-16 Edition, Table 51 (Network Rail

External links

• Photos of Guildford station

• Train times and station information for Guildford (Surrey) railway station from National Rail

Coordinates: 51°14′13″N 0°34′48″W / 51.237°N 0.580°W