Redhill railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Redhill


manager = Southern
locale = Redhill
borough = Reigate and Banstead
usage0405 = 2.965
usage0506 = 3.172
usage0607 = 3.320
platforms = 3
start = August 1858

Redhill railway station serves the town of Redhill, Surrey, England. The station is a major interchange point on the Brighton Main Line 34 km (21 miles) south of London Victoria. It is managed by Southern, which operates most trains serving Redhill.

History

Redhill station began its days in conflict. The two main-line railways leaving London in a southwards direction, the London and Brighton Railway (and its successor, the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway or LB&SCR) and the South Eastern Railway (SER), had, by parliamentary decree, to use the same route from London to Redhill. The inevitable conflict led to the building by the LB&SCR of the Quarry Line avoiding Redhill, still used by fast trains. Consequently, few trains on the Brighton Main Line call here.

Inconveniently for passengers, there were originally two stations at separate sites in the area that had "Redhill" in their name. First to open was the London & Brighton Railway's "Redhill and Reigate Road" on 12 July 1841, followed by the SER's "Redhill" on 26 May 1842. Reacting to the opening of a rival station in the town, the London & Brighton promptly renamed its station "Redhill", this obviously having the desired effect on the SER which closed its station less than two years later on 15 April 1844. The present Redhill station is the SER's second station which opened in August 1858, sixteen years after their initial foray into the town. It was originally named "Red Hill Junction", only changing its name to "Redhill" in July 1929. As for the other Redhill station, it changed its name to Reigate in August 1843 before itself closing on 15 April 1844. [Butt, R.V.J. (1995). "The Directory of Railway Stations", Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 196.]

Description

Redhill station is at the junction of the ex LBSCR Brighton Main Line, which runs north to London and south to Brighton, with the ex-SER North Downs Line, which runs west to Guildford, and the Redhill to Tunbridge Wells Line, to the east.

The station has three platforms. Platforms 1 and 2 are an island on the northbound (Up) side and 3 is on the southbound (Down) side. There are two through lines between platforms 2 and 3. All platforms are subdivided into 'a' (north end) and 'b' (south end), and all are of 12 car length. All platforms have access to all routes, although there is no access from either through line to or from the North Downs Line - all traffic from this direction must pass through a platform.

Platforms are linked by a subway, and by an out-of use parcels/staff bridge. There are lifts from the platforms to the subway and a level entrance from the Platform 3 exit, but no level entrance at the main entrance, which is at street level. The main entrance faces the town centre, and is opposite Redhill bus station.

The ticket office has four windows and two Shere FASTticket self-service ticket machines, and there are four automatic ticket barriers. There is a newsagent in the ticket office area and a Puccino's coffee shop on platforms 1/2. There are male toilets only on platform 3 at present as the toilets on platforms 1 & 2 are under redevelopment. There is an additional Shere FASTticket machine at the platform 3 exit.

ervices

Southern operate most train services, others being provided by Southeastern, First Great Western, First Capital Connect and CrossCountry.

General off-peak train service pattern per hour:
*2 from London Victoria to Chichester/Portsmouth Harbour, via Horsham, non-stop between East Croydon and Redhill. Operated by Southern.
*2 to/from London Bridge, calling at local stations from Purley to Merstham. One of these runs to/from Tunbridge Wells, the other to/from Horsham, calling at all stations. A Tunbridge Wells - Horsham hourly service also runs, reversing at Redhill: combined with the London trains, this gives a half-hourly service to both Tunbridge Wells and Horsham. London-Horsham services are operated by Southern, London-Tunbridge Wells and Tunbridge Wells-Horsham by Southeastern.
*An hourly semi-fast service to Reading via Guildford service (the North Downs Line). Operated by First Great Western and originating at Gatwick Airport.
*An hourly non-stop service to Gatwick Airport operated by First Great Western.
*An hourly stopping service to and from Reading, which starts at Redhill. Operated by First Great Western.
*2 tph to Tunbridge Wells operated by Southeastern.

The service pattern changes significantly at weekends, and is totally different during peak hours.

Redhill is also served by CrossCountry trains between Brighton and Birmingham New Street and Manchester Piccadilly.

Future Developments

Effective December 2008, Southern will increase their Horsham to London Bridge stopping service to 2 off peak trains per hour and will introduce 2 further services per hour off peak to Charing Cross originating from Reigate and Tonbridge (one of which will replace the existing South Eastern service). This will give Redhill 6 trains per hour off peak to and from London [cite web|url=http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/southcentralfranchise/southcentralconsultation?page=13#a1028|title=Horsham, Redhill, Uckfield and East Grinstead|publisher=Department for Transport|accessdate=2008-07-06] . Additionally, Network Rail are proposing to remodel the station's track layout during 2014 and provide additional platforms [cite web|url=http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/StrategicBusinessPlan/RoutePlans/2008/Route%202%20-%20Brighton%20Main%20Line%20and%20Sussex.pdf|title=Route Plans 2008. Route 2: Brighton Main Line and Sussex|publisher=Network Rail|accessdate=2008-07-06] , although this scheme was refused funding by the Office of Rail Regulation in June 2008 [cite web|url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article4075780.ece|title=Network Rail cash cut will keep lines crowded|date=2008-06-06|accessdate=2008-06-07|work=Times Online] .

External links

* [http://www.southernrailway.com/stations.php?crs=RDH Southern Railway station information page]

References