- Coulsdon Town railway station
-
Coulsdon Town 
The railway station in July 2011, after its reconstruction and renaming
Coulsdon Town
Location of Coulsdon Town in Greater LondonLocation Coulsdon Local authority London Borough of Croydon Managed by Southern Station code CDN Number of platforms 2 Fare zone 6 National Rail annual entry and exit 2004-05 0.183 million[1] 2005-06 0.178 million[1] 2006-07 0.285 million[1] 2007-08 0.282 million[1] 2008-09 0.296 million[1] 2009-10 0.255 million[1] Original company South Eastern Railway Pre-grouping South Eastern and Chatham Railway Post-grouping Southern Railway 1 January 1904 Opened as Smitham 1 January 1917 Temporarily closed 1 January 1919 Reopened 22 May 2011 Renamed Coulsdon Town[2] List of stations Underground · National Rail External links Departures • Layout Facilities • Buses Coordinates: 51°19′19″N 0°08′02″W / 51.3219°N 0.134°W
Coulsdon Town railway station serves the northern part of Coulsdon, in the London Borough of Croydon. It is on the Tattenham Corner Line and opened on 1 January 1904. Until 22 May 2011, the station was known as Smitham.[3]
Contents
History
The station building in 2008, before reconstruction and renaming.
Current station signage showing new and former names.The station was opened on 1 January 1904, and briefly closed during the First World War. It lies on a sharp curve, where the line swings away westwards from the Brighton Main Line. It is immediately adjacent to the closed Coulsdon North station on the Main Line, whose passenger traffic was diverted here when the latter closed on 3 October 1983. Some Tattenham Corner Line trains used to terminate at Smitham before returning to London, but nowadays the usual off-peak service is two trains per hour in each direction between London Bridge and Tattenham Corner, and one train per hour in each direction acting as a shuttle between Purley and Tattenham Corner.
The Coulsdon relief road, opened 18 December 2006 as part of the A23, passes underneath the station and meant that some rearrangement and refurbishment of the platform access routes was required. Consequently, no direct access to the London-bound platform now exists; access is only via the other platform and a new footbridge or a lift.
A new modular station building on the down side of the line, and a standard-pattern accessible footbridge were constructed by Network Rail and opened in 2010. There is no PERTIS self-service 'Permit to Travel' ticket machine at Smitham.
As part of the retender of Southern's franchise in 2009, the Department for Transport requested that in response to lobbying by Croydon Council the new company look into a better name for the station, as "Smitham" is no longer used as the name of the local area.[4] The name chosen, after an exercise in local democracy, was Coulsdon Town.[5] The change took place on Sunday 22 May 2011.[6][2] Evening services to the station were improved in December 2010.[7]
Services
Preceding station 
National RailFollowing station Reedham Southern
Tattenham Corner LineWoodmansterne References
- ^ a b c d e f "Station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. 30 April 2010. http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1529. Retrieved 17 January 2011. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
- ^ a b "Station renamed after community campaign". Croydon Guardian. 2011-05-22. http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/croydonnews/9041663.Station_renamed_after_community_campaign/. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
- ^ "Smitham station becomes Coulsdon Town station". Southern website. Govia. 20 May 2011. http://www.southernrailway.com/southern/news/smitham-station-becomes-coulsdon-town-station/. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ^ "End of the line for 'Smitham' station?". Croydon Council. 2009-07-09. http://www.croydon.gov.uk/democracy/councilnews/861248. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
- ^ "Refurbished Smitham Station to be renamed Coulsdon Town". Croydon Guardian. 2010-09-29. http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/8417792.Refurbished_Smitham_Station_to_be_renamed/. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ^ "So-long Smitham!". Southern Electric Group. 2011-05-16. http://www.southernelectric.org.uk/tocnews/snn_smi.html. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
- ^ "Extensions to rail services from Smitham station announced". Croydon Advertiser. 5 November 2010. http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/news/Extensions-rail-bus-services/article-2838878-detail/article.html.
Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, Caterham and Tattenham Corner. Middleton Press, 1994. ISBN 1-873793-25-1.
External links
- Train times and station information for Coulsdon Town railway station from National Rail
Categories:- Stations in London fare zone 6
- Railway stations in Croydon
- Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations
- Railway stations opened in 1904
- Railway stations served by Southern
- DfT Category E stations
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
