- Dorking railway station
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Dorking 
Location Place Dorking Local authority Mole Valley Operations Station code DKG Managed by Southern Number of platforms 3 Live arrivals/departures and station information
from National Rail EnquiriesAnnual rail passenger usage 2007/08 * 1.078 million 2008/09 * 1.145 million 2009/10 * 1.072 million History 11 March 1867
1 May 1867
27 July 1887
1 March 1888
2 February 1901
9 July 1923
12 July 1925
3 March 1929
15 May 1938
3 July 1938
January 1964
7 November 1966
6 May 1968
23 August 1982Opened (trains to
Leatherhead)
Opened (trains to
Horsham)
Betchworth Tunnel
collapse
Betchworth Tunnel
reopened
Queen Victoria's funeral
train runs through Dorking
Renamed "Dorking North"
First electric trains to
Waterloo
First electric trains
to London Bridge
New signal box opens
Electric trains to Victoria,
Horsham and Portsmouth
Final steam services
withdrawn
Goods yard closed
Renamed "Dorking"
New station building openedNational Rail - UK railway stations A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z * Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Dorking from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year. Dorking railway station is one of three railway stations that serve the town of Dorking in Surrey, England. The station is within walking distance of Dorking Deepdene station and interchange on a through ticket is permitted. Dorking West and Dorking (Deepdene) are located on the North Downs Line.
There are 2 trains per hour (tph) towards London Waterloo, 2tph towards London Victoria and an hourly service to Horsham (Monday to Saturday off-peak). South West Trains services to London Waterloo typically use Platform 2. Southern services to Horsham generally depart from platform 3.
The station which was previously called Dorking North was rebuilt during the 1980s and is now part of the same office block which houses the headquarters of Biwater.Contents
Construction
The Mole Gap between Dorking and Leatherhead is one of the few natural breaches in the North Downs and its potential as a rail corridor was realised as early as 1830 when a line linking London to Brighton was proposed. In 1845-6, the "Direct London and Portsmouth Railway" was authorised by parliament to run south from Epsom to Dorking on to Godalming, Havant and Portsmouth. The scheme failed to attract sufficient investment and was dropped in favour of the Woking, Guildford and Havant route from London Waterloo.
The first railway line to link Dorking with London was the independently-promoted "Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway" proposed in 1845-6, authorised by Acts of Parliament in 1846 and 1847. This became the line we know today as the North Downs Line.
By 1859 the LBSCR and LSWR had built a joint line to Leatherhead from Epsom where their tracks separated (the former heading for London Bridge the latter for London Waterloo. An independent Horsham, Dorking and Leatherhead Railway was set up and promoted by interested local parties (principally from Horsham) to link the three towns. The railway was approved by Act of Parliament in July 1862, but only from a junction with the North Downs Line, 100 yards to the east of Dorking Deepdene, to the Arun Valley Line at Horsham.
A year later in July 1863 LBSCR secured authority to build the line from its station at Leatherhead to make a connection with the line from Horsham. The line to Leatherhead was opened on 11 March 1867, however the connection with the line from Horsham was not made until 1 May 1867. Initially services ran from London Bridge to Brighton via Sutton and Steyning four times per day in each direction.
Electrification
The Southern Railway, formed in 1923, began an extensive programme of electrification of their suburban lines. The line from Waterloo to Dorking was electrified using the 660V third rail system in 1925 and regular half-hourly semi-fast services were introduced on 12 July 1925 to run seven days per week. The 22.5 mi (36.2 km) journey to Waterloo originally took 45 minutes, although this was considerably lengthened when trains began to stop at all stations shortly afterwards. An additional hourly electric service to London Bridge via Mitcham Junction and Tulse Hill began on 3 March 1929; the 25 mi (40 km) journey took 53 minutes. The mid-sussex electrification of 1938 resulted in the express steam services from Victoria being replaced by electric services which were routed through Dorking. These gave commuters from Dorking their fastest ever link to Victoria (34 minutes during peak hours). In the timetable change of May 1978 the mid-sussex express services were routed via Gatwick Airport and the off-peak service to Dorking was reduced to two semi-fast services from Victoria per hour, with services to Horsham running every two hours. Now the average journey time to London termini takes a passenger 55 minutes.
The service to Horsham was neglected for some years during the 1980s with a shuttle service between Dorking and Horsham operating every two hours at off peak times. The service now provided is one train an hour through from London to Horsham. The off peak service of two trains from London Bridge to Horsham via Sutton and Dorking ran for a number of years from about 1985 but had ceased by 2000.The former Horsham to Waterloo via Dorking North trains(service #17) ceased as early as 1980)).
Signal box
The resignalling scheme of 1938 introduced three aspect colour signals to replace the original semaphore signals. A new signal box was constructed and opened on 15 May 1938. It is one of many built in the Odeon style by the Southern Railway during the 1930s. The original frame was an A2 type Westinghouse with 44 levers. The box controls the line from Box Hill & Westhumble to Warnham.
Services
Preceding station 
National RailFollowing station Box Hill & Westhumble Southern
Mole Valley LineHolmwood
Terminates at Dorking on SundaysLeatherhead South West Trains
Mole Valley LineTerminus Box Hill & Westhumble South West Trains
Mole Valley Line
Peak Hours OnlyTypical journey times
December 2006 - May 2007 timetable
Destination Platform Journey time Frequency Operator Leatherhead 1, 2 or 3 8 minutes 4 tph Southern and South West Trains Epsom 1, 2 or 3 14 minutes 4 tph Southern and South West Trains Sutton 1 or 3 24 minutes 2 tph Southern Wimbledon 2 31 minutes 2 tph South West Trains Clapham Junction 1, 2 or 3 40 minutes 4 tph Southern and South West Trains London Victoria 1 or 3 50 minutes 2 tph Southern London Waterloo 2 50 minutes 2 tph South West Trains Holmwood 3 6 minutes 1 tph Southern Horsham 3 21 minutes 1 tph Southern Gallery
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A view of the turning area in front of the station, showing the taxi ranks and (on the left) bus stops.
External links
- Train times and station information for Dorking railway station from National Rail
Categories:- Railway stations in Surrey
- Former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway stations
- Railway stations opened in 1867
- Railway stations served by Southern
- Railway stations served by South West Trains
- DfT Category C1 stations
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