Tattenham Corner Line

Tattenham Corner Line
A 1905 Railway Clearing House map of the Tattenham Corner Line and surrounding lines.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail, Suburban rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Greater London Surrey South East England
Termini	London Bridge London Victoria Tattenham Corner
Operation
Opened	22 May 1865
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Southern
Rolling stock	Class 377 "Electrostar" Class 455 Class 456
Technical
Track gauge	Standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	750 V DC third rail

[v · d · e]Tattenham Corner Line
Legend 0m 00ch London Bridge London Victoria Purley North Junction 15m 13ch Purley Caterham Line to Caterham Brighton Main Line to Brighton 15m 65ch Reedham 16m 46ch Coulsdon Town 17m 40ch Woodmansterne 18m 41ch Chipstead 19m 27ch Chipstead Viaduct 20m 72ch Kingswood Kingswood Tunnel 310 yds Hoppity Tunnel 37 yds 22m 18ch Tadworth 23m 37ch Tattenham Corner

The Tattenham Corner Line is a railway line in Southern England. It was opened in two parts: from Purley to Tadworth as the Chipstead Valley Railway in 1893, and to Tattenham Corner as the Epsom Downs Extension Railway in 1894. Both companies were then acquired by the South Eastern Railway.^[1] The Tattenham Corner Line is now part of the Southern franchise.

The line diverges eastwards from the Brighton Main Line at Purley. It immediately splits from the Caterham Line and passes below the Brighton line. It then runs close to the Brighton line as far as Coulsdon Town, after which it turns westwards and follows the Chipstead Valley, eventually climbing to the high ground at Tattenham Corner.

The line is primarily a commuter route, but the station at Tattenham Corner was built to serve the Epsom Downs Racecourse, with large numbers of extra trains on Derby day.

There is also a railway terminus at Epsom Downs, about 2 km north of Epsom Downs Racecourse. It was built by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and opened on 22 May 1865.

The line was third rail electrified by Southern at 660V DC (later upgraded post war by BR to 750V DC) in March 1928.

Services

Train services on the line are operated by Southern, and run to London Bridge and London Victoria (peak and evenings). During peak hours trains combine (am) or divide (pm) at Purley, the other section being for the Caterham Line.

Services are provided by a mixture of Class 455, Class 456 and Class 377 EMUs.

References

1. ^ Adrian Wymann (2007). "Epsom Downs Branch - Early History (1865 - 1928)". Wymann.info. http://www.wymann.info/EpsomDowns/1865-1928.html. Retrieved 2007-04-18. 

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1994). Caterham and Tattenham Corner. Middleton Press. ISBN 1-873793-25-1. 
• Moody, G.T. (1979). Southern Electric 1909-1979. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0924-4. 
• Glover, John (2001). Southern Electric. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-2807-9.