- Merstham railway station
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Merstham Location Place Merstham Local authority Reigate and Banstead Operations Station code MHM Managed by Southern Number of platforms 2 Live arrivals/departures and station information
from National Rail EnquiriesAnnual rail passenger usage 2004/05 * 0.488 million 2005/06 * 0.511 million 2006/07 * 0.553 million 2007/08 * 0.610 million 2008/09 * 0.613 million History Opened 1845 National 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 Merstham from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year. Merstham railway station is in Surrey, England. It is on the Brighton Main Line, and train services are provided by Southern.
Contents
History
Merstham was on a stretch of line between Croydon and Redhill which Parliament insisted should be shared by the London and Brighton Railway (L&BR) route to Brighton, and the South Eastern Railway (SER) route to Dover. As a result there have been two railway stations at Merstham.
London and Brighton Railway station
The original station at was located 3/4 mile south of the current station. It was opened by the L&BR on 1 December 1841, and from 1842 it was also used by SER and was the point at which travellers between the two railways exchanged trains. The section of line between Coulsdon and Redhill was transferred to SER ownership, and the new owners decided to close Merstham station on 1 October 1843, thereby forcing passengers wishing to change trains to walk between the two stations at Redhill. This was a tactic to force the L&BR to share the new SER Reigate station at Redhill.[1] Once the L&BR had given way and closed their existing station at Reigate Road, Redhill, the SER opened a new station at Merstham on the present site.
South Eastern Railway station
This station was opened 4 October 1844. The up side booking office (badly damaged by fire in the late 1980s and later rebuilt) and footbridge date from a 1905 rebuilding.
Despite being on the Brighton line, this station, along with Coulsdon South and Redhill, was owned by the South Eastern Railway (later South Eastern & Chatham Railway), and was not used by L&BR (later London Brighton and South Coast Railway trains. It was not until the creation of the Southern Railway in 1923 that trains from the Brighton line called at the station.
A side effect of the privatisation of the UK rail network in the last 15 years has been the re-emergence of historic names for the new Train Operating Companies (TOCs) and the 'modern' Southeastern (and its Connex SE and South Eastern predecessors) served Merstham until 2008 with a London/Merstham/Redhill/Tonbridge route service (which at different times in its life extended beyond Tonbridge) - the 'southeastern' logo remains on display (Feb 2010) at the station entrance.
A PERTIS self service 'Permit to Travel' ticket machine is located at the pedestrian gate to the up platform.
Services
The typical off-peak train service per hour is:
- 2 to London Bridge or Victoria, changing at East Croydon as necessary
- 2 to Horsham
Preceding station National Rail Following station Coulsdon South Southern
Brighton Main LineRedhill Southern
London Bridge to Tunbridge Wells
(via Redhill and East Croydon)External links
- Train times and station information for Merstham railway station from National Rail
Coordinates: 51°15′50″N 0°09′00″W / 51.264°N 0.150°W
References
Categories:- Railway stations in Surrey
- Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations
- Railway stations opened in 1845
- Railway stations served by Southern
- DfT Category D stations
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