Guildford (Surrey) railway station

Guildford railway station is an important railway junction on the Portsmouth Direct Line serving the town of Guildford in Surrey, England. It is 30.3 miles (48 km) from London Waterloo.

It provides an interchange station for three other railway lines: the North Downs Line northwards towards Reading, and with connection to Aldershot; the same line eastwards to Redhill; the New Guildford Line, the alternative route to Waterloo, via Cobham or Epsom. It is one of two stations in Guildford, the other being London Road (Guildford), on the New Guildford Line.

History


The station was opened by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) on 5 May 1845, but was substantially enlarged and rebuilt in 1880. The Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway opened its services on 4 July 1849, and was operated by the South Eastern Railway. LSWR services to Farnham via Tongham began on 8 October 1849 and the New Guildford Line to Leatherhead and Epsom Downs on 2 February 1885. On the latter line is the other Guildford station: London Road: the line to it describes a curve around the town on an embankment, crossing the River Wey by a high bridge.

Guildford station was also the northern terminus of the (now-closed) Cranleigh Line of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, which opened 2 October 1865 and closed almost one hundred years later on 12 June 1965. This line ran to Horsham by way of Cranleigh, Rudgwick and Christ's Hospital.

Platform layout


The main station buildings are on the Down side. At the end of the Down side platform is a bay for the New Guildford Line. There are now three islands with seven platform faces plus the bay linked by both a long footbridge and a subway. Platforms 6 and 7 are opposite sides of the same line: these were used for unloading mail and parcels until the mid-1990s. The station was completely rebuilt (except for the platforms) in the late 1980s.


 * Platform 1 – Stopping services to London Waterloo via Epsom and peak time trains to London Bridge via Forest Hill, and London Victoria on the Sutton & Mole Valley Lines
 * Platform 2 – Stopping services to London Waterloo via Cobham
 * Platform 3 – Stopping services to London Waterloo via Woking [Sunday service only]
 * Platform 4 – Fast and stopping services towards Portsmouth; semi-fast services to Gatwick Airport
 * Platform 5 – Fast services to London Waterloo
 * Platform 6 – Stopping services to Redhill and Intercity services to Newcastle (Edinburgh Waverley on Sundays)
 * Platform 8 – Services to Reading, Aldershot and Ascot

Platforms 6 and 7 are on opposite sides of the same single line. Automatic train doors only open on the platform 6 side. Today doors are not opened on platform 7 due to the live rail being on that side, hence rendering that platform disused. Platform 6 is signalled for bi-directional working – trains may approach from either direction.

Motive Power Depot
Guildford station was the site of an important motive power depot opened by the LSWR in 1845. The original building was demolished in 1887 to make room for the enlargement of the station, and was replaced by a semi-roundhouse which was substantially enlarged in 1897. This was closed and demolished in 1967. The Farnham Road multi-storey car park was built on the site in the 1990s.

Airtrack
Guildford station was to have been the southern terminus for the proposed Heathrow Airtrack rail service. The project, promoted by BAA, envisaged the construction of a spur from the Waterloo to Reading Line to Heathrow Airport, creating direct rail links from the airport to Guildford, Waterloo, Woking and Reading. Airtrack was planned to open in 2015, subject to government approval. In April 2011, BAA announced that it was abandoning the project, citing the unavailability of government subsidy and other priorities for Heathrow, such as linking to Crossrail and HS2.

Services
The station is currently served by services operated by First Great Western from Reading to Gatwick Airport and South West Trains from London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour, Waterloo to Guildford via Cobham or Epsom and Ascot to Guildford via Aldershot. Occasional CrossCountry trains to Newcastle and Southern services on the Sutton and Mole Valley route towards West Croydon & London Bridge also calls.

South West Trains

 * 8tph (trains per hour) to London Waterloo, of which:
 * 4tph run via Woking
 * 2tph run via Cobham
 * 2tph run via Epsom
 * 2tph fast services to Portsmouth Harbour
 * 1tph stopping service to Portsmouth and Southsea
 * 1tph stopping service to Haslemere
 * 2tph to Ascot

First Great Western

 * 2tph to Reading
 * 2tph to Redhill, of which
 * 1tph continues to Gatwick Airport

Southern (peak hours only)

 * 1tph to London Victoria via Norbury
 * 1tph to London Bridge via Forest Hill

CrossCountry

 * 1 train per day to Newcastle via Reading