Cheam railway station

Cheam railway station serves Cheam in the London Borough of Sutton. It is located on the Sutton & Mole Valley Lines section from Sutton to Epsom with trains to London Victoria and London Bridge both via Mitcham Junction and West Croydon.

History
In 1844 Cheam was on the planned route for the London to Portsmouth atmospheric railway. The section of line between Croydon and Epsom was part of the London & Croydon Railway company who promoted the Clegg and Samuda atmospheric principle, utilizing a 15 in pipe. This project failed, and Cheam station became part of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway on 10 May 1847.

The station is almost 16 miles (26 km) from London Bridge station. Over the years Cheam station expanded, and was rebuilt and the rail bed widened in preparation for the installation of AC overhead electric services, which would have included the building of an additional central platform island. Due to the outbreak of the First World War, the full planned expansion was cancelled and was never completed. Nevertheless the through lines were still in place until the late 1970s when the Bognor/Portsmouth express services were withdrawn from the Sutton and Dorking route to serve an expanding Gatwick Airport. The wide space between the tracks still remains and shows where the fast lines had been laid prior their removal. The brick main buildings are on the Down side of the station.

Unfulfilled plans
Plans for the Wimbledon & Sutton Railway, to have been operated by the District Railway, were granted in 1910 and included a penultimate station, just north of Cheam Road, Sutton, which was intended to serve Cheam, to the west. This station was not built when the Southern Railway completed the line in the 1920s.

Services
The typical off-peak service pattern is as follows:
 * 4tph (trains per hour) to London Victoria via Sutton, two of which call only at Sutton and Clapham Junction, the others also calling at Carshalton, Hackbridge, Mitcham Junction, Mitcham Eastfields and Balham.
 * 1tph to London Victoria via Sutton, West Croydon and Norbury
 * 3tph to Epsom
 * 2tph to Dorking 1 extended to Horsham

At peak times, services also run to other destinations including London Bridge and Guildford. After 7pm, services via Norbury are diverted via Crystal Palace.