Redhill railway station

Redhill railway station serves the town of Redhill, Surrey, England. The station is a major interchange point on the Brighton Main Line 21 miles (34 km) south of London Victoria. It is managed by Southern, which operates most trains serving Redhill.

History
The local topography determined that it was cheaper to build and operate a railway line between London and Brighton which by-passed the parliamentary borough and long-created market town of Reigate and instead pass through the nearby Redstone or Red Hill gap in the Reigate Foreign (countryside) parish. According to the Acts of Parliament establishing railways between London and Brighton, and London and Dover, the line was to be shared between Croydon and Red Hill after which these two would deviate. The London and Brighton Railway (L&BR) constructed the new line during 1840 and 1841, with the South Eastern Railway (SER) contributing half of the construction cost and taking ownership of the section between Stoats Nest, Coulsdon, and Redhill. (The SER had however been running services over the line since 1842.) The inevitable and continuing conflict between the two railway companies over the use of this joint line gave rise to the construction of four railway stations at the site of what was then a hamlet on the eastern side of Reigate.

Red Hill and Reigate Road (London & Brighton Railway) station
The original station was opened by the L&BR on 12 July 1841 on a site to the south of the proposed junction with the SER. The nearby market town was served by a horse-drawn omnibus service operated by the railway. This station closed on 15 April 1844.

Redhill/Reigate (SER) stations
On 26 May 1842 the SER opened what was originally called 'Redhill', but later misleadingly renamed 'Reigate' station, on their own stretch of line just beyond the junction. Passengers transferring between the two railways did so at the old Merstham station further up the line. The SER wanted to replace their 'Reigate' station with a joint station immediately before the junction, but the L&BR opposed the plan. As a result the SER forced the issue by ending the arrangements at Merstham, thereby forcing passengers to transfer between the two stations at Redhill by foot.

Reigate [i.e. Redhill] station
On 15 April 1844 the SER built a new station at the present site, named 'Reigate' which was to be used by both railways as the interchange station. On the same day the two existing stations were closed. The branch line to Reigate was opened in 1849 with a new station called Reigate Town. Nevertheless the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (the successor of the L&BR) continued to operate the omnibus service for its own passengers.

Redhill Junction station
The SER 'Reigate' station was rebuilt and enlarged on the same site in August 1858. It was renamed 'Redhill Junction', eventually changing its name to 'Redhill' in July 1929 when it was under Southern Railway ownership

Quarry line
The disputes between the SER and the L&BR (and after July 1846 its successor the London Brighton and South Coast Railway) over the joint line around Redhill continued throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century and ultimately caused the construction of the Quarry Line by the LB&SCR in 1899, which avoided Redhill. Consequently, many trains on the Brighton main line do not call there.

Description
Redhill station is at the junction of the Brighton Main Line, which runs north to London and south to Gatwick Airport and Brighton, with the ex-SER North Downs Line, which runs west to Guildford and Reading, and the Redhill to Tonbridge Line, to the east. The station has three passenger platforms and a parcels bay (which is now out of use). Platforms 1 and 2 are an island on the northbound (Up) side and Platform 3 and the old parcels dock are on the southbound (Down) side. There are two through lines between platforms 2 and 3. All passenger platforms are subdivided into 'a' (north end) and 'b' (south end), and all are of 12 car length. All platforms have access to all routes, although there is no access from either through line to or from the North Downs Line - all traffic from this direction must pass through a platform.

Platforms are linked by a subway, and by an out-of use parcels/staff bridge. There are lifts from the platforms to the subway and a level entrance from the Platform 3 exit, but no level entrance at the main entrance, which is at street level. The main entrance faces the town centre, and is opposite Redhill bus station.

The ticket office has four windows and two Shere FASTticket self-service ticket machines, and there are four automatic ticket barriers. There is a newsagent in the ticket office area and a Puccino's coffee shop on platforms 1 and 2. There is an additional Shere FASTticket machine at the platform 3 exit.

Services


Southern operate most train services, others being provided by First Great Western.

General off-peak train service frequency per hour:
 * 1 to Gatwick Airport (FGW)
 * 2 to Horsham (Southern)
 * 1 to Horsham, Portsmouth Harbour and Bognor Regis (Southern)
 * 1 to Horsham, Southampton Central and Bognor Regis (Southern)
 * 4 to London Bridge (Southern)
 * 2 to London Victoria (Southern)
 * 2 to Reading (FGW)
 * 1 to Reigate (Southern)
 * 1 to Tonbridge (Southern)

Motive power depot
An engine shed, turntable and locomotive coaling and servicing facilities were installed by the South Eastern Railway in 1855 in the area between the Brighton and Tonbridge lines. These facilities were rebuilt by the Southern Railway (Great Britain) in 1924 and lasted until the end of steam in the area in 1965. The site of the depot remained in use as a stabling point for many years after this. The sidings remain in place, but appear to have fallen into disuse in recent years.