Chessington Branch Line

The Chessington Branch Line is a short National Rail railway line in England, mostly in the London Borough of Kingston, from Motspur Park to Chessington South.

History
The branch, double track and electrified on the DC third rail system (660V at the time of its construction) was the last line built by the Southern Railway. It was to serve housing development south of Surbiton and to form a duplicate line to Leatherhead.

It was opened on 29 May 1938 from Motspur Park to Tolworth, with an intermediate station at Malden Manor, and extended on 28 May 1939 to Chessington North and Chessington South.

All the stations on the line were of concrete in an Art Deco style, typical of the period. Work to extend beyond Chessington was halted by the outbreak of the Second World War, with track laid beyond Chessington South as far as Chalky Lane, and preparatory works continuing further south. This included an embankment built by the Royal Engineers as a military exercise from Chalky Lane as far south as Chessington Wood, close to where the next station at Malden Rushett would have been built. After the war Green Belt legislation put a stop to any resumption. A goods yard south of Chessington South was used as a coal concentration depot from the mid-1960s to the end of the 1980s.

The goods yard and the half a mile of trackbed towards Malden Rushett are overgrown by trees. As a result of the truncation, only one platform at Chessington South has ever seen regular use.

It was originally intended to name Chessington North station Chessington Court and Chessington South station Chessington Grange.

The line was mainly constructed on embankment with short distances in cuttings and several bridges. A 140 ft viaduct crosses the Hogsmill River near Malden Manor.