Epsom Downs railway station


Epsom Downs railway station is in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Southern. A terminus of its own branch line is grouped as part of the Sutton & Mole Valley Lines. It is down the line from, measured via West Croydon. In the past the station had nine platforms, but today only one is in use.
Epsom Downs is near station which is on the Tattenham Corner Line, also served by Southern. Both are in Travelcard Zone 6.

History

With large numbers of passengers travelling to Epsom to visit the Epsom Downs Racecourse, it became clear that a station near the course was needed. Attempts to build one immediately next to it were strongly opposed by the Epsom Grandstand Association and eventually land was purchased half a mile from the course. Designed by David J. Field, the original station was opened on 22 May 1865 on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway's extension from Sutton. The line had double track and a nine-platform station with a large building.
With the opening of Tattenham Corner railway station, much closer to the racecourse, on 4 June 1901, traffic declined, helped in particular by the Royal Train changing its destination to Tattenham Corner in 1925. Services were cut back repeatedly over subsequent decades. On 1 May 1972 the number of working platforms was reduced to two, and following the destruction by fire of Epsom Downs signal box in November 1981 almost the entire branch was reduced to single track operation in October 1982.
On 13 February 1989 a new station was opened short of the original one. The old station and platforms were demolished and the land in between given over to a major housing development. The replacement station was installed by British Rail under the Network SouthEast sector.

Services

Services at the station are operated using a mixture of and EMUs.
The typical off-peak service from the station is, as of May 2018:
Epsom Downs, like all other stations on the line, has experienced a significant upgrade in services, in the recent years. Until, May 2018, the station was served by an hourly service to London Victoria, from Monday to Saturday, with no service on Sunday. However, since then, a half hourly service has been in operation 7 days a week.