The present Horley station is in fact the second in the town. The original station, constructed by the London and Brighton Railway, opened on 12 July 1841, was located north of the present site, where the Factory Shop is. The first station was designed by David Mocatta and was on a larger scale than other intermediate stations on the line. Horley was situated almost midway between London and Brighton, and was chosen for the erection of the London and Brighton Railway carriage sheds and repair workshops. These were later moved to Brighton railway works. The station was enlarged in 1862 by addition of a second storey to the building. A canopy and footbridge were added in 1884. The current Horley station opened 31 December 1905, to coincide with the quadrupling of the railway line by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway. The original station then became the Station Master's house and survived until the 1960s. In the 1870s William Stroudley considered moving the locomotive works to Horley but was persuaded to keep them in Brighton. Nevertheless, the sidings at Horley were used for storing withdrawn locomotives and those awaiting repair until the First World War.
Facilities
Concourse
Ticket Office
Quick Ticket
Café
Waiting Room
Telephone
Toilet
Car Park
Services
The typical off-peak service from the station in trains per hour is:
2 tph to
2 tph to
2 tph to
2 tph to
Although the station is outside Greater London, Oyster Pay as you go and contactless payment cards are valid. However, the station is outside the London Fare Zone area and as a result, special fares apply.
Future developments
The Thameslink Programme project proposes to turn some of the Southern services over to the expanded Thameslink network currently operated byGovia Thameslink Railway. This project will see services that currently terminate at London Bridge continuing through Central London and northwards via the Midland Main Line or East Coast Main Line to destinations such as. This however is not imminent, a Department for Transport whitepaper states only that "the Thameslink Programme will be completed by the end of 2015" and that "interim outputs will be delivered by the end of 2011", leaving Southern as the main operator for several more years to come.
