Belmont railway station

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Belmont
Location
Place Belmont
Local authority London Borough of Sutton
Operations
Managed by Southern
Platforms in use 1
National Rail
Station code BLM
Annual entry/exit
0.051 million *
Transport for London
Zone 5
History
Key dates Opened 1865
Transport for London
List of London stations: Underground | National Rail
* based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at this station. Disclaimer (PDF)
Portal:Belmont railway station
BR Portal

Belmont railway station serves the suburb of Belmont in the London Borough of Sutton in south London. The station is located on the Epsom Downs line, part of the Sutton & Mole Valley Line services of the Southern, and is in Travelcard Zone 5.

[edit] History

The station was opened by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, as part of the Epsom Downs branch line, on 22 May 1865. The branch was originally laid as double track because of the race traffic, and was electrified on 17 June 1928. Now the branch has been singled for most of its length, and trains stopping at Belmont use only the Down platform, where a modern CLASP building has been erected, although the Up platform still exists, as does the footbridge connecting the two platforms.

The station was originally named California, and was only changed to Belmont in 1875. A local resident was charged with poaching, but not wishing to be sentenced to transportation he fled to the USA to join the California Gold Rush. Having made his fortune, he returned to the area and built a public house called the California Arms, after which the station was named. The name was changed to Belmont due to the large number of mail items being wrongly sent to California USA!

The California Arms is now known as Belmonts Restaurant, and is a new building built on the site in 1955. The original was heavily damaged by German bombing in 1941. A plaque on the wall commemorates a Private Gibb who held up the debris for three hours while buried women were rescued. For his bravery, he was awarded the BEM.

[edit] Train services

The typical off-peak service from the station is one train per hour to London Victoria via Sutton, West Croydon, Norbury and Clapham Junction, and one train per hour to Epsom Downs.

[edit] External links



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