Hinchley Wood railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hinchley Wood | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Place | Hinchley Wood |
| Local authority | Elmbridge |
| Operations | |
| Managed by | South West Trains |
| Platforms in use | 2 |
| Annual entry/exit 02/03 | 0.251 million * |
| History | |
| Key dates | Opened 20 October 1930 |
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |
| * based on sales of tickets in 2002/03 financial year which end or originate at Hinchley Wood. Disclaimer (PDF) | |
Hinchley Wood railway station is a railway station located in the village of Hinchley Wood, in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England, United Kingdom.
The station is located a hundred yards from the village and 14m 4ch from Waterloo, its longitude and lattidude are -0.342deg and 51.376 deg N and the grid reference is TQ156653.
Contents |
[edit] Design
The station is of an island construction with entrance footbridges from either side of the line. The building construction differs markedly from the older stations further down the line such as Claygate, the next station.
A goods yard was not constructed at the station. However, the Southern Railway bought land intended for use as a goods yard. Owing to road competition it was never built and the land was used as a car park. [1]
[edit] History
The station was opened in 20 October 1930 at the intersection of the Kingston Bypass, then the A3 London-Portsmouth Road and approximately half a mile south of Hampton Court Junction where the line joins the main London Waterloo line. The station is located between Surbiton and Claygate. The line itself was opened much earlier on 2 February 1885. Electrification as far as Claygate came in 1916, but the electric service was withdrawn during World War I, to be reinstituted along the full route from 12 July 1925.
The operators of the line have been London and Southwestern Railway (LSWR), Southern Railway (SR), British Railways (BR) - latterly British Rail (Southern Region) and currently Network Rail with services franchised to South West Trains.
[edit] History of Services from Hinchley Wood Station
Until 1958 the line had a 20 minute service interval for most of the day to Guildford and Waterloo, taking respectively 30 minutes and 21 minutes. Evenings and weekends were served with a 30 minute service interval. After 1958 the service interval was cut to 30 minutes with a 20 minute service interval for a three hour period in the morning and evening rush hours.
The service used to comprise of one stop at Surbiton en route to Waterloo in the rush hour and two stops (Surbiton and Wimbledon) other times. Trains ran on the fast line to Waterloo. Over the past 25 years the service has been scaled back. Additional stops to Waterloo and other factors have resulted in typical times to Waterloo of over 30 minutes. The service interval is now 30 minutes throughout the day including the rush hour (with a couple of exceptions) and trains use the slower line used by inner-London suburban services. South West Trains took over from British Railways and made these changes.
[edit] Current Services from the Station
At present on Monday to Saturday there are two trains per hour to Guildford from Hinchley Wood Station. This train stops at the following stations in order to get to its terminus, Guildford: Claygate, Oxshott, Cobham and Stoke D'abernon, Effingham Junction, Horsley, Clandon, London Road Guildford and Guildford (terminus).
There are also two trains per hour on Monday to Saturday on services from the station to London Waterloo. This train stops at the following stations in order to reach its terminus, London Waterloo: Surbiton, Raynes Park, Wimbledon, Earlsfield, Clapham Junction, Vauxhall and London Waterloo (terminus).
There is one additional train during the morning (to London) and evening (to Guildford) peak period, Monday to Friday. This 'extra' train does not stop at stations between London Waterloo and Surbiton in either direction.
On Sundays there is just one train per hour in each direction.
[edit] Old Rolling Stock
Train stock was kept at Durnsford Road depot, Wimbledon and Effingham Junction. The latter depot was closed in 1990. For many years new train stock was tested for long periods on this route - a real benefit to users of the route. The line received the first post second world war EPB (Electro Pneumatic Brake) electric stock that became the standard for British Railways Southern Region for many years. For a while in the 1970s first class service was provided - but for most of the life of this station only second or standard class service has been available. One of the new electric trains in the 1950s is illustrated in (Sep 1959 The Railway Magazine) [2]
Trains show a headcode of 42 on the front to identify this route. Prior to 1962 old train stock showed a headcode of H with a bar on top. Non-stop trains occasionally run on this route when there are track works on the main line that runs via Woking. The route codes seen in this case are 84 Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour and 74 to Portsmouth and Southsea. Prior to 1967 the respective codes were 5 and 6. The 42 code has never changed. Mitchell and Smith have published a book on the line [3].
[edit] Current Rolling Stock
Currently the Services to Guildford and London Waterloo are using South West Trains Class 455 carriages. These are from the 1990's and are currently in the process of refurbishment by South West Trains. This refurbishment will finish by 2007-2008 and will upgrade the following features:
~Wider Doors on the trains to allow easier and faster entrance or exit. ~Ergonomic seats which allow more seating and are higher and slimmer than previous ones. ~External and Internal colour changes, with a red/blue/yellow scheme on the exterior to complement the South West Trains and Stagecoach Franchise ~Visual announcements on-board ~CCTV and Video Recording to improve safety and security on-train
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Hinchley Wood railway station from National Rail
- Street map and aerial photo of Hinchley Wood railway station from Multimap.com
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surbiton | South West Trains Waterloo-Guildford via Cobham |
Claygate | ||
