Belmont railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Belmont | |||
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|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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| * based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at this station. Disclaimer (PDF) | |||
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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 (pre-fabricated concrete) building was erected in the 1970s. (This has since been demolished and cleared away.) The Up platform still exists, however, 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
- Map of Mole Valley lines
- The Epsom Downs branch website
- Train times and station information for Belmont railway station from National Rail
- Street map and aerial photo of Belmont railway station from Multimap.com
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- Satellite image from WikiMapia or Google Map
- Street map from Multimap or GlobalGuide
- Aerial image from TerraServer
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sutton | Southern Sutton & Mole Valley Lines Mondays-Saturdays only |
Banstead | ||
| Railway stations of London Central area | Greater London |
|---|
| Managed by Network Rail: Cannon Street • Charing Cross • Euston • Fenchurch Street • King's Cross • Liverpool Street • London Bridge • Paddington • Victoria • Waterloo |
| Managed by train operator: Blackfriars • Marylebone • Moorgate • St Pancras |
| UK railway stations |
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