Tongham railway station

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Tongham railway station was a railway station in the village of Tongham, Guildford, Surrey in the United Kingdom. It was opened in 1856, by London and South Western Railway (LSWR). It was located on a now closed railway line between the Alton Line and the North Downs Line that opened on 8 October 1849 as part of the first railway line to Farnham, reached via Woking and Guildford. Tongham station, along with Farnborough station on the LSWR main line was one of the first railheads for the military traffic associated with the recently established army camps at Aldershot. However, its significance was drastically reduced, both as a station and as part of a through route, when a direct line was opened in 1870 from Pirbright Junction on the LSWR main line to Farnham Junction on the original branch line. Even Guildford to Farnham traffic through Tongham dwindled after a spur came into use between Ash station and Aldershot station on the direct Farnham line (now known as the Alton Line). As a consequence of the electrification of most other local lines, passenger services ceased on 4 July 1937 ^[1], and the station was closed when the goods service ended in December 1960 ^[1].

The station has been demolished. The course of the line to the west is largely taken up by the "Blackwater Valley Relief Road" (A31 and A331) while to the west is a footpath.

The next station eastward (towards the North Downs Line) was Ash Green Halt^[2].

[edit] References

• Peter A. Harding (1994): The Tongham Railway, Published by Peter A. Harding. ISBN 0-952-34580-3
• A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain Vol 2. Southern England. 5th Edition. H. P. White (1992). ISBN 0-946537-77-1