North Camp railway station

North Camp railway station is situated in the civil parish of Ash in Surrey, England. It takes its name from an area of the nearby town of Farnborough, Hampshire.

The station is managed by First Great Western, who provide services on the North Downs Line from Reading to Guildford, Redhill and Gatwick Airport.

It is less than one kilometre (half a mile)'s walk from Ash Vale station (on the Ascot to Guildford line). These railway lines cross but otherwise have no proper interchange. This is because they were constructed by two independent railway companies who did not think it necessary to provide an interchange. Holders of tickets for certain journeys have no alternative but to undertake this walk under the ticket's routeing, since it is the only reasonable journey, though disabled passengers and those accompanying them may make a sound argument under the Routeing Guide that it is unreasonable for them to do so, and instead take a more circuitous route.

The station ticket office is open Monday - Saturday until 1pm (closed on Sundays). There are ticket machines on both platforms for the purchase of tickets at other times. Customer information displays are installed on both platforms showing the next departure and a summary of departures. There is also a display in the ticket office showing a summary of departures. There is a snack and drink machine on platform 2 for refreshments and the adjacent pub also serves food. There is a BT payphone on platform 2. The station has a pay and display car park behind the Guildford platform although at the time of writing (November 2009) the payment machine has been removed due to vandalism with a notice to pay for parking in the ticket office - it is not clear how you should pay if arriving after the ticket office is closed, but there is also on-street parking available in the surrounding roads.

Until 1967 North Camp was served by a daily train in each direction between Birkenhead and Sandwich, Ramsgate and Brighton. It comprised three portions, the Brighton portion joining the others at Redhill and the Ramsgate and Sandwich portions being coupled/decoupled at Ashford. The stock was provided by the Southern and (Great) Western on alternate days. The northbound train continued to Reading, Oxford, Banbury, Leamington Spa, Birmingham Snow Hill, Wolverhampton Low Level, Wellington (Salop), Shrewsbury, Gobowen, Ruabon, Wrexham General, Chester General, Hooton, Rock Ferry and Birkenhead Woodside.

Services

First Great Western provide two services per hour between Reading and Redhill, one of which continues to Gatwick Airport.

Gallery

External links

• Train times and station information for North Camp railway station from National Rail