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Purley
Location of Purley in Greater London |
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| Location | Purley |
|---|---|
| Local authority | London Borough of Croydon |
| Managed by | Southern |
| Station code | PUR |
| Number of platforms | 6 (4 in regular use) |
| Accessible | [1] |
| Fare zone | 6 |
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| National Rail annual entry and exit | |
| 2004–05 | 5.512 million[2] |
| 2005–06 | 3.593 million[2] |
| 2006–07 | 5.267 million[2] |
| 2007–08 | 5.376 million[2] |
| 2008–09 | 4.234 million[2] |
| 2009–10 | 5.789 million[2] |
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| 12 July 1841 | Opened (Godstone Road) |
| 1 October 1847 | Closed |
| 5 Aug 1856 | reopened as Caterham Jn |
| 1 October 1888 | Renamed Purley |
| 4 March 1989 | Rail crash |
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| List of stations | Underground · National Rail |
| External links | Departures • Layout |
| Facilities • Buses | |
Purley railway station is at Purley in the London Borough of Croydon, on the main London to Brighton line, in Travelcard Zone 6. It is a junction, with branches to Caterham and Tattenham Corner. There are sidings used by the Day and Son gravel company, part of whose installation has been given a visual treatment intended to resemble a signal box. Trains of aggregates from Cliffe are dealt with here.
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Purley station has been known by three different names during the course of its history.
The station was opened by the London and Brighton Railway on 12 July 1841 as Godstone Road. This was closed on 1 October 1847 by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) which had opened the Stoat's Nest station one mile away at Coulsdon.
In 1855 a proposal by a local company, to connect the sandstone quarries at Caterham to the railway system, became embroiled in a long running dispute between the LB&SCR and the rival South Eastern Railway (SER), which resulted in the reopening of the station. The proposed line was in the territory of the SER, and was to be operated by that company. It would have to join the railway system on a section of the LB&SCR, where the SER had running powers but no stations. The new railway had to sue the LB&SCR to force it to allow the junction on to its lines and to reopen the station. On 5 August 1856 the Caterham branch opened, joining the main line near the site of the Godstone Road station. Three months later the LB&SCR reopened their station as ‘’Caterham Junction’’.[3]
The station was renamed ‘’Purley’’ on 1 October 1888, and rebuilt around 1896 during the widening of the main line between Croydon and the beginning of the new Quarry Line at Coulsdon. The SER built a line from Purley to Chipstead railway station and Tattenham Corner railway station between 1897 and 1901, by the latter date it had become the South Eastern and Chatham Railway.
The Purley station rail crash on 4 March 1989 occurred just to the north of the station, and left five dead and 94 injured. A memorial garden was created at the station to commemorate this.[4]
On the night of Friday 5 July 2002 a fire occurred on the 23:15 from Caterham train. A rail attendant, Mr Philip Cable, helped the train driver and another attendant to put out the fire after the train pulled into Purley station with smoke billowing from the train windows. In the course of this action Mr Cable suffered an asthma attack and collapsed. He subsequently died at Mayday Hospital in Croydon a few hours later. No inquest was held as a charge of manslaughter was laid against Karl Lacey who had set fire to newspapers and cushions in the carriage he had boarded at Whyteleafe station, before alighting at the next stop Kenley. Karl Lacey, who was 16 at the time, was sentenced to four years' youth custody by Judge David Paget at the Old Bailey on Friday 11 June 2004. The teenager had been caught on CCTV as the only passenger alighting at Kenley station. He was identified by his mother who contacted the police when the images were released to the public. The judge told Lacey, 'To start a fire on a train is extremely serious, reckless and irresponsible. You caused the death of a brave man whose devotion to duty in putting out the fire cost him his life.'
The old cafe - now the stores - on platform six is said to be haunted by an old signalman and his pet wolfhound.
From October 2007, the subway to the platforms was temporarily closed while lifts to platforms were being installed. During this work a temporary footbridge was installed at the northern end of the platforms and in order to access platforms from the main entrance passengers were required to use the permanent staircase to Platform 1 and walk the length of the platform to the temporary footbridge.
Electronic ticket gates were installed at the station in summer 2009, as part of a project sponsored by the Department for Transport. Gates have been installed on both sides of the station and a new entrance created adjacent to platform 6. Some minor refurbishment of the main ticket hall was also carried out.
Platform 1 and 2 are normally used only on Saturdays and when engineering works dictate. On weekdays, fast services on the Brighton Main Line make no stops between East Croydon and Brighton: these trains, together with Gatwick Express and First Capital Connect services, pass through platforms 1 and 2 without stopping. During 2008 a fence was erected to prevent access to Platform 2, following a number of suicides. A gate at the southern end of this fence is opened by staff for the few trains stopping at Platform 2.
Platform 3 is used for mainline services to London Bridge and London Victoria.
Platform 4 is used for mainline southbound services to Horsham, as well as weekend services to Bognor Regis.
Platform 5 and 6 serve the branch lines to Tattenham Corner and Caterham. Both these platforms can be used by trains in either direction, though platform 5 is primarily northbound towards London and platform 6 is usually southbound.
The typical off-peak train service per hour is:
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purley Oaks | Southern Tattenham Corner Line |
Reedham | ||
| Southern Brighton Main Line |
Coulsdon South | |||
| Southern Caterham Line |
Kenley | |||
| East Croydon | Southern London Bridge to Tonbridge (via Redhill and East Croydon) |
Coulsdon South | ||
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