Box Hill & Westhumble railway station

Box Hill and Westhumble
Location
Place	Westhumble
Local authority	District of Mole Valley
Grid reference	TQ167518
Operations
Station code	BXW
Managed by	Southern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	43,255
2005/06	42,204
2006/07	44,548
2007/08	51,378
2008/09	53,806
2009/10	58,588
2010/11	62,772
2011/12	81,122
2012/13	103,962
2013/14	83,914
2014/15	102,914
History
Key dates	Opened 11 March 1867 (11 March 1867)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Box Hill and Westhumble from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Box Hill & Westhumble railway station is a railway station in the village of Westhumble in Surrey, England,^[1] approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Dorking town centre. Box Hill is located approximately ¹⁄₂ mile (800 m) to the east.

The station is served by one train every hour towards London Victoria and one train every hour towards Horsham off peak, operated by Southern. More trains operate at peak times, when some South West Trains services to and from London Waterloo also stop here, along with a limited number of trains from London Bridge via West Croydon (p.m only). Most evening SWT services also call in the southbound direction, giving the station a better service after the evening peak than during the daytime. On Sundays the service is half-hourly and runs exclusively between Victoria & Dorking.^[2]

The station is the end point for the Thames Down Link long distance footpath from Kingston upon Thames,^[3] and lies close to the midpoint of the Mole Gap Trail between Leatherhead and Dorking.^[4] The station is within ¹⁄₂ mile of the North Downs Way.

History

The station was constructed at the insistence of Thomas Grissell the owner of Norbury Park, in part compensation for the railway cutting across his land to the north of the village. The main building was designed by Charles Henry Driver in the Châteauesque style and included steeply pitched roofs with patterned tiles and an ornamental turret topped with a decorative grille and weather vane.^[5] The building is currently in use as a private dwelling and commercial premises and is protected by a Grade II listing.^[6]

Grissell also obtained the right from the LBSCR to stop any train on request, a privilege subsequently exercised by Leopold Salomons, who purchased Norbury Park in 1890. This concession was legally abolished by the Transport Act of 1962, however there is no evidence to suggest that it was regularly used after 1910.^[5]

The name of the station has changed many times over the years with "Box Hill" & "Boxhill" and "Westhumble" & "West Humble" used in varying combinations for signs, timetables and railway maps, with many inconsistencies. In 2006, after consultation with local residents, the station's name was changed to "Box Hill and Westhumble" from "Boxhill and Westhumble".^[7]

Terrier tank engine

Boxhill is preserved as part of the National Collection at the National Railway Museum.

A Terrier tank engine, built by the LBSCR in 1880, was named Boxhill after the station.^[8] It was used to haul commuter trains in South London and Surrey until the 1920s, when it was moved to become a shunting engine at Brighton. Unlike other engines of its class, its smokebox was not modified in the early 20th century, and it was restored by the Southern Railway in 1947 to its original condition and painted in its original Stroudley yellow ochre livery.^[9] It is now preserved at the National Railway Museum in York.^[8]

Gallery

• 

  Station sign

• 

  View from Platform 2 looking towards northbound Platform 1

• 

  The station in 1961

Typical off-peak journey times

December 2006 – May 2007 timetable
Frequency in trains per hour

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Leatherhead		Southern Mole Valley Line		Dorking
Leatherhead		South West Trains Monday - Fridays peak hours, and summer Sundays only		Dorking

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Box Hill and Westhumble railway station.

• Train times and station information for Box Hill & Westhumble railway station from National Rail

District of Mole Valley Towns Villages Abinger Ashtead Beare Green Betchworth Box Hill Brockham Buckland Capel Charlwood Coldharbour Dorking Fetcham Friday Street Goodwyns Great Bookham Headley Holmbury St Mary Holmwood Leatherhead Leigh Little Bookham Mickleham Newdigate Ockley Pixham Westcott Westhumble Wotton Parks Ashtead Common Bookham Commons Glover's Wood Holmbury Hill Leith Hill Oxmoor Copse Norbury Park Polesden Lacey Places of worship Church of St Nicholas, Charlwood St Joseph's Church, Dorking St Martin's Church, Dorking Church of St. Mary, Fetcham Church of Our Lady and St Peter, Leatherhead Church of St. Mary & St. Nicholas, Leatherhead Education The Ashcombe School Box Hill School City of London Freemen's School Downsend School Manor House School The Priory School St Andrew's Catholic School St John's School St Teresa's School Therfield School Transport Railway stations Ashtead Betchworth Bookham Box Hill & Westhumble Dorking Dorking Deepdene Dorking West Holmwood Leatherhead Ockley Buildings and structures Betchworth Castle Bocketts Farm Burford Bridge Hotel Cherkley Court Denbies Wine Estate Dorking Caves Fetcham Park House Gatwick Aviation Museum Headley Court Juniper Hall Lowfield Heath Windmill Mullard Space Science Laboratory Wotton House Sport Football clubs Bookham Dorking Dorking Wanderers Leatherhead

Coordinates: 51°15′14″N 0°19′44″W / 51.254°N 0.329°W / 51.254; -0.329