Betchworth railway station

Betchworth National Rail
Location
Place Betchworth
Local authority Mole Valley
Grid reference TQ210512
Operations
Station code BTO
Managed by Great Western Railway
Number of platforms 2
DfT category F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2011/12 Increase 19,878
2012/13 Increase 21,868
2013/14 Decrease 18,620
2014/15 Decrease 16,446
2015/16 Increase 16,640
History
Key dates Opened 4 July 1849 (4 July 1849)
Original company Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway
Pre-grouping South Eastern Railway
Post-grouping Southern Railway
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Betchworth from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Betchworth railway station is the railway station that serves the village of Betchworth in Surrey, England. It is on the North Downs Line and is unstaffed. All trains serving it are operated by Great Western Railway.

History

The station was opened in 1849 by the Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway, which became part of the South Eastern Railway in 1852. It is 27 miles 17 chains (43.8 km) from Charing Cross, and has two platforms; platform 1 is long enough for a four-coach train, but platform 2 can accommodate seven coaches.[1]

Services

The typical off-peak service on the North Downs Line is one train every two hours in each direction between Reading and Redhill (extended to Gatwick Airport on Sundays).[2]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Dorking Deepdene   Great Western Railway
North Downs Line		   Reigate

Betchworth Quarry Railways

Baxter at Sheffield Park on the Bluebell Railway

The station was particularly significant for its connection with the Betchworth Quarry railways, which were built to serve the Dorking Greystone Lime Company's three pits north of the station.

The quarry railways had four different track gauges. The standard gauge part had a junction with the main line that passed close to Betchworth station, before reversing to run to the Eastern and Southern Kiln Batteries. A 3 ft 2 1⁄4 in (972 mm) gauge railway system began there and primarily served the quarry with lines diverging to the Main, Upper Western Whitestone and Eastern Greystone Pits. The other gauges serving the works were the 19 in (483 mm) gauge line that ran from a standard gauge siding to the Hearthstone Mine, and a short 2 ft (610 mm) gauge section of track that ran exclusively between the Eastern and Southern Kiln Batteries.

The first engine to shunt on the standard gauge portion, Engine No. 1 of 1871, was unofficially named The Coffeepot. It is now preserved at Beamish Museum in County Durham. Another, Captain Baxter was renamed simply Baxter in 1947, the last engine ever to work the line, and the Rev. W.V. Awdry featured it in his book Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine. Baxter is preserved on the Bluebell Railway and was returned to traffic for that railway's 50th anniversary.

Two 3 ft 2 1⁄4 in (972 mm) gauge locomotives were also preserved. Townsend Hook, is at Amberley Chalk Pits Museum, undergoing reconstruction (as of October 2010) to become a static exhibit.[3] William Finlay, the sister engine of Townsend Hook, is preserved in private ownership.

References

  1. ↑ Yonge, John (November 2008) [1994]. Jacobs, Gerald, ed. Railway Track Diagrams 5: Southern & TfL (3rd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 24B. ISBN 978-0-9549866-4-3.
  2. ↑ GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Table 148 (Network Rail)
  3. ↑ "Townsend Hook cosmetic restoration". Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre. October 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
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Coordinates: 51°14′53″N 0°16′01″W / 51.248°N 0.267°W / 51.248; -0.267

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