Banstead railway station serves the village of

Banstead Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is south of Sutton, south-west of Croydon, south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and south of Central London. On the North Downs, it is on three of the four main ...

in the borough of

Reigate and Banstead Reigate and Banstead is a local government district with borough status in east Surrey, England. It includes the towns of Reigate, Redhill, Horley and Banstead. The borough borders the Borough of Crawley (in West Sussex) to the south, the Boroug ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. Its wider definition of Banstead Village and Nork

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

is relevant here as both are equally well served by it as it lies narrowly in the latter. The station and all trains are operated by Southern and it is on the

Epsom Downs Epsom Downs is an area of chalk upland near Epsom, Surrey; in the North Downs. Part of the area is taken up by the racecourse, the gallops are part of the land purchased by Stanly Wootton in 1925 and are open to users such as ramblers, model ...

line, part of the

Sutton & Mole Valley Line The Sutton and Mole Valley lines were constructed between 1847 and 1868 by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, the London and South Western Railway and the LBSCR-sponsored Horsham, Dorking and Leatherhead Railway. Services Services ...

services. It is between and , down the line from , measured via West Croydon. Housing and gardens in Banstead in this area border

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

500m away to the north. Accordingly, since January 2006, the station has been included in

Travelcard Zone 6 Fare zone 6 is an outer zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway, National Rail services (since 2007), and the El ...

. The station lies some distance to the north-west of the High Street on the edge of Banstead Downs.

Station buildings

The station was opened by the

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR; known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its ...

on 22 May 1865 as part of the Epsom Downs branch line. The branch was originally laid as double track to accommodate Epsom Downs horse race traffic and was electrified on 17 June 1928. In the 1940s, the station's name was painted in large letters on the roof as a navigation tool for pilots coming into

Croydon Airport Croydon Airport (former ICAO code: EGCR) was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. Located in Croydon, South London, England, it opened in 1920, built in a Neoclassical style, and was developed as Britain's main air ...

. Due to the destruction by fire of the Epsom Downs signal box in November 1981, the branch was singled for most of its length in October 1982 and trains stopping at Banstead now use only the Down platform where there is a shelter. The Up track and platform have been removed.

Services

All services at Banstead are operated by Southern using

EMUs Emus may refer to: * Emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the g ...

. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: * 2 tph to via * 2 tph to Prior to May 2018, the station was served by an hourly service on weekdays and Saturdays only, with no Sunday service. In May 2018, a half-hourly service was introduced on all days of the week. There is an electronic display showing arrivals and departures. A ticket machine was installed in October 2011 replacing a Permit to Travel machine and there are also 2 Oystercard readers.

References

External links

Map includes Epsom Down Line
{{TSGN and SE Stations, Mole Valley=y, FCC None=y, SE None=y Railway stations in Surrey Former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1865 Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway