Chessington South railway station is in the

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Surbiton, Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four royal boroughs in Eng ...

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 ...

, England, and is the terminus of the Chessington Branch Line. It is served by South Western Railway, and is down the line from , 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 ...

. It is the nearest railway station to

Chessington World of Adventures Chessington World of Adventures Resort is a theme park, zoo and hotel complex in Chessington, Greater London, England, around southwest of Central London. The complex opened as Chessington Zoo in 1931, with the theme park being developed along ...

and

Chessington School Chessington School (Chessington Community College until September 2018) is a co-educational secondary school with a sports centre, in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. The current building was opened in September 2009. ...

History

The station was built to a design of Southern Railway architect

James Robb Scott James Robb Scott (11 February 1882 – 1965) was a Scottish architect who became the Chief Architect of the Southern Railway. He was born on 11 February 1882 in the Gorbals, Glasgow, the son of Andrew Robb Scott (architect) and Mary Fletcher. H ...

and opened on 28 May 1939. It was intended as a through station on the line being built to . However, construction of the line stopped, never to be resumed, upon the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the up platform was never used for passenger trains, although the track was used for stabling out of service trains during off-peak times. There was a goods yard beyond the passenger station. After the continuation to Leatherhead was abandoned, part of line south of the station was used from the mid-1960s to the end of the 1980s for a coal concentration depot. The line and the sidings to the coal depot were unused and hidden by trees for many years, but in 2021 the land was cleared and tracks relaid for an aggregates depot. The ticket office is at track level. There are two automated ticket machine at street level. In 2019 a ramp was added to the station, providing step-free access to the single platform from street level. The disused platform is inaccessible, given there is no footbridge connecting the platforms. It remains abandoned as surplus to requirements, as only two trains depart each hour.

Services

South Western Railway operates all services. The service interval is 30 minutes during both peak and off-peak hours. All trains run to or from London Waterloo, calling at all intermediate stations (except which has platforms on only the Waterloo-Reading line). The journey to Waterloo takes 37 minutes. Services typically use Class 455 EMUs, although a Class 450 or

Class 707 The British Rail Class 707 ''Desiro City'' is an electric multiple unit passenger train. Siemens Mobility built 30 five-carriage sets. Initially leased by South West Trains, its franchise successor South Western Railway began phasing them out ...

is used on occasion.
Until 2022, Class 456 trains were often attached to Class 455 units to form ten carriage trains, but these were withdrawn on 17 January with the introduction of a new timetable.

Connections

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

routes 71 and 467 serve the station during the day, and route N65 at night.

Gallery

Image:Unit (45)5734 at Chessington South.JPG, Looking north, with unit 5734 awaiting return to London. The up (London-bound) platform on the left has never seen passenger use. Image:Chessington South stn look south.JPG, Looking south, with unit 5734 awaiting return to London Image:Chessington South stn abandoned south.JPG, Looking towards the abandoned extension to Leatherhead Image:Chessington South stn signage.JPG, Platform signage in South West Trains colours Image:Chessington_South_Station_-_geograph.org.uk_-_45374.jpg, Looking north from the road bridge

References

External links

{{SWT Stations, Chessington=y, IL None=y, Main line None=y Railway stations in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Former Southern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1939 Railway stations served by South Western Railway James Robb Scott buildings