Epsom Downs railway station is 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. ...

. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

. It is on the Epsom Downs line down the line from , measured via West Croydon. In the past the station had nine platforms, but today only one remains. Epsom Downs is near station which is on the Tattenham Corner line, also served by Southern. Both are 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 ...

History

With large numbers of passengers travelling to

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

to visit the

Epsom Downs Racecourse Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse on the hills associated with Epsom in Surrey, England which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. The "Downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs. The course, which has a crowd capacity of 13 ...

, it became clear that a station near the course was needed. Attempts to build one immediately next to it were strongly opposed by the Epsom Grandstand Association and eventually land was purchased half a mile from the course. Designed by David J. Field, the original station was opened on 22 May 1865 on 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 ...

's extension from Sutton. The line had double track and a nine-platform station with a large building. With the opening of

Tattenham Corner railway station Tattenham Corner railway station is in Surrey, in England. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Southern, and it is the terminus of the Tattenham Corner Line. It is from . It lies on the outskirts of Epsom and is the close ...

, much closer to the racecourse, on 4 June 1901 ( Derby Day), traffic declined, helped in particular by the

Royal Train A royal train is a set of railway carriages dedicated for the use of the monarch or other members of a royal family. Most monarchies with a railway system employ a set of royal carriages. Australia The various government railway operators of A ...

changing its destination to Tattenham Corner in 1925. Services were cut back repeatedly over subsequent decades. On 1 May 1972 the number of working platforms was reduced to two, and following the destruction by fire of Epsom Downs signal box in November 1981 almost the entire branch was reduced to single track operation on 3 October 1982. On 13 February 1989 a new station was opened short of the original one. The old station and platforms were demolished and the land in between given over to a major housing development. The replacement station was installed by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

under the

Network SouthEast Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the netwo ...

sector.

Services

All services at Epsom Downs are operated by

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 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.

References

External links

Sutton & Mole Valley Line map
{{Transport in Surrey Transport in Epsom and Ewell Railway stations in Surrey Former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1865 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1989 Railway stations opened by British Rail Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1989 Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway Epsom Downs Racecourse 1865 establishments in England 1989 establishments in England Epsom