Esher railway station is a station on the

South West Main Line The South West Main Line (SWML) is a 143-mile (230 km) major railway line between Waterloo station in central London and Weymouth on the south coast of England. A predominantly passenger line, it serves many commuter areas including south we ...

operated by South Western Railway in

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. ...

, England. The station adjoins the north of

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up Ar ...

with two footpaths skirting

Sandown Park Racecourse Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt races and one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse racing ...

, the town's commercial area being 300 metres beyond the racecourse entrance. The station is situated between and and is from .

History

The railway arrived here in 1838. A minor request stop was immediately opened and a station built and named ''Ditton Marsh,'' being the wetter part of Ditton

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

. The common marks the boundary between what was then the west of

Thames Ditton Thames Ditton is a suburban village on the River Thames, in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Apart from a large inhabited island in the river, it lies on the southern bank, centred 12.2 miles (19.6 km) southwest of Charing Cross ...

and

. The station was opened on 21 May 1838, and the name changed to ''Esher and Hampton Court'' about 1840. It has since been renamed twice more: to ''Esher and Claremont'' in July 1844, and to ''Esher'' on 1 June 1913. It has also been shown as ''Esher for Claremont'', or as ''Esher for Sandown Park'' in some timetables.

Amenities

The station and track is elevated above street levelOS Map with Listed Buildings and Parks marked
A special gate on the platform opens directly onto Sandown Park racecourse.

Services

At off-peak times two trains per hour in both directions call at Esher, the termini being

London Waterloo station Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a London station group, central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo, London, Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connecte ...

and the larger

town of

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

. Additional trains operate during peak hours, of which at least 4 (2 in the morning rush-hour, 2 in the evening) terminate at

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

(which also serves as the terminus for stopping trains on Sundays). Woking is the point of change for services to longer distance destinations to the south-west (see stations below).

Former amenities

Two additional

island platforms An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

are disused and not accessible to passengers though passed by through trains. Bus services 515 and on Sundays 715 serve the station.

Location

The station is to the west of

Weston Green Weston Green is a small suburban village and a ward in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey. This area was, until 1901, a part of Thames Ditton with which it remains contiguous and associated. Weston Green is also contiguous with Esher, which provi ...

which falls within the

postal district. Esher parish is close by the station and has included the Sandown Park grounds since its establishment in the early medieval period. A footpath to the west of the station skirts

and leads to the Lower Green area of Esher. The town's commercial area lies 300 metres beyond the racecourse entrance, followed by West End and Claremont. The station is the closest to Esher by road.

Thames Ditton railway station Thames Ditton railway station serves Thames Ditton in the Elmbridge district of Surrey, England. It is the only intermediate station on the Hampton Court branch line, down the line from . It is served by South Western Railway, and for the p ...

on the branch line to

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief ...

is closest to the eastern half of

, which lies within the

postal district.

In film, television, fiction and the media

Esher railway station featured on an episode of the children's TV series Little Howard's Big Question, in which the Dutch graphic and mathematical artist

M. C. Escher Maurits Cornelis Escher (; 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. Despite wide popular interest, Escher was for most of his life neglected in t ...

was confused with Esher and one of his drawings mistakenly thought to be the railway station.

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

External links

{{Transport in Surrey Railway stations in Surrey Former London and South Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1838 Railway stations served by South Western Railway Borough of Elmbridge