Merton Park railway station was a railway station in Merton,

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. ...

, serving both the

West Croydon to Wimbledon Line West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

and the

Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway The Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway (TM&WR) was a railway company jointly operated by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) and the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) in Surrey (now south-west London). Network The TM&WR ...

. Closed in 1997, part of the site now serves as a tram stop on the Wimbledon branch of the

Tramlink London Trams, previously Tramlink and Croydon Tramlink, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It began operation in 2000, the first tram system in the London region since 1952. It is manage ...

network.

History

The station opened as part of the newly constructed

on 1 October 1868 at the junction with the existing

. Initially named ''Lower Merton'', it was renamed ''Merton Park'' on 1 September 1887. Two platforms served the new line via Merton Abbey to Tooting Junction station with a third entering service on 1 November 1870 to serve the single track

. The Tooting platforms were suspended from use between 1 January 1917 and 27 August 1923 as a wartime cost-saving measure, eventually closing permanently on 3 March 1929 when the line was closed to passengers. Continuing in use for freight services through to 1975 after which the track was eventually lifted and most of the platforms fenced off. Limited passenger access was maintained, however, as it was necessary to cross both platforms and the intervening trackbed to reach platform 3 and the

. Initially, a wooden walkway was laid across the trackbed, eventually replaced with a raised earth walkway. Access to the station buildings was via the single entrance on Rutlish Road, a public footpath running alongside the line from (now demolished) signal box at the Kingston Road level crossing providing an alternative route for pedestrians.

Closure and Tramlink

Merton Park station continued to serve the

until its withdrawal from service after the last train on 31 May 1997 and conversion into a stop on the Wimbledon branch of the

network.

Merton Park tram stop Merton Park tram stop is a stop on the Tramlink service in the London Borough of Merton. It overlaps part of the site of the former Merton Park railway station which was served by passenger trains on the West Croydon to Wimbledon Line until 199 ...

now overlaps the site of the original station, the tram lines occupying the site of the trackbed and platform of the old

line Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

. The original station building has been converted into a private house, forming part of a small housing development covering some of the original station site. Part of the nearby long public footbridge (crossing both lines to provide access to playing fields from Dorset Road) is now located at Corfe Castle station on the

Swanage Railway The Swanage Railway is a railway branch line from near Wareham, Dorset to Swanage, Dorset, England, opened in 1885 and now operated as a heritage railway. The independent company which built it was amalgamated with the larger London and South ...

following its removal on closure of the Croydon line.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merton Park Railway Station Disused railway stations in the London Borough of Merton Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1868 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1997 Former Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway stations

History

Closure and Tramlink

See also

References