The Epsom Downs Branch is a railway line in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The line runs from

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a location * Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire * ...

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 ...

and is about long. The line starts at

in the

London Borough of Sutton The London Borough of Sutton () is a London borough in south-west London, England and forms part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It borders the London Borough of Croy ...

. It is double track for about until it reaches the approach to Belmont where it becomes single track. The line continues from Belmont through

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 ...

and terminates at

in Surrey. The "Downs" referred to in the name are part of the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills a ...

. The line opened in 1865.

History

Racecourse developed

Racing horses at

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 ...

was probably founded about 1630, and over time it became phenomenally popular among all classes of society. Londoners and others visited on important race days in huge numbers. When the

London and Southampton Railway The London and Southampton Railway was an early railway company between London and Southampton, in England. It opened in stages from 1838 to 1840 after a difficult construction period, but was commercially successful. On preparing to serve Por ...

opened the first part of its line in May 1838, it was suddenly possible to travel about half of the way from London to Epsom by train, and 5,000 people presented themselves at Nine Elms, then the L&SR's London terminus, intending to do so. Naturally they overwhelmed the resources of the railway company at this early date.J R W Kirby, ''The Banstead & Epsom Downs Railway'', Oakwood Press, 1983, 0 85361 300 1, pages 3 to 6

Railway branch to connect

The ''London, Brighton and South Coast Railway'' opened a line as far as Epsom on 10 May 1847, timed for Derby Day that year. In 1859 the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

(LSWR, and successor to the L&SR) opened its own line from London to a separate station at Epsom. The racecourse was a mile or so from the stations, and with two railways providing access, there seemed still to be unmet demand. So lucrative was the business that some local interested parties got together and projected the ''Banstead and Epsom Downs Railway''. They were granted Parliamentary authorisation to build their line by Act of 17 July 1862; the line was to be miles long.Donald J Grant, ''Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain'', Matador, Kibworth Beauchamp, 2017, ISBN 978 1785893 537, page 29 Their line would make a junction with the LBSCR at

, on the Croydon and Epsom line, and the LBSCR had already indicated provisional support. It was necessary to finalise arrangements for the junction connection, and for working arrangements. This was undertaken, but letting the contract for construction proved more contentious. The directors were apparently inexperienced in working together as a board, and there were angry resignations. A number of agreements with contractors were made improperly. In addition, the Company was now served with writs by some of the expelled directors. The negotiations with the LBSCR had reached a stage where the LBSCR insisted that the Banstead company extend its line nearer to the grandstand of the racecourse. This proved to be impossible, as transfer of the necessary land was refused. The company was in extreme difficulty, and the way out presented itself when the LBSCR offered to take it over; in June 1864 that was put into effect. It was authorised under an LBSCR general powers Act of 29 July 1864.Grant has the absorption taking place in 1866, but this seems to be an error.J T Howard Turner, ''The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, volume 2: Establishment and Growth'', B T Batsford Ltd, London, 1978, 0 7134 1198 8, page 207 That resolved the inefficiency of the direction, and the line opened from Sutton to Epsom Downs on 22 May 1865. During Epsom week immediately following about 70,000 persons were conveyed by the railway.page 334Alan A Jackson, ''The Railway in Surrey'', Atlantic Transport Publishing, Penryn, 1999, ISBN 090 68999 0 7, page 64 The branch was built as a double track line in view of the surges of traffic expected; at Sutton, the main line junction, the Epsom Downs line had its own separate platforms. stations on the line were California,

and

. California station was named after a public house, owned by a man who had returned from the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

with some money.Turner, volume 2, page 217 Due to confusion on the part of goods consignors, it was renamed Belmont, but the public house continues (2022) in business under the original name.''California Inn'' website at https://www.emberinns.co.uk/nationalsearch/london/the-california-sutton#/ Epsom Downs station had nine platforms from the outset.Kirby, pages 7, 8 and10Turner, volume 2, page 237 California station was opened on 22 May 1865 and renamed Belmont on 2 October 1875; Banstead station was opened on 22 May 1865; it was renamed Banstead & Burgh Heath form 1 June 1898, and reverted to plain Banstead in August 1928. Epsom Downs station opened on 22 May 1865; it was resited 300 yards towards Sutton, first used by trains in the evening of 13 February 1989.M E Quick, ''Railway Passenger Stations in England, Wales and Scotland: A Chronology'', version 5.04, September 2022, Railway and Canal Historical Society, electronic download

Usage

William Powell Frith - The Derby Day - Google Art Project

Although the Epsom Downs station had lavish facilities, outside of race days it was all but deserted. In 1892 the site of the terminus was described as "an absolute wilderness and the most god-forsaken place in the world" through which it was alleged only 20-30 passengers passed on a normal day.William Quartermain East, in evidence before the House of Commons Committee on the Epsom Downs Extension Railway Bill, 1892, quoted in Jackson, page 172 The net revenue on the branch was not great, particularly considering the abstraction of business from the LBSCR's own Epsom station. Many racegoers continued to favour the traditional approach from Epsom town, where there was overnight accommodation and numerous refreshment opportunities. Moreover attendances at the Summer Meeting were falling towards the end of the 19th century. In the 1890s, when the motor car was still a rare sight, the surplus over working expenses on the branch taken over the year as a whole, including race days, barely exceeded £200. Nevertheless the LBSCR invested in improved signalling for better line capacity on race days: a new signal box was opened at Epsom Downs in May 1879 and intermediate boxes (designated A, B and C) for use on race days only were provided between Sutton and Belmont, Belmont and Banstead and between Banstead and the terminus in 1901-1902.Jackson, pages 172 and 173

The twentieth century

Rail motors

From October 1909 the passenger service on the branch was entirely operated by

rail motors A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a driv ...

. As residential development increased, the train service gradually increased in step, and by June 1914 there were 41 trips daily. Some ordinary locomotive-worked trains were now included in the mix. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the LBSCR restored pre-war levels of service and by October 1923, under the Southern Railway, 49 trips were made.Kirby, page 18

Grouping of the railways

In 1923 most of the railways of Great Britain were reorganised following the Railways Act 1921: four new large companies were formed, and the LBSCR was a constituent, with others, of the new Southern Railway.

Electrification

The West Croydon to Sutton line was electrified on the LBSCR overhead system from 1 April 1925; the Epsom Downs branch was not included in the project, but the overhead system was installed in the Down Branch platform at Sutton as far as one train length beyond the country-end crossover, for terminating trains.Kirby, page 11J T Howard Turner, ''The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, volume 3: Completion and Maturity'', B T Batsford Ltd, London, 1979, ISBN 0 7134 1389 1, page 208 From 17 June 1928 the third rail system of electrification was installed on a widespread network of the former LBSCR suburban system, including the Epsom Downs branch.Kirby, pages 19 and 20

Rationalisation

In step with the reduction of train travel to the racecourse, reduction of the spacious layout at Epsom Downs began in the early 1950s: the number of electrified platform tracks was reduced to five. From 1 May 1972 only two platforms remained in use. There was a fire on 16 November 1981 which effectively destroyed Epsom Downs signalbox.''Epsom Downs Upheaval'', in the Railway Magazine, February 1982, page 96 From October 1982 the branch was singled, and trains used the former Down platform at Banstead.Jackson, page 105''Services to Epsom Downs'', in the Railway Magazine, June 1982, page 283 The singling was an emergency arrangement, as the Victoria resignalling scheme was in progress. It was completed and full signalling was in place, still on the basis of a single line on the branch line, in June 1983.''Victoria signalling completed'', in Railway Magazine, September 1983, page 378

Services

There are four stops on the line: *

- zone 5 * Belmont - zone 5 *

- zone 6 *

- zone 6 All services on the line are currently operated by Southern, and form part of the Sutton & Mole Valley Line services. From January 2006 all stations are included in the Transport for London zonal pricing scheme, including those beyond the Greater London boundary. From May 2018, the typical off-peak service calls at all stations on the line every 30 minutes from

London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street (not the Q ...

via and

Norbury Norbury is an area of south London. It shares the postcode London SW16 with neighbouring Streatham. Norbury is south of Charing Cross. Etymology The name Norbury derives from ''North Burh'', (North Borough). Some local histories note that ...

. A historic step change has been delivered to services on this line and there are now two trains an hour from Epsom Downs to London Victoria via Sutton and West Croydon on Sundays.https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/timetabling/electronic-national-rail-timetable/ (Timetable No. 172, May 2018)

Notes

References

External links

The Epsom Downs Branch Website
(unofficial) {{coord, 51.3365, -0.2000, dim:3000_region:GB, display=title Rail transport in Surrey Transport in the London Borough of Sutton Transport in Epsom and Ewell Railway lines opened in 1865 Railway lines in London Railway lines in South East England Standard gauge railways in England