The North Downs Line is a passenger-train line connecting

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

, on the

Great Western Main Line The Great Western Main Line (GWML) is a main line railway in England that runs westwards from London Paddington to . It connects to other main lines such as those from Reading to Penzance and Swindon to Swansea. Opened in 1841, it was the o ...

, to Redhill and , along the

Brighton Main Line The Brighton Main Line (also known as the South Central Main Line) is a major railway line in the United Kingdom that links Brighton, on the south coast of England, with central London. In London the line has two branches, out of and station ...

, linking many centres of population in that 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 ...

which it traverses en route.

The route

Between Redhill and Ash the line runs roughly parallel with the

. Between Reigate and Gomshall the line runs along the foot of the North Downs

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

in the Vale of Holmesdale. At Guildford it passes through the gap in the Downs formed by the

River Wey The River Wey is a main tributary of the River Thames in south east England. Its two branches, one of which rises near Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere, join at Tilford in Surrey. Once combined the ...

, with two short tunnels just south of Guildford station, and further west between Guildford and Ash the line runs to the north of the

Hog's Back The Hog's Back is a hilly ridge, part of the North Downs in Surrey, England. It runs between Farnham in the west and Guildford in the east. Name Compared with the main part of the Downs to the east of it, it is a narrow elongated ridge, he ...

. It then follows the Blackwater valley as far as Sandhurst, before continuing to Reading.

History of the line's construction

The line was authorised by Acts of Parliament in 1846 and 1847 and most of it was constructed by the

Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway The South Eastern Railway (SER) was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury ...

Company (RG&RRC), opening in 1849. (A central section of the line near Guildford was built by a predecessor of the LSWR.) The stated objective of the company was to :"secure through traffic passing between the West, North and Midlands and the Channel Ports avoiding the congestion of London and thus saving time, distance and expense." Although the company had some independent shareholders, it was closely associated with the South Eastern Railway (SER). The original intention was for the SER to build part of the line itself, but this proposal was rejected by Parliament. The independence of the company was only a formality to satisfy Parliament. The two companies had some common directors; an SER engineer controlled the construction of the line. As intended at outset, the line was leased to the SER in 1850, and the two companies finally merged in 1852. The company's relationship with the GWR is described as "enigmatic". The GWR initially offered the company the use of its facilities at Reading station, but terms could not be agreed and a separate station was built. The SER operated the line from its opening, and ran passenger services on it from Reading to London via . Even today, the distances along the line between Redhill (22 miles 40 chains) and Shalford Junction (41 mi 60 ch), and between Ash Junction (48 mi 34 ch) and Reading (68 mi 68 ch) are measured from the Charing Cross terminus of the former SER.

Technical information

The line is two-track throughout and is designated W6 loading gauge. Overnight engineering possessions of up to hours are available. * Reading to Wokingham is

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

(3rd rail, 750 V DC) and signalled under the track circuit block system from Wokingham Signal Box. Signalling headways are 3 minutes for fast services and minutes for stopping services. The line speed is , except for two restrictions (on the approach to Reading and through Wokingham station). * Wokingham to North Camp is also under the control of Wokingham Signal Box, although long distances between signals increase headways to 6 minutes and 11 minutes for fast and stopping services respectively (the longest headways on the line). This section is not electrified and the line speed is 70 mph. It is currently planned to transfer the control of Wokingham Signal Box to the new Rail Operating Centre in Basingstoke in 2024. * North Camp to Shalford Junction is controlled from Guildford (TCB). Signalling headways are 2 minutes for fast services and 3 minutes for stopping services. This section is electrified (3rd rail, 750 V DC) from Aldershot South Junction. The line speed is 70 mph, except for a restriction at Ash Junction (between Ash and Wanborough) where the line curves sharply, and a 30 mph restriction on the approaches to Guildford station. Resignalling in October 1999 enabled reversible working on the down line through both tunnels between Guildford and Shalford Junction. * Shalford Junction to Reigate The route leaves the Portsmouth Direct Line at Shalford Junction and there is a 20 mph restriction. From here to Reigate, the line is not electrified. It is controlled by Guildford from Shalford Junction to Gomshall and by Reigate Signal Box (TCB) from Gomshall to Redhill. Signalling headways are 5 minutes for fast trains and 7 minutes for stopping services. The line speed varies from 30 mph (on the approach to Shalford junction) to 70 mph. * Redhill to Reigate is

(3rd rail, 750 V DC). The approach to Redhill is controlled by Three Bridges Signalling Centre and has a 30 mph speed restriction. The major capacity constraints are the platform capacities of Reading, Redhill and Gatwick Airport stations.Network Rail: Reading to Gatwick Airport - Congested Infrastructure Capacity Analysis (2007) http://www.networkrail.co.uk/documents/4091_Reading%20to%20Gatwick%20Capacty%20Analysis.pdf At Reading, North Downs Line services normally terminate at platforms 4, 5 and 6 on the south side of the station, although access to other platforms is possible via Reading Spur Junction with the

(see map, right). Trains may access the north side of Reading station via a single track underpass. Prior to the 2012 Reading resignalling scheme, trains served platforms 4a and 4b, on the site of the current 5 and 6, was via a short single track section, which severely limited capacity. As part of the resignalling scheme, an additional platform has been provided for North Downs Line services along with dual track access to the resulting three platforms. As a consequence platforms have been re-numbered as 4 (new), 5 (former 4b) and 6 (former 4a). Capacity restraints at Redhill were also improved by the creation of a new platform and improvements to track work south of the station, as part of the Solum Regeneration project. A new platform at Gatwick Airport was officially opened in February 2014. The new platform at Redhill opened in 2019 from which time additional services were planned to travel through to Gatwick Airport.

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 net ...

originally planned to electrify the whole route, with a completion date of 1993 being published, but these plans were dropped.

Current passenger services and rolling stock

The main services on the line are provided by

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

using Class 165 and Class 166 Network Turbo diesel multiple units. Hourly semi-fast services run from Reading to and there is a half-hourly stopping service between Reading and Redhill. At Redhill the Gatwick Airport services reverse to head south along the Brighton Main Line. Until 1994, the stopping services continued to , but the line between Redhill and Tonbridge was electrified in 1993. Trains on this section are now operated (by Southern) as a shuttle service between Redhill and

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...

only. Additional services on the North Downs Line are provided by South Western Railway between Reading and Wokingham (trains to/from ) and between Ash and Guildford (trains to/from or ). Southern operates services between Reigate and Redhill and onwards to London. Southern operate frequent services using Class 377s electric multiple units between

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earliest archaeological evidence for huma ...

and

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 ...

, utilising the North Downs Line between Reigate and Redhill stations where access can then be found onto the

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Mainline at Redhill.

Passenger services and rolling stock before privatisation

Steam traction was replaced by 3R (Class 206) DEMUs on 4 January 1965. The new trains consisted of two 6S (class 201) coaches from the Hastings Line coupled to adapted 2EPB driving trailer units. As a result of the visible difference in width between the narrow Hastings Line stock and the standard width Hampshire trailer, the units were nicknamed ''Tadpoles''. Additional peak time services were hauled by Class 33 diesel locomotives until May 1977.
The express service from Reading to Gatwick Airport was launched on 12 May 1980, using three-car Class 119 DMUs, based on the Western Region. The trains were especially modified for this service, to create extra luggage space: the buffet counter in the centre coach being removed. Class 101 three-car units were later used on the route as well.
All of the stations between Shalford and Betchworth inclusive, were recommended for closure in the 1963 ''

Reshaping of British Railways The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the M ...

'' report. The report recommended that the whole of the North Downs Line should be developed as a trunk route.

Freight services

no scheduled freight services used the line. The

travelling post office A Travelling Post Office (TPO) was a type of mail train used in Great Britain and Ireland where the post was sorted en route. The TPO can be traced back to the earlier days of the railway, the first ever postal movement by rail being performe ...

train from

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...

to via Tonbridge, Redhill,

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 ...

and Reading was routed along the line from May 1988 until 2004. The Network Rail 2008 Strategic Business Plan recommended that an enhancement project for the line should be pursued to enable freight traffic from the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover ...

to use the line.

Electrification proposals

Electrification had been shelved prior to World War II as it was felt that little traffic would be generated. Non-electrified parts of the North Downs Line included to (Aldershot South Junction) and Junction to . In August 1981 ''

Modern Railways ''Modern Railways'' is a British monthly magazine covering the rail transport industry which was published by Ian Allan until March 2012, and Key Publishing since then. It has been published since 1962. The magazine was originally based in She ...

'' magazine studied an electrification strategy for the then

Southern Region of British Railways The Southern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948 until 1992 when railways were re-privatised. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s. The region covered south London, southern England and the south ...

. The article saw potential on the route with the area having developed rapidly, and also with the prospect of Channel Tunnel traffic; cross-country passenger and freight workings might also be diverted along the route. Subsequently, some of the routes considered were electrified, including Redhill – Tonbridge (1994). Until then, North Downs Line services continued from Redhill to Tonbridge. According to internet sources, electrification of these sections of the North Downs Line was again discussed as part of the Blackwater Valley Rail Survey, in 1991. Motive power from the outset would have been the BR Mark I-based electric stock classes, but the idea was set aside, when the existing diesel multiple units on the region began to be replaced by the current Class 165/166 'Turbos'. After the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the indust ...

Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...

electrified a siding on the line at Wokingham. Electrification was proposed again in 2016 by

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council administering certain services in the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1965 the Conservative Party has ...

, based on research by four

local enterprise partnership In England, local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) are voluntary partnerships between Local government in England, local authorities and businesses, set up in 2011 by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to help determine local econom ...

s. It was "suggested that the electrification would create around 8,000 jobs and stimulate £1.9 billion of economic growth".

Lineside features

On the south side of the line between and , a box hedge topiary known as Jessie's Seat has been cut in the shape of a pheasant, perched on the back of a seat. It is a memorial to South Eastern Railway's guard Henry Wicks who was killed in an accident here in 1892.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Railway lines in South East England Rail transport in Berkshire Rail transport in Hampshire Rail transport in Surrey Railway lines opened in 1849 Railway lines in South East England 1849 establishments in England