The Sutton and Mole Valley lines were constructed between 1847 and 1868 by 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 ...

, 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, Exete ...

and the LBSCR-sponsored Horsham, Dorking and Leatherhead Railway.

Services

Services include commuter services in

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

operated by Southern, usually from

London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a London station group, central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, London, Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named afte ...

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

via

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 List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

and

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...

. The South Western Railway services are operated by Class 455 trains. The Southern services use Class 377s. Southern previously used Class 455 trains on the line until 2022, as well as Class 456 trains until 2013.

South West Trains Stagecoach South Western Trains Limited, trading as South West Trains (SWT), was an English train operating company owned by Stagecoach, which operated the South Western franchise between February 1996 and August 2017. SWT operated the majori ...

acquired the Class 456s in 2014 and re-released these trains on the line later that year, but they were withdrawn in 2022.

South Western Railway South Western Railway Limited, trading as South Western Railway (SWR), is the British state-owned train operating company that took over the services of the South Western Railway (2017–2025), operator of the same name from FirstGroup and MTR ...

operates services between London Waterloo and

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon ...

via

Raynes Park Raynes Park is a residential suburb, railway station and local centre near Wimbledon, London, and is within the London Borough of Merton. It is situated southwest of Wimbledon Common, to the northwest of Wimbledon Chase and to the east of Ne ...

and

Epsom Epsom is a town in 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 Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

. Half continue along the main line to

, others run to

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west 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 nam ...

via Bookham and Effingham Junction.

Thameslink Thameslink is a mainline route on the British railway network, running from , , , , , and via central London to , , , Rainham, , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying more than ...

operates services from

Tulse Hill Tulse Hill is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in South London that sits on Brockwell Park. It is approximately five miles from Charing Cross and is bordered by Brixton, Dulwich, Herne Hill, Streatham and West Norwood. History The a ...

as part of the Thameslink route to

London Blackfriars Blackfriars (), also known as London Blackfriars, is a London station group, central London railway station and connected London Underground station in the City of London. It provides Thameslink services: local (from North to South London), ...

and

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

using trains.

Technical information

The route from Raynes Park to Horsham via Epsom and Dorking (including the Bookham Branch) is known to commuters as the ''Mole Valley Line'' – seven out of the 15 stations are in the

district of

Mole Valley Mole Valley is a local government district in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Dorking, and the district's other town is Leatherhead. The largest villages are Ashtead, Fetcham and Great Bookham, in the northern third of the district. ...

. The full title ''Sutton and Mole Valley Lines'' is used for the lines north of Epsom via Sutton. Confusingly, all Southern services that terminate or call at Sutton are branded as ''Sutton and Mole Valley Line'' services. The lines which form the route include (in order of construction): *The Wallington & Portsmouth lines from West Croydon to Epsom via Sutton *The Portsmouth line from Epsom to Leatherhead *The Epsom line from Raynes Park to Epsom *The Portsmouth and Dorking lines from Leatherhead to Horsham via Dorking *The Bookham Branch from Leatherhead to Effingham Junction *The Portsmouth line from Peckham Rye to Sutton via Mitcham Junction None of the lines leads directly to a London terminus, but services use 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 wes ...

to access London Waterloo, the

Brighton Main Line The Brighton Main Line is a railway line in southern England linking London to Brighton. It starts at two termini in the capital, and , and the branches from each meet at , from where the route continues southwards via to the coast. The line ...

to access

and the

(via Norwood Junction) or the South London Line (via South Bermondsey) to access

London Bridge The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in central London since Roman Britain, Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 197 ...

. The following lines are associated with the route, but are considered separate: *The Chessington line from Motspur Park to Chessington South *The Epsom Downs line from Sutton to Epsom Downs *The St Helier line from Sutton to Wimbledon The lines are electrified at 750 V DC third rail. Class 455

electrical multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

s are used, with semi-fast and stopping services to Horsham from London Victoria frequently operated by Class 377 Electrostars. Up to the early 1980s, express services to Littlehampton and Bognor Regis were routed along these lines and called at Sutton, Dorking, Horsham and stations to the south coast along the

Arun Valley Line The Arun Valley line, also known as the Mid Sussex line, is part of the Southern- and Thameslink-operated railway services. For the initial part of the route trains follow the Brighton Main Line, and at a junction south of Three Bridges t ...

West Coastway Line The West Coastway line is a railway line in England linking the conurbations of Brighton/Hove/Littlehampton and Southampton/Portsmouth. It has short southward branches to Littlehampton and Bognor Regis, which offer direct services to and from ...

. The maximum speed is , with restrictions at Clapham Junction, Streatham Junction, Mitcham Junction, Raynes Park, West Croydon, Sutton and Epsom; at Dorking and the approach to London Victoria; and between Box Hill and Westhumble and Dorking, and between Dorking and Holmwood. Signalling between London Victoria and Ewell East (including the Epsom Downs Branch) is controlled by London Victoria (VC); between London Waterloo and Box Hill and Westhumble by Wimbledon (W); between Box Hill and Westhumble and Warnham by Dorking (CBK); and between West Croydon & Waddon and Warnham & Horsham by Three Bridges Signalling Centre (T). Platform lengths have been extended recently at most stations with twelve-car length platforms at Sutton, Horsham and Dorking and ten-car platforms at most other stations including Ashtead, Ewell East and Epsom.

History of the route

The lines used were the result of several schemes: * 1847: West Croydon to

and

railway opened by the

(LB&SCR) * 1856: Epsom and Leatherhead Railway authorised. * 1857: Wimbledon and Dorking Railway authorised under the auspices of the

(L&SWR), reached no further than Epsom. This is why services are run by South West Trains. * Autumn 1857: rival schemes to connect Shoreham Harbour with Horsham and Dorking. The

(LBSCR) was eventually successful, on 1 August 1859. * 1 February 1859: Epsom and Leatherhead Railway opened * 4 March 1859: Wimbledon and Dorking Railway opened to Epsom by the L&SWR * 1 July 1861: Shoreham – Horsham opened * 17 July 1862: Horsham, Dorking and Leatherhead Railway (LBSCR sponsored) authorised. Opened in two sections: : 11 March 1867:

to Dorking : 1 May 1867: Dorking to Horsham * 22 May 1865 Epsom Downs Branch opened. * 1 October 1868 The mainline route from London to Sutton via Hackbridge opened. * 2 February 1885 Bookham branch and Guildford New Line (route via Cobham) open. Epsom and Leatherhead linked with Guildford by rail for the first time. * 12 July 1925 Third rail electrified services begin between London Waterloo and Dorking North/Bookham and the Guildford New Line."Southern Electric 1909 – 1979" G.T. Moody Ian Allan 1979 pp. 26, 27, 60, 61, 62. * July 1927 Leatherhead LSWR station closes – from 10th, all trains use LBSCR station, thanks to new spur. * 3 March 1929 Third rail electrified services start between London Victoria and Epsom via Mitcham Jct and London Bridge and Epsom via Tulse Hill and Mitcham Jct. Epsom Town (LBSCR) station closed and services concentrated at new station on approximately the site of the former LSWR one. * 1938 Dorking/Three Bridges to Horsham electrified. New signalling installed and new station built at Horsham. Colour light signalling through Dorking North (and new signalbox opened) from 15 May. Public third rail services start on 3 July. * 1978 Portsmouth Harbour/Bognor Regis express services diverted via Gatwick Airport, and the lines downgraded including the removal of the passing loops at Cheam. A peak hour service continues, stopping at Sutton and Dorking. * 1984 Dorking and Sutton lose their peak hour 12-coach fast trains to London and the south coast. * 1997 Thameslink 2000 is announced with promises of a King's Lynn to Guildford service via London Bridge and West Croydon and an upgraded Wimbledon loop service to St Albans, with 12-coach trains. * 2013 Platforms at intermediate stations along the route are extended to accommodate 10-coach suburban trains. Stations along the Epsom Downs branch have their platforms extended to accommodate 10-coach trains. Southern Trains introduces five car Class 377/6 on the route. *May 2018 A new timetable comes into operation on the route affecting all services. The Epsom Downs line sees an uplift in off-peak services increasing to two trains per hour Monday to Saturday and a Sunday timetable is introduced. Also, improved connections between Epsom and West Croydon having 2 trains per hour, with the introduction of the all-day London Bridge to Epsom service. *May 2019: is now served by 3 trains per hour in each direction as South Western Railway now stop here during off peak time (previously only during the peak).

Accidents and incidents

*On 4 November 1942, two

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

s collided at due to a signalman's error. Two people were killed. *On 6 November 1947, an electric multiple unit collided with another at due to errors by a fogsignalman. Four people were killed and twelve were injured.

Tunnels

There are two tunnels, built between 1860 and 1867. Mickleham Tunnel is midway between

and Box Hill & Westhumble. It is long and runs through the lower chalk of Norbury Park, entering the hillside immediately north of one of the three viaducts over the

River Mole The River Mole is a tributary of the River Thames in southern England. It rises in West Sussex near Gatwick Airport and flows north-west through Surrey for to the Thames at Hampton Court Palace. The river gives its name to the Surrey district ...

. Restrictions imposed by the landowner, Thomas Grissell, meant that vertical ventilation shafts could not be constructed and the tunnel portals were given lavish architectural treatment. Betchworth Tunnel is south of

. It is long with a maximum gradient of 1 in 80 (1.25 per cent). It runs through the upper greensand of the Deepdene Ridge to the east of the town. Construction difficulties delayed the opening south of Dorking. It collapsed on 27 July 1887, remaining closed for over six months.

References

External links

Route Map and Timetable for Sutton & Mole Valley Line
{{Railway lines in South East England Rail transport in Surrey Railway lines in South East England Standard gauge railways in England Transport in the London Borough of Croydon Transport in Epsom and Ewell Transport in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Transport in the London Borough of Lambeth Transport in the London Borough of Merton Transport in the London Borough of Southwark Transport in the London Borough of Sutton