Place Dorking Station code DKT DfT category F1 Number of platforms 2 | Grid reference TQ159498 Managed by Great Western Railway 2011/12 16 | |
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Address Dorking RH4 1HF, United Kingdom Similar Dorking Deepdene railway st, Shalford railway station, Gomshall railway station, Farnborough North railway st, Dorking railway station | ||
Dorking West railway station is in Dorking, Surrey, England. It is one of three stations serving the town. The others are Dorking and Dorking Deepdene. Dorking West is on the North Downs Line. The station is managed by Great Western Railway, who operate all trains serving it.
Contents
History
The Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway opened the station in 1849 as "Dorking". From the outset it was leased and worked by the South Eastern Railway, which absorbed the RG&RR in 1852. The staggered platforms are typical of stations built for the SER where no footbridge was provided. The arrangement of the platforms enabled passengers to cross behind trains if two were at the station simultaneously.
In 1867 the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway opened a line from Leatherhead to Dorking, with its own Dorking railway station. In the 1923 Grouping the SER and LB&SCR became part of the new Southern Railway, which immediately renamed both stations. The SR renamed the former LB&SCR station "Dorking North" and the original RG&RR station "Dorking Town". In 1987 Network SouthEast changed "Dorking Town" to "Dorking West".
British Railways closed the goods yard in 1963 and made the station unstaffed in 1967.
Signals on this part of the line are worked from Reigate. The station is 30 miles 42 chains (49.1 km) from Charing Cross, and has two platforms, which can each accommodate a five-coach train.
The SER originally ran trains from here to London Charing Cross via Redhill. Latterly the service ran on to Tonbridge in Kent. In 2004 First Great Western Link took over the former Thames Trains franchise and run services between Reading and Gatwick Airport using Class 165 and Class 166 Turbo Diesel Multiple Units.
Although it is the least used of the three Dorking stations, the official Annual rail passenger usage data (as low as 16 passengers / year in 2011-12) is misleading because most tickets are issued to/from 'Dorking Stations' rather than specifically Dorking West.
Location
Access is from Station Road (to the south) through the industrial estate car parks, down an unlit unsignposted footpath. The station has no car park but is accessible for wheelchairs from both sides.
Services
The typical off-peak service (from December 2006) is one train every two hours between Reading and Redhill (extended to Gatwick Airport on Sundays).