Station code ESH DfT category C2 Opened 21 May 1838 | Grid reference TQ146658 Managed by South West Trains 2011/12 1.088 million Number of platforms 4 | |
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Similar West Byfleet railway st, Hinchley Wood railway st, Weybridge railway station, Surbiton railway station, Hampton Court railway st | ||
Esher railway station is a mid-priority railway station on the South Western Main Line operated by South West Trains in England. The station adjoins the north of Esher with two footpaths skirting around Sandown Park Racecourse, 300m after the main entrance of which is the linear, commercial aspect of the town. At off-peak times two trains per hour in both directions call at Esher; the termini being London Waterloo station by the South Bank, London and the larger Surrey town of Woking.
Contents
History
When the railway arrived here in 1838 immediately a minor request stop opened on a station built here and named Ditton Marsh as the wetter part of Ditton Common. The common marks the boundary separating what was then the west of Thames Ditton, from Esher. The station was opened on 21 May 1838, and the name was soon changed to Esher and Hampton Court about 1840. It has since been renamed twice more: to Esher and Claremont in July 1844, and to Esher on 1 June 1913. It has also been shown as Esher for Claremont, or as Esher for Sandown Park in some timetables.
Amenities
The station and track is elevated with respect to the street level
A special gate on the platform opens directly onto Sandown Park racecourse, particularly on its largest race days.
Services
At off-peak times two trains per hour in both directions call at Esher; the termini being London Waterloo station by the South Bank, London and the larger Surrey town of Woking.
During peak hours additional trains operate.
For longer distance destinations using stations to the south-west, Woking is the point of change for longer destinations, see stations below.
Former amenities
Two additional island platforms are disused and not accessible to passengers though passed by through trains.
Direct surroundings
The station is in the west of Weston Green which falls within the Esher post town. Within yards is the start of Esher parish itself and which has since its early medieval creation included the Sandown Park grounds. The station to the west has two footpaths skirting around Sandown Park Racecourse, 300m after the main entrance of which is the linear commercialised part of the town, followed by which are its other sublocalities: Lower Green, West End and Claremont. Esher is the closest railway station for all of Esher's buildings by road. The eastern half of Weston Green is in the Thames Ditton post town and its closest station is on a short branch to Hampton Court, Thames Ditton railway station.
In film, television, fiction and the media
Esher railway station featured on Little Howard's Big Question, a children's TV show, when they confused the Dutch graphic and mathematical artist M. C. Escher with Esher and one of his drawings is mistakenly thought to be the railway station.