Reedham railway station (London)

Reedham National Rail
Reedham
Location of Reedham in Greater London
Location Purley
Local authority London Borough of Croydon
Grid reference TQ309606
Managed by Southern
Station code RHM
DfT category E
Number of platforms 2
Fare zone 6
National Rail annual entry and exit
2012–13 Decrease 0.265 million[1]
2013–14 Increase 0.281 million[1]
2014–15 Decrease 0.276 million[1]
2015–16 Decrease 0.249 million[1]
2016–17 Decrease 0.222 million[1]
Railway companies
Original company South Eastern Railway
Pre-grouping South Eastern and Chatham Railway
Post-grouping Southern Railway
Key dates
1 March 1911 Opened as Reedham Halt
1 January 1917 Closed
1 January 1919 Reopened
5 July 1936 Renamed Reedham
12 May 1980 Renamed Reedham (Surrey)
Other information
Lists of stations
External links
WGS84 51°19′53″N 0°07′24″W / 51.3313°N 0.1233°W / 51.3313; -0.1233Coordinates: 51°19′53″N 0°07′24″W / 51.3313°N 0.1233°W / 51.3313; -0.1233
London transport portal
UK Railways portal

Reedham railway station is in the south of Purley in the London Borough of Croydon on the Tattenham Corner Line. The local area is residential and the station is near the A23 Brighton Road. It is 15 miles 65 chains (25.4 km) measured from London Charing Cross. The Brighton main line is adjacent, but is not served by this station.

Although occasionally referred to as Reedham (London),[2] it is most commonly suffixed as Reedham (Surrey) in order to distinguish it from the station of the same name in Norfolk. Its three-letter station code is RHM.[3]

History

A 1905 Railway Clearing House map of lines around Reedham railway station.

The station was opened by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway on its branch line to Tattenham Corner as Reedham Halt on 1 March 1911.[4][5][6][7] Situated 49 chains (990 m) from Purley railway station, it was built with 300-foot (91 m) long platforms and adjoined an overbridge crossing Old Lodge Lane in Purley.[8] It took its name from the nearby Reedham Asylum for Fatherless Children,[8][9] founded in Richmond by philanthropist Andrew Reed in 1844.[10] The asylum was renamed Reedham Orphanage in 1904 and Reedham School in 1950. It closed in 1980, but the trust which ran it still occupies the original lodge (gatehouse) of the estate.[10]

After a period of temporary wartime closure between 1917 and 1919,[5][6][11][7] the halt became a station on 5 July 1936.[5][6][11][12] On 12 May 1980, the suffix "Surrey" was added to the station's name to distinguish it from Reedham (Norfolk).[6] Some timetables used to refer to the station as "Reedham (GLC)".[12] Having first been lengthened in advance of electrification of the line in 1928,[13] the platforms were again extended in 1982 to take eight-car trains[12] in the days when a train had both a driver and a guard. However nowadays, due to lack of station CCTV to assist the driver to close the doors safely, trains without train-mounted external cameras are only permitted to open the doors on the first four carriages.

A new passenger footbridge was installed in late 2013, removing the existing disabled access;[14] the platforms were also resurfaced. A request for full disabled access was made to Network Rail and declined in 2014.[15]

It has Croydon's lowest passenger count in 2016[16] and it was the scene of a fatality in 2017.[17][18] The council cark park at Reedham was used as Network Rail's base to replace one of the rail bridges adjacent to the station over xmas 2016.[19]

The telecommunications mast adjacent to the station was increased in size again in 2017 to 25m from 22.5m inline with the planning permission granted in 2016.[20]

Services

Trains serve the station every 30 minutes off-peak (more frequently at peak times) and weekends in each direction. London-bound trains now run to/from London Bridge via Norwood Junction during the day Mon-Fri (and all day Saturdays & Sundays), with direct services to London Victoria only in weekday peak periods and evenings.[21]

Starting early 2018, due to the completion of the Thameslink Programme service frequency and train size will increase mostly 10 carriages. Off peak and peak services will run continually every 15 minutes throughout the day.[22]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Purley   Southern
Tattenham Corner Line
  Coulsdon Town

It was initially proposed that from 2018, when the Thameslink Programme is completed, services on this line would be operated with larger 12 car trains offering all day direct services to Cambridge via London Blackfriars.[23] However, in September 2016, these proposals have been dropped; instead, services on the Tattenham Corner Line are to "remain as Southern South London Metro services with increased capacity as compared to today".[24]

The new May 2018 timetable is available showing a 50% increase in train services, resulting in 2 - 5 trains per hour in both directions. [25]

Connections

London Buses route 455 serves the station.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
  2. thetrainline.com. "Trains to Reedham (London)". Retrieved 2014-03-06.
  3. National Rail Enquiries. "Reedham (Surrey) (RHM)". Retrieved 2014-03-06.
  4. Kidner (1985), p. 52.
  5. 1 2 3 Butt (1995), p. 196.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Quick (2009), p. 328.
  7. 1 2 Mitchell & Smith (1994), fig. 56.
  8. 1 2 Owen (1978), p. 7.
  9. Mitchell & Smith (1994), fig. 57.
  10. 1 2 Former Children's Homes. "Reedham Orphanage". Retrieved 2014-03-06.
  11. 1 2 Clinker (1988), note 2263.
  12. 1 2 3 Mitchell & Smith (1994), fig. 59.
  13. Owen (1978), p. 12.
  14. Keate, Georgie (1 January 2014). "Disabled access removed in Reedham train station 'upgrade'". Croydon Advertiser. Retrieved 2014-03-06.
  15. Millard, Rachel (20 May 2014). "Access for All scheme request to Network Rail". Croydon Advertiser.
  16. Worden, Andrew (19 Dec 2016). "2016 Croydon's least used station". Croydon Advertiser.
  17. Van Klaveren, Tom (16 May 2017). "2017 fatality Reedham". Croydon Advertiser.
  18. Truelove, Sam (16 May 2017). "2017 fatality passengers tried to save man". Croydon Advertiser.
  19. Mackintosh, Thomas (7 Nov 2016). "2016 BML xmas bridge upgrade at Reedham and stoats nest junction". Croydon Advertiser.
  20. "New 25m Mobile Telephone mast at Reedham Station". Croydon Council. 2 Apr 2018.
  21. GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Table 181
  22. "Govia Thameslink Railway consults on 'biggest timetable shake-up in a generation". Southern Rail. 9 Sep 2016.
  23. Proposed Thameslink services from 2018
  24. Timetable consultation : Thameslink and Great Northern
  25. "RailPlan 2020" (PDF). 31 Mar 2018.

Sources

  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Clinker, C.R. (1988) [1978]. Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830–1980 (2nd ed.). Bristol: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. ISBN 978-0-905466-91-0. OCLC 655703233.
  • Kidner, R.W. (1985). Southern Railway Halts. Headington: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-321-4. LP156.
  • Mitchell, Victor E.; Smith, Keith (January 1994). Caterham and Tattenham Corner. London Suburban Railways. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-873793-25-1.
  • Owen, N. (1978). The Tattenham Corner Branch. Tarrant Hinton: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-224-2. LP108.
  • Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway and Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
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