Salfords railway station

Salfords railway station serves the village of Salfords in Surrey, England. The station is sometimes shown as Salfords (Surrey) in timetables to differentiate it from the two stations in Salford, Greater Manchester. It is on the Brighton Main Line, 23 miles 37 chains (37.8 km) down the line from London Bridge via Redhill and is managed by Southern. Train services are provided by Thameslink and Southern.

Salfords National Rail
Salfords is located in Surrey
Salfords
Salfords
Location of Salfords in Surrey
LocationSalfords
Local authorityReigate and Banstead
Grid referenceTQ285462
Managed bySouthern
Station code(s)SAF
DfT categoryE
Number of platforms2
AccessibleYes, Northbound only[1]
Fare zoneD
National Rail annual entry and exit
2019–20Increase 0.155 million[2]
2020–21Decrease 36,046[2]
2021–22Increase 84,094[2]
2022–23Increase 0.116 million[2]
2023–24Increase 0.143 million[2]
Railway companies
Original companyLondon, Brighton and South Coast Railway
Pre-groupingLondon, Brighton and South Coast Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
Key dates
8 October 1915Station opened as Salfords Halt unadvertised service for workmen
17 July 1932Line electrified with advertised public service
1 January 1935Renamed Salfords
Other information
External links
Coordinates51°12′07″N 0°09′43″W / 51.202°N 0.162°W / 51.202; -0.162
London transport portal

The station has four lines running through it: two slow lines with platforms and two express lines that have no platforms. The ticket office is open weekdays from 6:30 am to 10:30 am. There is an on-demand service announcement facility. A PERTIS machine is provided. Journey times are around 45 minutes to London, 25 to Croydon, 7 to Redhill and Gatwick Airport, 10 to Crawley and 20 to Horsham.

History

edit

Salfords station was originally built in 1915 for workers at the Monotype Corporation, which had constructed a factory next to the railway line in 1899. From its opening on 8 October 1915[3] the train service was not advertised and sparse to meet the needs of Monotype Corporation staff. On 17 July 1932 the line was electrified on 750 Volts DC third rail and concurrently the station was served by a regular advertised train service. The station name, originally Salfords Halt, was simplified to Salfords on 1 January 1935.[3]

Day Aggregates made use of the open land beside the station to store and transport their loose stones for construction in the area for some time. The sidings used still exist, including a bay platform at the station and most of the machinery used to expel and fill the wagons that transported the stone at the site. Network Rail have a site at the back of platform 1, using it as a base for the continuing improvements to the Brighton main line, in between Selhurst traincare depot and the Three Bridges engineering depot.

On 14 January 2008, the station received a minor upgrade. This involved the replacing of the wooden huts with modern glass waiting areas and the installation of dynamic digital displays with information about the next train. Southeastern ceased to serve the station from December 2008.

A second PERTIS machine was installed at the entrance to the Horley-bound platform by 2008. Help points were installed in February 2011 to both platforms.

The PERTIS machine on platform one has been replaced in August 2011 by the installation of quick ticket machine on this platform to facilitate buying of tickets out of hours.

Since 20 May 2018 Salfords is served by the Thameslink service between Bedford and Gatwick Airport.

Services

edit

Off-peak, all services at Salfords are operated by Thameslink using Class 700 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[4]

During the peak hours, the station is served by an additional half-hourly Southern service between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport.

On Sundays, the service is reduced to hourly but southbound services are extended beyond Three Bridges to and from Horsham.

Although the station is outside Greater London, Oyster Pay as you go and contactless payment cards are valid. However, the station is outside the London Fare Zone area and as a result, special fares apply.

Preceding station   National Rail Following station
Thameslink
Southern
Peak Hours Only

References

edit
  1. ^ "Salfords (Surrey) (SAF)". National Rail Enquiries. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Estimates of station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
  3. ^ a b Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 204. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  4. ^ Table 183 National Rail timetable, May 2023
edit
  NODES
eth 1
orte 1
see 1
Story 2