Coulsdon Town railway station

Coulsdon Town
Coulsdon Town Location of Coulsdon Town in Greater London
Location	Coulsdon
Local authority	London Borough of Croydon
Managed by	Southern
Station code	CDN
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	6
National Rail annual entry and exit
2010–11	0.279 million[1]
2011–12	0.301 million[1]
2012–13	0.287 million[1]
2013–14	0.305 million[1]
2014–15	0.317 million[1]
Railway companies
Original company	South Eastern Railway
Pre-grouping	South Eastern and Chatham Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
Key dates
1 January 1904	Opened as Smitham
1 January 1917	Temporarily closed
1 January 1919	Reopened
22 May 2011	Renamed Coulsdon Town[2]
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°19′19″N 0°08′02″W / 51.3219°N 0.134°WCoordinates: 51°19′19″N 0°08′02″W / 51.3219°N 0.134°W
London Transport portal UK Railways portal

Coulsdon Town railway station serves the northern part of Coulsdon, in the London Borough of Croydon. It is on the Tattenham Corner Line and opened on 1 January 1904. Until 22 May 2011 it was called Smitham.^[3]

History

The station building in 2008, before reconstruction and renaming.

The station was opened as Smitham on 1 January 1904, and was briefly closed (between 1 January 1917 and 1 January 1919) during the First World War.^[4] It lies on a sharp curve, where the line swings away westwards from the Brighton Main Line. It is immediately adjacent to the closed Coulsdon North station on the main line, whose passenger traffic was diverted here when the latter closed on 3 October 1983. Some Tattenham Corner Line trains terminated at Smitham before returning to London, but nowadays the usual off-peak service is two trains per hour in each direction between London Bridge and Tattenham Corner. An hourly shuttle service used to be in operation during weekday off-peak hours between Purley and Tattenham Corner, but this was withdrawn in February 2015. Services to London Victoria only run during the weekday business peaks & Mon-Fri evenings, though connections are available at East Croydon or Norwood Junction at other times.^[5]

The Coulsdon relief road, was opened 18 December 2006 as part of the A23, passes underneath the station and meant that some rearrangement and refurbishment of the platform access routes was required. No direct access to the London-bound platform now exists; access is via the down platform and a new footbridge or a lift.

A new modular station building on the down side of the line and a standard-pattern accessible footbridge were constructed by Network Rail and opened in 2010. There is no PERTIS self-service 'Permit to Travel' ticket machine.

As part of the retender of Southern's franchise in 2009, the Department for Transport requested that in response to lobbying by Croydon Council the new company look into a better name for the station, as "Smitham" is no longer used as the name of the local area.^[6] Coulsdon Town was chosen after a public vote.^[7] The change took place on Sunday 22 May 2011.^[2][8] Evening services to the station were improved in December 2010.^[9]

Services

From 2018 as part of the Thameslink Programme it is proposed that services are extended beyond London Bridge through central London (calling at London Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon and London St Pancras) to Cambridge. ^[10]

References

1. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
2. "Station renamed after community campaign". Croydon Guardian. 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
3. "Smitham station becomes Coulsdon Town station". Southern website. Govia. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
4. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 213. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
5. GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Table 181 (Network Rail)
6. "End of the line for 'Smitham' station?". Croydon Council. 2009-07-09. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
7. "Refurbished Smitham Station to be renamed Coulsdon Town". Croydon Guardian. 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
8. "So-long Smitham!". Southern Electric Group. 2011-05-16. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
9. "Extensions to rail services from Smitham station announced". Croydon Advertiser. 5 November 2010.
10. Proposed Thameslink service pattern

• Mitchell, Victor E.; Smith, Keith (January 1994). Caterham and Tattenham Corner. London Suburban Railways. Midhurst: Middleton Press. figures 60–65. ISBN 1-873793-25-1.

External links

• Train times and station information for Coulsdon Town railway station from National Rail