Esher railway station

Esher National Rail
Location
Place Esher
Local authority Borough of Elmbridge
Coordinates 51°22′48″N 0°21′09″W / 51.38°N 0.3526°W / 51.38; -0.3526Coordinates: 51°22′48″N 0°21′09″W / 51.38°N 0.3526°W / 51.38; -0.3526
Grid reference TQ146658
Operations
Station code ESH
Managed by South West Trains
Number of platforms 4 (2 in use)
DfT category C2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11 Increase 1.065 million
2011/12 Increase 1.088 million
2012/13 Increase 1.105 million
2013/14 Increase 1.160 million
2014/15 Increase 1.189 million
History
Key dates Opened 21 May 1838 (21 May 1838)
Original company London and Southampton Railway
Pre-grouping London and South Western Railway
Post-grouping Southern Railway
21 May 1838 (1838-05-21) Opened as Ditton Marsh
c. 1840 Renamed Esher and Hampton Court
July 1844 Renamed Esher and Claremont
1 June 1913 Renamed Esher
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Esher from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Esher railway station is a mid-priority stop 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.

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.[1] It has since been renamed twice more: to Esher and Claremont[n 1] in July 1844, and to Esher on 1 June 1913.[2] It has also been shown as Esher for Claremont, or as Esher for Sandown Park in some timetables.[2]

Amenities

The station and track is elevated with respect to the street level[3]

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.[4]

To comply with distance travelled rules, for longer distance destinations using stations to the south-west, Walton on Thames and Woking are the points 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 10 metres is the start of Esher parish itself, which has since its early medieval creation included the Sandown Park grounds.[5][6][7] 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.[3] 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.

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ↑ The reference from 1844 until 1913 was to Prince Leopold's Claremont House and Landscape Garden being 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south
References
  1. ↑ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 80. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  2. 1 2 Butt 1995, p. 92
  3. 1 2 OS Map with Listed Buildings and Parks marked
  4. ↑ Association of Train Operating Companies - official timetable
  5. ↑ H.E. Malden (editor) (1911). "Parishes: Esher". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  6. ↑ H.E. Malden (editor) (1911) Index Map Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  7. ↑ Weston Green village boundaries The Church of England parish map. Retrieved 2014-01-11
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Surbiton   South West Trains
Waterloo to Woking		   Hersham
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