Dorking Deepdene railway station

Dorking Deepdene
National Rail
The platforms at Dorking Deepdene, looking west
General information
LocationDorking, District of Mole Valley
England
Coordinates51°14′20″N 0°19′30″W / 51.239°N 0.325°W / 51.239; -0.325
Grid referenceTQ171501
Managed byGreat Western Railway
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeDPD
ClassificationDfT category F1
History
Original companyReading, Guildford and Reigate Railway
Pre-groupingSouth Eastern Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
Key dates
1 February 1851 (1851-02-01)Station opened as Box Hill and Leatherhead Road
March 1851Renamed Box Hill
1 January 1917Temporarily closed
1 January 1919Reopened
9 July 1923Renamed Deepdene
11 May 1987Renamed Dorking (Deepdene)
Passengers
2019/20Decrease 0.407 million
 Interchange Decrease 0.262 million
2020/21Decrease 90,096
 Interchange Decrease 82,960
2021/22Increase 0.237 million
 Interchange Increase 0.186 million
2022/23Increase 0.422 million
 Interchange Increase 0.218 million
2023/24Increase 0.464 million
 Interchange Decrease 0.201 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Dorking Deepdene railway station is a railway station in the town of Dorking, Surrey, England. Located on the North Downs Line, it lies 29 miles 65 chains (29.81 miles, 47.98 km) from London Victoria (via Redhill).[1] The station is one of three within Dorking, alongside Dorking West (elsewhere on the North Downs line) and Dorking (on the Mole Valley line). The station is within walking distance of Dorking station[2] and interchange on a through ticket is permitted.

Dorking Deepdene is managed by Great Western Railway, which also operates all services through the station.

The station has two platforms, each long enough to accommodate a four-carriage train.[3] It is unstaffed and has no ticket office.[4] Tickets can be bought on trains, at the automatic ticket machine at the entrance to the station,[4] or at the ticket office at nearby Dorking station, which sells tickets for all National Rail services.[5] The station is located on an embankment above street level and the platforms can only be reached by steps;[4] passengers who require step-free access are advised to instead use Dorking West station, approximately 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) to the west, which is fully wheelchair-accessible.[6]

History

The Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway (RG&RR) was authorised in 1846 and opened in stages. One of the first parts to open was between Redhill and Dorking, on 4 July 1849;[7] the terminus was at the present-day Dorking West station.

Redhill - Reading train in 1964

A second station in Dorking, which is now Dorking Deepdene, was not built until 1 February 1851; when it opened, it was originally named "Box Hill and Leatherhead Road" and it was shortened to "Box Hill" in March the same year.[8] The RG&RR was soon absorbed by the South Eastern Railway (SER).[7]

The station at Box Hill was temporarily closed from 1 January 1917, and reopened on 1 January 1919.[8] In the 1923 grouping the SER became part of the new Southern Railway, which on 9 June of that year renamed the station "Deepdene" to avoid confusion with Box Hill & Westhumble station.[9] On 11 May 1987 British Railways renamed the station "Dorking (Deepdene)".[10]

Services

165114 arriving at Dorking Deepdene with a GWR service from Reading to Redhill

All services at Dorking Deepdene are operated by Great Western Railway using Class 165 and 166 DMUs.

The typical off-peak service is two trains per hour in each direction between Reading via Guildford and Gatwick Airport. During the late evenings, the service is reduced to hourly in each direction.[11]

On Sundays, only one eastbound train per hour runs to Gatwick Airport, with one train per hour running only as far as Redhill.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Great Western Railway

Future proposals

In November 2018, a £21 million upgrade of Dorking Deepdene station was proposed by the Dorking Town Forum, who submitted a nomination for funding from Network Rail.[12][13] The proposal includes:

  • relocation of the platforms east of the current site (immediately west of the bridge over the Mole Valley line);
  • construction of two new lifts, to allow step-free access to both platforms, and a pair of new waiting rooms;
  • a direct foot link between Dorking Deepdene and Dorking stations, by means of a new 100-metre (330 ft)-long walkway constructed along the western edge of the Mole Valley line.

References

  1. ^ TRACKatlas of Mainland Britain (3rd ed.). Platform 5. 2017. pp. 19–20, 112–13, 116–17, 119. ISBN 978-1909431-26-3.
  2. ^ Dorking Deepdene Archived 24 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine – National Rail Enquiries
  3. ^ Yonge, John (November 2008) [1994]. Jacobs, Gerald (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 5: Southern & TfL (3rd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 24B. ISBN 978-0-9549866-4-3.
  4. ^ a b c Station facilities for Dorking Deepdene Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine – National Rail Enquiries
  5. ^ Station facilities for Dorking Archived 6 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine – National Rail Enquiries
  6. ^ Station facilities for Dorking West Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine – National Rail Enquiries
  7. ^ a b James, Leslie (November 1983). A Chronology of the Construction of Britain's Railways 1778–1855. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 58. ISBN 0-7110-1277-6. BE/1183.
  8. ^ a b Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 41. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  9. ^ Butt 1995, pp. 41, 77
  10. ^ Butt 1995, pp. 77, 81
  11. ^ Table 148 National Rail timetable, December 2023
  12. ^ Access for All, Deepdene station, 2018 November 19th – Dorking Town Forum
  13. ^ Boyd, Alex (21 November 2018). "Huge £21m upgrade proposals for Dorking Deepdene include new platforms and elevated walkway linking stations". Surrey Live. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
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