Purley railway station

Purley
Purley Location of Purley in Greater London
Location	Purley
Local authority	London Borough of Croydon
Managed by	GTR Southern
Station code	PUR
DfT category	C2
Number of platforms	6
Accessible	Yes [1]
Fare zone	6
Toilet facilities	Yes
National Rail annual entry and exit
2010–11	2.675 million[2]
2011–12	2.756 million[2]
2012–13	2.917 million[2]
2013–14	3.064 million[2]
2014–15	3.206 million[2]
Railway companies
Original company	London & Brighton Railway
Pre-grouping	London, Brighton & South Coast Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
Key dates
12 July 1841	Opened as Godstone Road
1 October 1847	Closed
5 August 1856	Reopened as Caterham Junction
1 October 1888	Renamed Purley
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°20′16″N 0°06′49″W / 51.3377°N 0.1135°WCoordinates: 51°20′16″N 0°06′49″W / 51.3377°N 0.1135°W
London Transport portal UK Railways portal

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

Purley railway station is in the London Borough of Croydon on the Brighton Main Line, in Travelcard Zone 6. It is a junction, with branches to Caterham and Tattenham Corner.

History

Purley station has been known by three different names.

Godstone Road

The station was opened by the London and Brighton Railway on 12 July 1841 as Godstone Road. Due to low passenger traffic, this was closed on 1 October 1847 by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR), which had opened the new Stoat's Nest station 1 mile (1.6 km) away at Coulsdon.

Caterham Junction

In 1855 a proposal by a local company to connect the sandstone quarries at Caterham to the main line railway became embroiled in a long-running dispute between the LB&SCR and the rival South Eastern Railway (SER), which resulted in the reopening of the station. The proposed line was in the territory of the SER, and was to be operated by that company. It would have to join the railway system on a section of the LB&SCR, where the SER had running powers but no stations. The new railway had to sue the LB&SCR to force it to allow the junction with its line and to reopen the station. On 5 August 1856 the station reopened with the opening of the Caterham branch.^[3][4][5]

Purley

The station was renamed ‘’Purley’’ on 1 October 1888, and rebuilt between c. 1896 and 1899 during the widening of the main line between East Croydon and the beginning of the new Quarry Line at Coulsdon North in 1899. The SER built a line from Purley to Kingswood railway station, extended to Tattenham Corner railway station between 1897 and 1901. By the latter date it had become the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. The main station building facade reads 1899 as the year of construction.

Accidents and incidents

On 22 September 1873, John Cunliffe Pickersgill-Cunliffe, a former member of Parliament, was struck by a train at the then Caterham Junction station. He died two weeks later at Guy's Hospital.^[6]

On 22 December 1894, a collision between a light engine and a passenger train injured six people.^[7]

The Purley station rail crash on 4 March 1989 occurred just to the north of the station, and left five dead and 94 injured. A memorial garden was created at the station to commemorate this.^[8]

On the night of Friday 5 July 2002 a fire occurred on the 23:15 service from Caterham to London Bridge. A rail attendant, Philip Cable, helped put out the fire, and suffered an asthma attack and collapsed. He died at Mayday Hospital in Croydon a few hours later. A charge of manslaughter was laid against Karl Lacey, who was aged 16 at the time of the fire, and had set fire to newspapers and cushions in the carriage. After being found guilty, he was sentenced to four years' youth custody.^[9]

Platforms

Platform 1 and 2 are normally used only on early mornings and when engineering works dictate. At all other times, services on the Brighton Main Line run limited stop between East Croydon and Brighton: these trains, together with Gatwick Express and Thameslink services, pass through platforms 1 and 2. During 2008 a fence was erected to prevent access to Platform 2, for safety reasons. Gates at both end of this fence is opened by staff for the few trains that stop.

Platform 3 is used for main line services to London Bridge, London Victoria and Thameslink services to Bedford.

Platform 4 is used for main line services to Horsham, Tonbridge and Reigate, Thameslink services to Three Bridges and Sunday services to Bognor Regis.

Platform 5 and 6 serve the branch lines to Tattenham Corner and Caterham. Both these platforms can be used by trains in either direction, though platform 5 is primarily northbound towards London and platform 6 is usually southbound.

Services

The typical off-peak train service per hour is:^[10]

• 2 to London Victoria, calling at Purley Oaks, South Croydon, East Croydon, Selhurst, Thornton Heath, Norbury, Streatham Common, Balham, Wandsworth Common, Clapham Junction and Battersea Park (faster services to Clapham Junction and London Victoria are available by changing at East Croydon)
• 8 to London Bridge, of which

4 call at East Croydon and Norwood Junction

2 call at East Croydon, Norwood Junction and New Cross Gate

2 call at Purley Oaks, South Croydon, East Croydon, Norwood Junction, Anerley, Penge West, Sydenham, Forest Hill, Honor Oak Park, Brockley and New Cross Gate

• 1 to Bedford (Thameslink)
• 4 to Caterham, calling at Kenley, Whyteleafe and Whyteleafe South
• 2 to Tattenham Corner, calling at Reedham, Coulsdon Town, Woodmansterne, Chipstead, Kingswood and Tadworth
• 1 to Tonbridge, calling at Coulsdon South, Redhill, Nutfield, Godstone, Edenbridge, Penshurst and Leigh
• 1 to Reigate, calling at Coulsdon South, Merstham and Redhill
• 2 to Horsham, calling at Coulsdon South, Merstham, Redhill, Earlswood, Salfords, Horley, Gatwick Airport, Three Bridges, Crawley, Ifield, Faygate and Littlehaven
• 1 to Three Bridges (Thameslink)

An hourly night service also operates between Three Bridges and London Victoria. There are also a few trains to Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings, Southampton Central and Portsmouth Harbour on early mornings.

Connections

Several London Buses routes serve the station.

References

1. "Network Map". Southern. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
2. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
3. Chronology Of London Railways by H.V.Borley
4. Southern Region Record by R.H.Clark
5. Forgotten Stations of Greater London by J.E.Connor and B.Halford
6. "Banking Obituaries". The Bankers' Magazine. 33: 1053–1054. 1873. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
7. Kidner, R. W. (1977) [1963]. The South Eastern and Chatham Railway. Tarrant Hinton: The Oakwood Press. p. 49.
8. Till, Joanna (2 February 2011). "Memorial to Purley train crash victims is now a fitting crash tribute". This is Croydon Today. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
9. "Teenager jailed for manslaughter". BBC. 11 June 2004. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
10. GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Tables 52, 170, 181 & 183 (Network Rail)

External links

• Train times and station information for Purley railway station from National Rail