Redhill to Tonbridge Line

Redhill to Tonbridge Line
Overview
Type Suburban rail, Heavy rail
System National Rail
Status Operational
Locale Kent
Surrey
South East England
Operation
Owner Network Rail
Operator(s) Southern
Technical
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge

Redhill to
Tonbridge Line

Legend
Brighton Main Line
to London
Redhill

North Downs Line
to Guildford

Brighton Main Line
to Brighton

Quarry Line
 Nutfield
M23 motorway
(Coopers Hill Viaduct)
 Bletchingley Tunnel
 Godstone
East Grinstead Branch
Crowhurst Spur
closed 1970s

Uckfield Branch
 Edenbridge
 Penshurst
 Penshurst Tunnel
 Leigh
 River Medway
 A21 Tonbridge Bypass
Tonbridge West Yard

South Eastern Main Line
to Sevenoaks
 Tonbridge
Hastings Line
South Eastern Main Line
to Ashford
Looking east towards the Bletchingley Tunnel

The Redhill to Tonbridge Line is a railway line running from Redhill, Surrey to Tonbridge, Kent in southeast England. It branches off the Brighton Main Line at Redhill station and, after 20 miles, joins the South Eastern Main Line at Tonbridge station.[1]

The line was electrified in 1993.

History

It was originally part of the South Eastern Railway having been sanctioned by Act of Parliament in 1836 as part of the first rail route from London to Dover. This may explain its remarkably straight route: serving the settlements en route was a secondary consideration. Following the completion of new South Eastern Main Line in 1868, along which services run a more direct route between London and Tonbridge, the Redhill-Tonbridge line's function as the trunk route between London and Dover was transferred to the new line.

Aircraft coming into London's Croydon Airport in the early part of the 20th Century used this line as a point of navigation. All the stations along this route had their names written in bold white paint on the roofs.

It starts with an initial curve just outside Redhill where it passes over the Quarry Line which is in Redhill tunnel (649 yards). The Bletchingley Tunnel (grid reference TQ340486), about a mile southeast of Bletchingley is about ½ mile long. At grid reference TQ400480 the "Crowhurst Spur"[2] connected with the East Grinstead branch of the Oxted Line but this was lifted in the early 1970s. Just west of Edenbridge, in a hamlet called Troy Town it crosses, but does not connect with, the Uckfield branch of the Oxted Line.[3]

The line was electrified (750 V DC third rail) in 1993 and services started to run through to London rather than being an extension of the Reading to Redhill North Downs Line service. The electrification also created a diversionary route for Eurostar services until 2007 from Waterloo International through Tonbridge and Ashford International.

Stations and services on the line are operated by Southern using Class 377 units. They provide an hourly service from Tonbridge to London Victoria via East Croydon.[4]

Accidents

References

  1. ↑ Rail Maps - National Rail. Retrieved on 7 March 2009.
  2. ↑ Southern E-Group article on the Crowhurst Spur
  3. ↑ Collins Road Atlas Britain 2008 (Paperback) ISBN 0-00-725047-9
  4. ↑ Redhill, Tonbridge and Oxted services timetables - Southern railway. Retrieved on 7 March 2009.
  5. ↑ "Accident on the Dover Railway". The Times (18988). London. 29 July 1845. col A, p. 5.
  6. ↑ "Fearful and Fatal Accident on the South Eastern Railway". The Times (19139). London. 21 January 1846. col D, p. 5.
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