The New Guildford line, presently operated by South Western Railway, is a commuter line between and . It branches off the South West Main Line at Hampton Court Junction, just south-west of . On timetables, trains on this route are advertised as going to Guildford via .
Rush hour services provide two (inbound) morning services and one (outbound) evening service non-stop between Surbiton and Waterloo. Off-peak services run twice per hour (once on Sundays) and are slower, stopping at all intermediate stations except between Surbiton and Wimbledon.South Western Railway publication, 'Train Times 10 December 2017 to 19 May 2018' (Pub ref: PTT11 1217)
A nominally independent company, the Guildford, Kingston and London Railway, proposed a line broadly similar to the present-day route, but joining to the District Railway at Putney Bridge. That scheme failed when the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) agreed to build the present route, including a branch from Effingham Junction to Leatherhead. It opened in 1885. The short section from Hampton Court Junction to was electrified in 1916, and from Claygate to Guildford in 1925.
History Predecessor schemes
Guildford was first served by an LSWR branch line from Woking, which opened 1845. The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway penetrated from the east as far as Epsom in 1847, and the LSWR reached the town with its own line in 1859. In that year the Epsom and Leatherhead Railway opened: independent at first, it became jointly owned and operated by the LSWR and the LBSCR together. There remained a large area between the LSWR main line and the Guildford branch on the one hand, and Leatherhead and other places on the east side. There were numerous schemes to fill the gap with a railway line, in many cases using Cobham as the focus. In most cases the promoters were unable to raise sufficient support among investors.Howard Mallinson, Guildford via Cobham, self-published by Howard Mallinson, Kingston, 2006, ISBN 0-9543934-2-2, pages 36 and 37
Guildford, Kingston and London Railway In 1880 a more ambitious scheme still was put forward: it was called the Guildford, Kingston and London Railway (GK&LR). It was to be a line reaching Guildford from Fulham, nowadays Putney Bridge station, on the District line, and then a terminus of the Metropolitan District Railway. It would run via Kingston and Surbiton, with branches in the Cobham area to Ashtead and to Bookham. The branches brought the total proposed extent to . The scheme must obviously have had the connivance of the Metropolitan District Railway, although that company denied direct involvement.Mallinson, pages 47 to 51, and 61
The GK&LR was to have its own Surbiton station alongside the LSWR station, but also make a connection to the LSWR there. It hoped to have running powers back along the Metropolitan District Railway to South Kensington, High Street Kensington, and Addison Road (later renamed Kensington Olympia). The plan was to extend existing MDR passenger train services to Guildford. At Guildford it would have an independent station, but the line would continue into the LSWR station, and have running powers to Peasmarsh Junction, where it could connect to the LBSCR to Horsham. Moreover it would have a spur towards Ash on the South Eastern Railway line to Reading, with potential access to the LSWR Alton line. The LSWR objected strongly to these proposals, and in defence it proposed its own line from Hampton Court Junction to Guildford.Mallinson, pages 61 and 64
Comparison with the LSWR scheme People in the Cobham area had long complained about the failure of the LSWR – seen as an unresponsive monopoly – to connect their town to the railway network. A public meeting was held there on 6 January 1881, to gauge support for the schemes. Negative views were expressed about the GK&LR scheme: it would cost about £ million, partly due to the incorporation of lengthy tunnelling east of Kingston, yet it would be built to serve a sparsely populated district. It required an impractical junction with the Metropolitan District Railway, needing passengers to continue to central London over the already congested Inner Circle line by trains stopping at each station. Most significantly, while the District Railway supposedly backed the GK&LR, it had made no commitment or assistance of any kind.R A Williams, The London and South Western Railway: volume 2: Growth and Consolidation, David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1973, ISBN 0 7153 5940 1, pages 54 and 56
Failure of the GK&LR Both these schemes went to the 1881 session of Parliament. Two incompatible proposals spelt great difficulty for both proponents. The GKLR supporters were made to look amateurish in Parliament, when they repeatedly expressed themselves ignorant of likely business volumes.Mallinson, pages 92 to 94, 96, 97 and 100 Finally on 30 May 1881 they agreed to a compromise. The GKLR agreed to limit its proposal to the Fulham to Surbiton section, to be worked jointly by the GKLR and the LSWR. The LSWR would build its Hampton Court Junction to Guildford line. The GKLR changed its (proposed) title to the Kingston and London Railway. The South Western Railway Act 1881 (44 & 45 Vict. c. ccix) and the Kingston and London Railway Act 1881 (44 & 45 Vict. c. ccxii) were authorised on 22 August 1881.Mallinson, pages 87, 101, 104 and 105H P White, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume II: Southern England, Phoenix House, London, 1961, page 127
It was necessary now for the LSWR to obtain powers to take a 50% share in the Kingston and London Railway; this was authorised by the London and South-Western and District Railway Companies (Kingston and London Railway) Act 1882 (45 & 46 Vict. c. ccxlviii). There was a joint committee of LSWR and Metropolitan District Railway representatives. The Corporation of Kingston was displeased to be excluded from the process, and for the LSWR (for which it held negative feelings) to be in charge. The 1882 act included powers for junctions from the new line Surbiton, Norbiton and Putney, and to make a spur to a new LSWR terminal at Pelham Street, Kensington.
The construction of the Kingston and London Railway would cost £650,000, to be shared equally between the LSWR and the K&LR shareholders. The K&LR quickly found it impossible to generate the necessary share subscriptions. An extension of time was obtained in the South Western and District Railways Act 1884 (47 & 48 Vict. c. cclix), but in October 1885 it was decided that it was impossible to continue. The residual Putney Bridge to East Putney section of the K&LR was therefore included in the South Western Railway Act 1886 (49 & 50 Vict. c. cx). This was simply a crossing of the River Thames, and it was incorporated into the Wimbledon and West Metropolitan Junction scheme, authorised in that act. The remainder of the K&LR was abandoned by virtue of the same act.Mallinson, page 137
The Leatherhead branch was not included in the South Western Railway Act 1881 due to sensitivities over the line crossing Bookham Common, but was instead authorised in the South-western Railway Act 1882 (45 & 46 Vict. c. ccxi), this time with tunnelling to protect the common.
Construction and opening The lines were constructed by Lucas and Aird. The company had already signed a contract with the GKLR, which was transferred to the LSWR. Since the LSWR scheme did not include the section between Hampton Court Junction and Putney, the new agreement awarded the builders a right to compensation for the costs that they had incurred in preparing to build the northern part of the GKLR line. Many of the bridges on the line were built using bricks from the Littlefield Brickfields near Oxshott.
The New Guildford line and Bookham branch line opened on 2 February 1885, with intermediate stations at Claygate, Oxshott, Cobham and Stoke d'Abernon, Horsley, Clandon and London Road (Guildford). The initial passenger service between London Waterloo and Guildford was six trains per day (tpd) via Cobham, and five tpd via Bookham. Typical journey times were around 1 hour 25 minutes via Cobham and 1 hour 30 minutes via Bookham. From the outset, LSWR tickets from Guildford to London were valid on all three of the company's routes (via Woking, Cobham and Bookham).
Landowners in the area served by the railway began to sell parts of their estates for housebuilding. Development of Lord Foley's land at Claygate began as soon as the line opened. Larger houses were built between Cobham and Oxshott, where the Fairmile estate was auctioned in 1886. Development of the north-eastern suburbs of Guildford began in 1885 on land previously owned by Lord Onslow.
Early 20th century Although the South West Main Line had been widened to four tracks between Surbiton and Hampton Court Junction in 1883, the junction with the New Guildford line was arranged so that trains from Cobham were required to cross the path of those travelling westwards on the main line. The conflicting movements were eliminated with the construction of a diveunder at the junction, which opened on 21 October 1908. Authorised by the South Western Railway Act 1906, the total cost of the scheme was £12,611 (equivalent to £ million in ). The works included the construction of a new, up line, allowing northbound trains from Cobham to pass beneath the main line.
In 1913, the LSWR announced that it would electrify much of its suburban network using the third-rail system. The project would initially focus on the lines via and Kingston, but the company's three routes to Guildford (via Woking, Cobham and Bookham) were to be part of the second phase. Nevertheless, a short section of the New Guildford line between Hampton Court Junction and Claygate was electrified as part of the first stage, allowing an electric semi-fast service to operate between London and Surbiton. Half-hourly electric train services between Waterloo and Claygate began running on 20 November 1916, calling at all intermediate stations except , and . For much of the day, the hourly steam-hauled service from Guildford via Cobham terminated at Claygate, where passengers were required to transfer to the electric services to reach Waterloo, although through trains continued to operate at peak times. The electric Claygate trains were withdrawn in July 1919 and the stock was redeployed to strengthen services running via Kingston. The LSWR board approved the extension of electrification to Guildford via Cobham in March 1922, but equipment suppliers and installers were unable to guarantee prices for the work and so the scheme did not proceed.
Under the Railways Act 1921, the LSWR became part of the Southern Railway (SR) on 1 January 1923. On 6 December that year, the SR authorised the electrification of 67 track miles in west Surrey, including the lines to Guildford via Cobham and Bookham. Four new substations, fed from the Durnsford Road power station in Wimbledon, were installed on the New Guildford line. The platforms at most stations (except Horsley, Clandon and London Road (Guildford)) were lengthened to to accommodate the 8-car trains that were to be used at peak times. Electrified berthing sidings were provided at Guildford and a seven-road carriage shed was built on the site of the former steam locomotive shed at Effingham Junction. A new signal box was constructed at Effingham Junction, opening on 11 July 1925, replacing the original box opened in 1885. A bay platform at Guildford (now Platform 1) was also built to accommodate terminating electric trains.