The Caterham line is a railway branch line running from Caterham in Surrey to Purley in South London. It operates as a commuter service to London.
The line was opened by local promoters as the Caterham Railway in 1856 primarily to convey firestone from quarries south of Caterham. There was intense rivalry and suspicion between the two main line railway companies at Purley, the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) and the South Eastern Railway (SER), and this led to both of them obstructing successful operation of the Caterham Railway. In any case the local population was sparse and agricultural in character, and the Caterham Railway was loss-making.
It was acquired by the SER in 1859, but it was not until the latter years of the nineteenth century that residential development made the commercial situation of the line more buoyant. The line was doubled and a programme of station and infrastructure improvements was completed by 1900. The line was electrified in 1928.
After many years allied to the South Eastern Division of British Railways, the line is now operated by the Southern train operating company; a half-hourly service to London Bridge is operated.
History
The main line to Redhill and Brighton
By an Act of Parliament of 1846 the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway was formed. It controlled the line from London Bridge to Brighton, but by Act of Parliament, it shared the line from London Bridge to Redhill with the South Eastern Railway, which turned east at Redhill and ran to Tonbridge and beyond.
Caterham Railway proposed
Local promoters put forward what became the Caterham Railway. The primary objective was the conveyance of firestone, an important refractory mineral, from quarries above Caterham; the population of the town was only 487 in 1851, so that passenger business was not expected to be dominant. The promoters of this line had applied to the LBSCR for a connection at Godstone Road, the contemporary name for Purley. At the time there was a territorial agreement in force, made in 1848 between the LBSCR and the SER, that neither company would construct or encourage the construction of a new line in the other company's area of influence. The London to Redhill railway line was taken to be the demarcation line. Accordingly, the LBSCR asked the SER for their view on the proposal.
The SER evidently feared that the LBSCR would use the line to penetrate towards Tunbridge Wells, and it vehemently objected to the connection, and to any association between the LBSCR and the Caterham Railway. The latter got its authorising Act of Parliament on 16 June 1854 without any support from either of the larger companies.
On 3 November 1854 the LBSCR concluded another territorial agreement with the SER, this time nominating third-party companies with which it would not conclude agreements – companies that had been named in 1848, before the Caterham company was put forward. The Caterham Railway was therefore omitted from the list.
In June 1855 the SER offered to work the CR for two years and in December stipulated the same terms as had been offered to the Mid-Kent Railway but the CR refused them, and turned to the contractor, Samuel Morton Peto, to see if he would work the line, but he also refused to agree terms. The CR turned to the LBSCR, who agreed to stop some trains at the semi-derelict Godstone Road station. At the start of August 1858 the Railway Times (periodical) commented that the opening of the line had been delayed for a year due to "political" reasons.
Opening
The Caterham branch was ceremonially opened on 4 August 1856, and to the general public the following day. There were four passenger trains each way every weekday, three on Sundays, running only to and from Purley. The line was single track throughout. There had been constant difficulty from the two large companies throughout the period leading up to the hearing in Parliament and actual opening, and the sniping and obstruction continued unceasingly afterwards.
There were four trains on weekdays, with two connecting services each being provided by the SER and the LBSCR respectively. There were intermediate stations at Coulsdon (renamed Kenley in October 1856) and Warlingham. Godstone Road was soon renamed Caterham Junction. The CR acquired an engine and two or three carriages on hire from the LBSCR to operate the service.