Groombridge railway station
| Groombridge | |
|---|---|
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| Location | |
| Place | Groombridge |
| Area | Wealden, East Sussex |
| Coordinates | 51°06′43″N 0°11′16″E / 51.11194°N 0.18778°ECoordinates: 51°06′43″N 0°11′16″E / 51.11194°N 0.18778°E |
| Grid reference | TQ533372 |
| Operations | |
| Managed by | London, Brighton and South Coast Railway |
| Owned by |
Southern Railway Southern Region of British Railways Network SouthEast Spa Valley Railway |
| Platforms | new station 1 (original station 3) |
| History | |
| 1 October 1866 | Opened |
| 4 November 1968 | Goods facilities withdrawn |
| 8 July 1985 | Closed to passengers |
| August 1997 | Reopened by Spa Valley Railway |
| Stations on heritage railways in the United Kingdom | |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | |
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Groombridge railway station is a station on the Spa Valley Railway (SVR) in Groombridge, East Sussex, England. Once a busy station serving four directions, it closed in 1985 to British Rail services. A new station the other side of Station Road bridge was opened by the SVR in 1997 as part of a standard gauge heritage railway to Tunbridge Wells West.
The first Groombridge station was opened in 1866 by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) with the extension of its Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells Central Line to Tunbridge Wells; its importance increased two years later when the line from Lewes was completed, and yet again with the opening of the Cuckoo Line opening up routes to Polegate and Eastbourne. At this time trains from Lewes and Uckfield could only reach East Grinstead by reversing at Groombridge.
The station buildings were designed by Charles Henry Driver.
Authority was therefore obtained in 1878 to lay a single track spur south of Ashurst Junction which would enable services to bypass Groombridge. Although completed in 1888 this spur remained largely unused until 1914 . It was eventually doubled to handle increased traffic on the Cuckoo Line and regular services to Uckfield. This spur thus reduced the importance of Groombridge as a junction station as direct Victoria - Crowborough/Uckfield services no longer had to reverse at Groombridge. The opening of the spur meant that more services were routed through Eridge which became the point where London trains were divided for the two lines south. To compensate for this loss, slip coaches were shed from some down trains at Ashurst.
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