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
Fare zone	6
Toilet facilities	Yes
National Rail annual entry and exit
2011–12	2.756 million
2012–13	2.917 million
2013–14	3.064 million
2014–15	3.206 million
2015–16	3.351 million
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°W / 51.3377; -0.1135Coordinates: 51°20′16″N 0°06′49″W / 51.3377°N 0.1135°W / 51.3377; -0.1135

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.

Purley station has been known by three different names.

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.

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 single track Caterham branch.

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.