Tunbridge Wells West railway station

Tunbridge Wells West
Location
Place	Royal Tunbridge Wells
Area	Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Grid reference	TQ578384
Operations
Managed by	London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
Owned by	Southern Railway Southern Region of British Railways Network SouthEast Spa Valley Railway
Platforms	1 (originally 5)
History
1 October 1866	Opened (Tunbridge Wells)
22 August 1923	Renamed (Tunbridge Wells West)
4 September 1961	Goods facilities withdrawn
6 July 1985	Closed to passengers
21 December 1996	New station on site opened 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

Tunbridge Wells West is a railway station located in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent. It is one of two railway stations in Tunbridge Wells constructed by rival companies. The other, Tunbridge Wells Central was opened in 1845 by the South Eastern Railway (SER). Tunbridge Wells West was closed to mainline passenger services in 1985, but part of it still remains as a heritage railway line. Opened in 1996, it stands next to the original engine shed (still in use). The line is called the Spa Valley Railway.

The station was opened in 1866 by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR), as the eastern terminus of the East Grinstead, Groombridge and Tunbridge Wells Railway (EGGTWR), itself an extension to the Three Bridges to East Grinstead Railway, which had been completed in 1855.

The station buildings were designed by Charles Henry Driver.

Engineered as part of the by the LBSCR's Chief Engineer Frederick Banister as part of the EGGTWR, the station was built as part of a race between the LBSCR and SER conducted during the 1860s for access to the town; "the LBSC was becoming concerned at threatened incursions by the [SER] on its territory. So a battle was on. Tunbridge Wells was first reached from East Grinstead in 1866 via Groombridge. Two years later, with the South Eastern Railway (SER) looking towards Lewes, the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway countered with a line from Groombridge to Uckfield."

From Tunbridge Wells West there were direct services to the South Coast at Brighton and Eastbourne and to London Victoria. The Victoria services ran via Groombridge and Ashurst. As a sign outside the station proudly proclaimed, "New Route to London: Shortest, Quickest and Most Direct. Frequent Express Trains."

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