Oxted Line
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Stations (from north to south)
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The Oxted Line is a railway line in southern England. It was originally operated jointly by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and the South Eastern Railway. It is now part of the Southern franchise.
The line diverges from the London to Brighton main line at South Croydon. At Hurst Green it splits, one branch terminating at East Grinstead, the other at Uckfield.
Both branches formerly continued further:
- from East Grinstead trains continued to Haywards Heath, Lewes or Tunbridge Wells. Part of the route south of East Grinstead is preserved as the Bluebell Line.
- Ashurst and Eridge on the Uckfield line were junctions for Tunbridge Wells (see the Spa Valley Railway below), and Eridge also for Eastbourne.
- from Uckfield trains continued to Lewes and Brighton. A short stretch at Isfield (between Uckfield and Lewes) is preserved as the Lavender Line.
North of Sanderstead, at the former Selsdon railway station, there was until 1983 a connection with the former Woodside and South Croydon Joint line to Elmers End. Between Hurst Green and Lingfield there was a connection with the Redhill to Tonbridge Line.
At Eridge there is intended to be a connection with the preserved Spa Valley Railway Tunbridge Wells and Eridge Line.
The line between Croydon and East Grinstead was opened as the Croydon, Oxted & East Grinstead Railway (a joint venture between the LBSCR and the SER) on 10 March 1884. In part it used trackbed constructed for, but never used by, the abortive Surrey and Sussex Junction Railway in the 1860s.
The East Grinstead branch was electrified in 1987 (750v DC third rail). The Uckfield branch is not electrified, and is worked by Class 171 diesel multiple units (which replaced the Class 205 and Class 207 DEMUs previously in use on the line).
[edit] References
David Gould, The Croydon, Oxted & East Grinstead Railway. Oakwood Press, 2003. ISBN 0-85361-598-5.
