Esher railway station is a mid-priority^{[clarification needed]} station on the South West Main Line operated by South Western Railway in England. The station adjoins the north of Esher with two footpaths skirting Sandown Park Racecourse, the town's commercial area being 300 metres beyond the racecourse entrance. The station is situated between Surbiton and Hersham and is 14 miles 31 chains (23.2 km) from London Waterloo.

Esher
General information
Location	Esher, Elmbridge England
Coordinates	51.38°N 0.3526°W / 51.38; -0.3526
Grid reference	TQ146658
Managed by	South Western Railway
Platforms	4 (2 in use)
Other information
Station code	ESH
Classification	DfT category C2
History
Opened	21 May 1838
Original company	London and Southampton Railway
Pre-grouping	London and South Western Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
Key dates
21 May 1838 (1838-05-21)	Opened as Ditton Marsh
c. 1840	Renamed Esher and Hampton Court
July 1844	Renamed Esher and Claremont
1 June 1913	Renamed Esher
Passengers
2016/17	1.189 million
2017/18	1.144 million
2018/19	1.180 million
2019/20	1.077 million
2020/21	0.171 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The railway arrived here in 1838. A minor request stop was immediately opened and a station built and named Ditton Marsh, being the wetter part of Ditton Common. The common marks the boundary between what was then the west of Thames Ditton and Esher. The station was opened on 21 May 1838, and the name changed to Esher and Hampton Court about 1840.[1] It has since been renamed twice more: to Esher and Claremont[n 1] in July 1844, and to Esher on 1 June 1913.[2] It has also been shown as Esher for Claremont, or as Esher for Sandown Park in some timetables.[2]

Amenities

The station and track is elevated above street level[3]

A special gate on the platform opens directly onto Sandown Park racecourse.

Services

At off-peak times two trains per hour in both directions call at Esher, the termini being London Waterloo station and the larger Surrey town of Woking.

Additional trains operate during peak hours, of which at least 4 (2 in the morning rush-hour, 2 in the evening) terminate at Guildford (which also serves as the terminus for stopping trains on Sundays).[4]

Woking is the point of change for services to longer distance destinations to the south-west (see stations below).

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Surbiton		South Western Railway Waterloo to Woking		Hersham

Former amenities

Two additional island platforms are disused and not accessible to passengers though passed by through trains.

Bus services 515 and on Sundays 715 serve the station.

Location

The station is to the west of Weston Green which falls within the Esher postal district. Esher parish is close by the station and has included the Sandown Park grounds since its establishment in the early medieval period.[5][6][7] A footpath to the west of the station skirts Sandown Park Racecourse and leads to the Lower Green area of Esher.[8] The town's commercial area lies 300 metres beyond the racecourse entrance, followed by West End and Claremont. The station is the closest to Esher by road.[3] Thames Ditton railway station on the branch line to Hampton Court is closest to the eastern half of Weston Green, which lies within the Thames Ditton postal district.

In film, television, fiction and the media

Esher railway station featured on an episode of the children's TV series Little Howard's Big Question, in which the Dutch graphic and mathematical artist M. C. Escher was confused with Esher and one of his drawings mistakenly thought to be the railway station.

See also

• Esher
• Weston Green
• Molesey

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Esher railway station.

• Train times and station information for Esher railway station from National Rail