Ash Vale is a railway station serving the village of Ash Vale in Surrey, England. It is situated at the junction of the London to Alton line and the Ascot to Guildford line, 32 miles 38 chains (52.3 km) down the line from London Waterloo. The station and all trains serving it are operated by South Western Railway and Great Western Railway Great Western Railway (train operating company)

Ash Vale
Train bound for Alton at Ash Vale railway station
General information
Location	Ash Vale, Guildford England
Grid reference	SU892533
Managed by	South Western Railway
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	AHV
Classification	DfT category D
History
Opened	2 May 1870
Passengers
2016/17	0.481 million
Interchange	0.122 million
2017/18	0.467 million
Interchange	0.114 million
2018/19	0.459 million
Interchange	0.115 million
2019/20	0.421 million
Interchange	81,604
2020/21	88,390
Interchange	15,343
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

v t e Ascot–Ash Vale Jn
Legend
Waterloo–Reading line to Reading & Waterloo Ascot 28 mi 79 ch 46.65 km Bagshot 32 mi 08 ch 51.66 km Camberley 35 mi 30 ch 56.93 km Frimley 37 mi 48 ch 60.51 km South West Main Line to Weymouth & Waterloo Alton line to Pirbright Jn Ash Vale Jn 40 mi 57 ch 65.52 km Ash Vale North Downs Line Wokingham Jn–Guildford Aldershot Alton line to Alton

The station is on an embankment and is adjacent to the Basingstoke Canal. The station opened in May 1870 under the name of "North Camp and Ash Vale", changing to its present name on 30 March 1924. The original main station building of the south side had to be demolished due to subsidence, the current replacements dating from 1972.

It is approximately half a mile from Ash Vale to North Camp station on the North Downs Line (the line between Gatwick Airport, Guildford and Reading), a distance passengers are expected to walk to make any connection. Only disabled passengers may argue that to do so would not be "reasonable" - the National Routeing Guide which defines route validity allows for the less able taking circuitous routes at the discretion of staff.

History

Opened by the London and South Western Railway, it became part of the Southern Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station then passed on to the Southern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

When Sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Network SouthEast until the Privatisation of British Railways.

In 1952 the booking clerk at Ash Vale was murdered following a hold-up by a fellow rail worker.[1]

Services

On weekdays, there are trains approximately every 30 minutes between London Waterloo and Alton and between Ascot and Aldershot. On Sundays, trains run every 30 minutes between London and Alton and every 60 minutes between Ascot and Guildford.[2]

Train movements in the Ash Vale station area and the junction beyond were controlled by Ash Vale Junction signal box. The signal box, complete with its four residents and cover staff, operated 24 hours a day 364 days a year from a traditional signal box on the junction itself. The signal box closed in 2014[3] and has since been removed.

Passengers awaiting services at Ash Vale towards London or Ascot can check the route of the train by referring to the signal at the end of platform 1. If the five white directional lights are illuminated, then the train is going towards Ascot; whereas if they are not, then the train is going towards Woking.^{[citation needed][original research?]} (A red light means the train is not going anywhere at the moment.)

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Brookwood or Woking		South Western Railway Alton Line		Aldershot
Frimley		South Western Railway Ascot to Guildford line

Gallery

• 
• 
• 
  A 1912 Railway Clearing House map of lines around Farnham railway station

Notes

References

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.

External links

• Train times and station information for Ash Vale railway station from National Rail