PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN THE COULSDON AREA

SMITHAM STATION UPDATE

Smitham Station new booking office was completed at the beginning of March 2010.  It will have a new toilet and new cycle rack.

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TICKETS

As all three station are both part of the National Rail network and are also in London, there are two different ticket regimes in place.

National Rail : You can buy a single or return ticket to or from any other national rail station you can also buy a ticket to any London underground stations. However you cannt buy a cheap day return to any rail or underground station in London However, a Travelcard is often better value to a station that is in the London zones (See below).

TfL Oystercard: This is an electronic smartcard and comes in two forms

1. The Season Ticket Version: This requires a photocard and is used in exactly the same way as a paper season ticket.

2. Pay as You Go Chargecard: This workds in the same was as a prepay mobile phone.You buy an Oystercard which requires a £3.00 deposit and load the card with what payment you think you will need. This can be done at newsagents such as Pandora in Coulsdon, Underground stations and some mainline stations. When the card is getting low you top it up. This can be done at newsagents such as Pandora in Coulsdon, local stations in Coulsdon, Underground stations or online from TfL at www.tfl.gov.uk/oyster

How Does the Oystercard Work?  The Oyster will automatically deduct the far from your card when you pit it on the yellow touch pad on the ticket barrier, station entrance / exit, tram stop or bus ticket machine.  However, on railway journeys it automatically deducts the maximum fare until you 'touch out' then it reverts to the correct fare.  So it is always importand to 'touch in and touch out'

Maximum Fare: The Oystercard will also cap the cost in any one day at the cost os a one day Bus Pass if you have only used buses and trams. If you have used a rail service at either a peak or off-peak Travelcard price for the zones you have travelled in when you hae used the Nataional Rail, Docklands Light Rail, the Overground or the Underground during the course of the day.

Difference between Paper Tickets and Oyster train tickets purchases at local stations.

The main difference are that Oyster fares ae often a few pence cheaper.  However, it has two Monday to Friday peaks in the morning from 4.30am to 9.30am and in the evening from 16.00 to 19.00. If you travel between these times you will be charged the peak fare and the cap will be the Peak Travelcard peak.  If you travel outside these times the cap will be the Off-peak Travelcard price.

Note:These times apply to when you touch in and NOT the train time.

Passengers from the Coulsdon Area: Have an easement on the 9.30am cheap day rule on the 9.23am and the 9.28 am from Coulsdon South to East Croydon and London.  If you wish to catch these trains or travel after 9.30am and back between 16.30 pm and 19.00 pm it will well be better to buy an off-peak paper Travelcard as these is no evening peack restriction.

Senior Railcard and Oyster: If you have a Senior Railcard you can have this programmed on to your Oystercard at an underground station.  This may be particularly useful if you live outside the GLA boundary and do not have a Freedom Pass.

National Rail Tickets: There are three types of national rail tickets:

1.     1. Advance : These are now only sold as single tickets and must be bought in advance and depending on how far in advance you purchase the ticket the greater the discount you will receive. Advance tickets can only be used on the train specified, although you may use any connecting service if it is not specified. As well as the ordinary advance ticket a number of train companies also have promotional advance ticket specific to their company only. This will require you to buy a separate ticket for any connecting services.

 For more information use the TfL website www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/1063.aspx

Other notes on Tickets

·       Boundary extensions : Holders of Travelcards (including Oneday) or Freedom Pass can buy tickets starting at the zone boundary of their ticket e.g travelling from Coulsdon to Basingstoke using a weekly Travelcard to the boundary (Surbiton) and a boundary zone 6 return to and from Basingstoke. This ticket can be bought at Coulsdon you do not have to purchase it at the boundary station.

·       European Travel : If you have a journey booked on Eurostar trains you can purchase a CIV ticket to London International (single or return). This is valid up to 2 months and is cheaper than two ordinary single tickets, it also includes the tube if you need it. The other advantage is that if you miss your Eurostar due to late running by your connecting train Eurostar should put you on the next train at no extra cost.

·      Long distance tickets : Can be used via London or Redhill and Reading, for example Coulsdon South to Bristol, Birmingham or Carlisle you can travel via Euston, Paddington or Reading.

·       For journeys to the South and SouthWest : You can buy a cheaper ticket marked “not London”, but you can travel via East Croydon or Clapham Junction e.g. Coulsdon to Salisbury changing at Clapham Junction

·       Coulsdon South and Smitham tickets : are interchangeable for journeys via Purley.

·       Prepay Oystercard : Can be used on National Rail from 2nd January 2010.

·       Season Oyster Travelcards : Can be used on National Rail.

·       Freedom Pass : Can be used on National Rail in Zones 1-6 after 9.30 (9.28 Coulsdon South)

For more information on Oyster and Freedom Pass see buses fares or TfL web site :  www.tfl.gov.uk

Other Train Companies and Agents' Tickets: You can also print a lot of other tickets you have purchased on-line from companies at the Automatic Ticket Machines at all local stations in Coulsdon (such as Raileasy)

Booking Offices are open at the following hours :

Woodmansterne and Smitham from 07.00am to 10.00 am Monday to Friday only.

Coulsdon South from 6.15am to 7.00pm Monday to Friday; 7.30am to 8.00pm Saturdays and from 09.15am until 4.00pm Sundays.

At Coulsdon South the 07.33 to Victoria will be 12 coaches and no longer call at Purley.  The additional Summer Sunday Service to London Bridge will start on Sunday 23rd May and run until the end of August 2010.  Ticket barriers will be install at Coulsdon South later in the year.
SERVICES COULSDON SOUTH FIRST AND LAST TRAINS
Monday to Friday	To London 05.36	To Redhill & Gatwick 05.30
Saturday	To London 06.14	To Redhill & Gatwick 05.30
Sunday	To London 07.14	To Redhiil & Gatwick 07.00
Monday to Friday	From London 00.14	From Gatwick 23.23
Saturday	From London 00.14	From Gatwick 23.23
Sunday	From London 00.14	From Gatwick 23.25

Service Levels:
Early morning & evening:	2 trains per hour to and from Victoria
Peak Hours :	4 to 5 trains per hour to and from Victoria and London Bridge
Off-Peak Service:	4 trains per hour to and from London Bridge
Saturdays - daytime:	4 trains per hour to and from London Bridge
Saturdays - evenings:	2 trains per hour to and from Victoria
Sundays:	1 trains per hour to Victoria (Summers additional train to London Bridge)

Smith and Woodmansterre. A number of early morning and morning peak hours trains run up to five minutes earlier or later to make the service more even.  More trains take a little longer as they will join with Caterham trains at Purley. Two additional trains will run in the morning at 07.05 (Wdmn) .7.06 (Smith) to Victoria and in the evening from Victoria at 16.39 to Smitham and Woodmansterne. In the off-peak, all trains will call at Norwood Junction to connect with the East London Line.
SERVICES SMITHAM AND WOODMANSTERNE FIRST  & LAST TRAINS (Woodmansterne 3 minutes before / after Smitham
Monday to Friday	To London 06.14	To Tattenham Corner 07.05
Saturday	To London 06.30	To Tattenham Corner 06.48
Sunday	To London 07.14	To Tattenham Corner .8.22
Monday to Friday	From London 23.00*	From Tattenham Corner 22.42
Saturday	From London 23.00*	From Tattenham Corner 22.42
Sunday	From London 22.34	From Tattenham Corner 22.45

* Note: a later service is offered by the 23.10 from Victoria to Horsham and changing at Purley

Service Levels:
Early Morning:	2 trains per hour to and from London Bridge
Peak Hours:	4 trains per hour to and from Victoria and London Bridge
Off-Peack Service:	2 trains per hour to and from London Bridge (an additional connecting  Shutttle to Purley 2)
Evenings:	2 trains per hour to and from Victoria
Saturdays:	2 trains per hour to and from London Bridge ( am additional connecting Shuttle to Purley)
Saturday Evenings:	2 trains per hour to and fromVictoria
Sundays@	1 train per hour to London Bridge and Charing Cross.

More information on: timetables, live train departures, special offers and engineering works :

Southern Railway :        www.southernrailway.com

National Rail Enquires:   www.nationalrail.co.uk

The Coulsdon area : Has eight London bus routes these are made up of four trunk routes 60, 166, 405 and 466 all serving Croydon. Three local routes 404, 434 and 463 and one night route N68 which operates a 24-hour service in conjunction with route 60.

Route 60 : Old Coulsdon, Coulsdon, Purley, Brighton Road, Croydon, Mayday Hospital, Thornton Heath, Pollards Hill and Streatham Common. Operates from 04.45am until 1.00am

Route 166 : Epsom (daytime) Banstead, Woodmansterne, Chipstead Valley, Coulsdon, Purley, Brighton Road, and Croydon. Operates from 06.30am to Midnight

Route 405 : Redhill, Hooley, Coulsdon, Purley, Pampisford Road, and Croydon. Operates from 06.30am to 11.30pm

Route 466 : Caterham on the Hill, Old Coulsdon, Stoats Nest, Purley, Brighton Road, Croydon, Shirley Park, Addington Village. Operates from 06.00am to 1.00am

Route 404 : Caterham on the Hill, Caterham Drive,  Old Coulsdon, Rutherwick Rise and Coulsdon. Operates from 07.00am to 7.00pm Monday to Saturday

Route 434 : Rickman Hill, Coulsdon, Woodcote Valley Road, Purley, Kenley, and Whyteleafe South Station. Operates from 7.00am to 8.00pm Monday to Saturday

Route 463 : Coulsdon South Station, Coulsdon, Clock House (the Mount), Wallington, Beddington Lane, Pollards Hill and Mitcham Eastfields. (to be extended to Coulsdon Station South Summer 2009). Operates from 06.30am to 11.50pm.

Route N68 : Old Coulsdon, Coulsdon, East Croydon Station, Upper Norwood, Elephant and Castle, Waterloo, Holborn and Tottenham Court Road. Operates from 11.30pm to 04.30am

More information tel. 020 7222 1234    www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl 

Timetables : London Buses provide information on all stops. They do not provide individual Timetables they only provide the time of the first and last bus and service pattern. However, if you would like an individual timetable for a particular route these can be down loaded from the following web site :

 www.londonbusroutes.net/routes.htm

Other Services :  Surrey County Council

Route 866 : one journey each way Coulsdon to Banstead Beacon School operated by Surrey County Council. Tel 0870 608 2608  www.traveline.org.uk

National Express

Service 025 runs from Victoria to Gatwick Airport and Brighton stopping on request at both Coulsdon South Station and Hooley. You can use these services by either booking in advance or paying the driver. You may also use these services as part of a longer distance National Express journey changing coaches at Victoria or Gatwick Airport. There is one additional journey each way on route 027 between Victoria and Chichester which also calls at Coulsdon South and Hooley. tel 08457 740740 www.nationalexpress.com

London Bus fares; in the outer zones can be paid to the driver, but in the inner zone 1 a ticket must be purchased in advance. London Buses operates a flat fare system and the cost of a ticket is £2.00 per journey regardless of whether you travel one stop or the whole route including cross the boundary as far as Epsom and Redhill.

You can reduce this by either purchasing an Oystercard smartcard which you prepay in advance, this cost £3.00 deposit plus the amount you load on it. The cost of each bus journey is then reduced to £1.20 per journey if you make more than 4 journeys in a day.  Oyster caps itself at the Buss Pass or Travelcard price for any subsequent journeys on bus or rail journey. 

Freedom Pass : Coulsdon Residents over the age of 60 or with a permanent disability who live in the London Boroughs of Croydon or Sutton can obtain a Freedom pass provided by the London Councils. This can be obtained from the local Post Office. Freedom Pass allows travel on the Buses, Trams and Docklands Light Rail and some Overground Rail Services 24 hours a day It also allows use of the Nation Rail network in London zones 1-6. From 09.30 (at Smitham and Woodmansterne and from 09.28 at Coulsdon South) Monday to Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday.

Nationwide : In addition this pass can be used on any local service bus throughout England subject to local conditions normally after 9.00 or 9.30 am. Freedom Pass cannot be used in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

For information on buses and other travel journeys outside London

You can contact the Traveline by phone 0871 200 22 33

 or on the web www.traveline.org.uk

Known Dates for 2010 of Steam Trains passing through Coulsdon South Station.

9th April 2010 - Orient Express - Victoria to Guildford at approximately 15.15 p.m.

29th April 2010 - Kentish Bell - Margate to London at approximately  15.15 p.m

1st May 2010 - Orient Express - Victoria to Guildford at approximately 15.15 p.m.

www.london-to-brighton.co.uk/faqs.htm/

Veteran London to Brighton Car Rally (Old Crocks) A23 Brighton Road and Coulsdon Town Centre from 7.45- 10.45 am www.lbvcr.com/index.cfm

With up to 27,000 cyclists taking part each year this is the biggest cycling event of its kind in Europe.  This does not use the A23 but B Roads.  The nearest place to see the ride is at the end of Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon near the Midday Sun Public House.  From 10.00a.m onwards.    The Actual route is not published until a few days before the event.  For more information call 020 7554 0300. www.bhf.org.uk/L2B

The current station building was built over 100 years ago and the structure and facilities need replacing. Through the national stations improvement programme, Smitham station will be upgraded with a modern building, and will also benefit from increased seating for passengers, more bicycle parking facilities and step-free access between the entrance and platforms for passengers with reduced mobility. The new building will also be easier for railway staff to maintain and provide more resistance to vandalism.

For more detailed information Smitham Station replacement  please click on this link.

The history and the existing name of the station Smitham you have to look back at both local and railway history and you will discover it is not only uncommon to rename a station, but also a town after a station and there are many local examples of this.

After the Brighton line was opened in 1841 the Caterham Line was the first local line to be built in 1856 and one of the stations which we now know as Kenley was called Coulsdon as it was in the parish of Coulsdon. As it was some 4 miles from today’s Coulsdon this caused many problems for passengers and at the end of that year it was renamed Kenly after a large local house and now the whole local community is know by this name.

The second local line was the Tattenham Corner line which was completed as far as Kingswood in 1897 and Tadworth in 1900 and on to Tattenham Corner opening on Derby day 4^th June 1901. Although Tadworth remained the main terminus until and 1928 Tattenham Corner only being used in high summer and on race days.

Smitham was opened 1904 and was clearly named after the local village of Smitham Bottom which had its name changed by the Post Office in 1914 and I am sure if had not been for the First World War the station would have also changed its names to reflect the new name Coulsdon.

Other local changes have been Purley which was also part of the parish of Coulsdon at the time of opening in 1841 being first called Godstone Road then on building of the Caterham line renamed Caterham Junction in 1856 and finally changed to Purley in 1888 from which the present town takes its name.

Other local station renaming include Stoats Nest 1841 moving to Coulsdon North in 1899 then changing to Coulsdon West in 1923 and back again to Coulsdon North some 3 weeks later after public protest (it took a little less time to change things in those days). Coulsdon South was Coulsdon on opening in1899 and Coulsdon and Cane Hill was added in 1896, then it was changed to Coulsdon East in 1923 then finally to Coulsdon South three weeks later after public protest.

This brings us to today. It is fair to say that most local people and railway people know Smitham is in Coulsdon and tickets are interchangeable between Coulsdon South and Smitham. However, many visitors and railway employee outside the area are not aware of this and it is not infrequent for passengers at times of disruption to end up alighting and confused at Purley not knowing there is another station in the town.

It is the view of East Surrey Transport Committee that it is time to bring the station name into line with the name of the town. However, there are still some historic connections with the name Smitham such two local roads have this name the local junior school (although not on the same site) and the adults education centre use this name.