page_title: Guildford railway station
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Guildford railway station / History
caption_attribution_description: Pre Grouping railway junction around Aldershot, Ash, Shalford, Basingstoke, Guildford &amp; Peasmarsh , Wimbledon
context_page_description: Guildford railway station is at one of three main railway junctions on the Portsmouth Direct Line and serves the town of Guildford in Surrey, England. It is 30 miles 27 chains down the line from London Waterloo.
  It provides an interchange station for two other railway lines: the North Downs Line northwards towards Reading, which has a connection to Aldershot; the same line eastwards to Redhill; and the New Guildford Line, the alternative route to Waterloo, via Cobham or Epsom.
  Guildford station is the larger, more frequently and more diversely served of the two stations in Guildford town centre, the other being London Road on the New Guildford Line.
context_section_description: The station was opened by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) on 5 May 1845, but was substantially enlarged and rebuilt in 1880.
  The Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway opened its services on 4 July 1849, and was operated by the South Eastern Railway. LSWR services to Farnham via Tongham began on 8 October 1849 and the New Guildford Line to Leatherhead and Epsom Downs on 2 February 1885. On the latter line is the other Guildford station: London Road: the line to it describes a curve around the town on an embankment, crossing the River Wey by a high bridge.
  Guildford station was also the northern terminus of the (now-closed) Cranleigh Line of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, which opened 2 October 1865 and closed almost one hundred years later on 12 June 1965. This line ran to Horsham by way of Cranleigh, Rudgwick and Christ's Hospital.
  There are currently plans to rebuild the station and regenerate the surrounding area, with works starting in October 2019.
caption: A 1912 Railway Clearing House map of lines around Guildford railway station
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