Ash railway station

Ash railway station serves the village of Ash in Surrey, England. The station is served by South Western Railway, who manage the station, and by Great Western Railway. It is situated on the Ascot to Guildford line and the North Downs Line, 36 miles 34 chains (58.6 km) from London Waterloo.

Ash
Ash railway station
General information
Location	Ash, Guildford England
Grid reference	SU899508
Managed by	South Western Railway
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	ASH
Classification	DfT category E
Key dates
20 August 1849	Opened as Ash
July 1855	Renamed Ash and Aldershot
September 1858	Renamed Aldershot (Ash)
June 1859	Renamed Ash and Aldershot
June 1863	Renamed Ash Junction
1 December 1926	Renamed Ash
Passengers
2019/20	0.246 million
Interchange	21,645
2020/21	67,150
Interchange	7,209
2021/22	0.160 million
Interchange	19,266
2022/23	0.204 million
Interchange	32,638
2023/24	0.233 million
Interchange	36,416
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

A 1912 Railway Clearing House map of lines around Ash railway station

History

Ash station was opened by the Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway, then operated by the South Eastern Railway. The London and South Western Railway had running powers over this section of line, to North Camp, but it had never used them. After the construction of the direct line from Pirbright Junction, the LSWR built a spur to Aldershot, part of the lines to Alton, enabling its trains to call at Ash station.^[1][2]

The South Eastern Railway 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.

The station had four platforms when it was built, which were later reduced to two after the Second World War. The other two platforms were where the station car park and Network Rail offices now stand. The station is 49 miles 18 chains (79.2 km) from Charing Cross (measured via Redhill); platform 1 can accommodate an eight-coach train, but platform 2 only accommodates four coaches. To the west is the former Ash Junction, 48 miles 34 chains (77.9 km) from Charing Cross, where the former route via Tongham left the North Downs Line 35 miles 50 chains (57.3 km) from Waterloo (via Worplesdon and milepost 30+1⁄4 at Guildford).^[3]

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

Construction of a new road bridge to replace the A323 level crossing at the southeastern end of the station, began in September 2023.^[4]

Services

Services at Ash are operated by South Western Railway and Great Western Railway using Class 165 and 166 DMUs and Class 450 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service is two trains per hour in each direction between Guildford and Farnham via Aldershot, operated by South Western Railway, and one train per hour in each direction between Reading and Gatwick Airport via Guildford, operated by Great Western Railway.^[5]

During the peak hours, the service between Reading and Gatwick Airport is increased to two trains per hour in each direction.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Wanborough		South Western Railway Farnham to Guildford		Aldershot
Guildford		Great Western Railway North Downs Line		North Camp
Wanborough Limited Service