Eridge Station 2021 - 2022
For very many years all services coming south from Ashurst and east from the Three Bridges line turned towards Tunbridge Wells. Passengers were required to change at Groombridge to go south towards Eridge. Although there was a direct line between "Ashurst Junction" and "Birchden Junction" it was only used for the storage of out of service locomotives. It was not until 7 June 1914 that direct services ran between Ashurst and Eridge. Thus a triangle of operational lines was formed in the area.
Groombridge and Tunbridge Wells West lost their passenger services on 6 July 1985 when trains between Eridge and Tonbridge were withdrawn. Eridge remains open, on the line between Uckfield and London, but one side of the station now also serves as a terminus for the Spa Valley service from Tunbridge Wells, which arrived in 2011. In the period between 1985 and 2011 parts of Eridge Station were left in poor condition but it has since been restored to a very high standard.
Separate collections cover (a) Eridge Station up to 2008; (b) Eridge Station 2008 - 2010; (c) Eridge Station 2011 - 2020; (d) Eridge Station from 2021; (e) Forge Farm Crossing; (f) The Birchden, Groombridge and Ashurst Triangle; (g) Groombridge Station; (h) Groombridge Signal Box; (i) East of Groombridge; (j) High Rocks Station; and (k) Tunbridge Wells Station and Shed.
SCROLL DOWN to view the images. Click here to return to the main website index page.
Inside the refurbished booking hall at Eridge Station, looking at the modern ticket window. The modern booking office area was originally occupied by two rooms; a First Class Waiting Room and a Ladies Waiting Room with Ladies conveniences opening out of the back of the room. The Victorian facilities are long gone. 29.05.2021 20598
The other side of the refurbished booking hall at Eridge Station. In Victorian times the door on the left was the booking office window, and the door on the right was the Parcels Office (with a Royal Mail chute down to platform level). Nowadays the office on the left is occupied by the "Sussex Community Rail Partnership - Uckfield and East Grinstead Lines Development Officer" and the door on the right leads to a waiting room. 29.05.2021 20599
In 2022 facilities for disabled access were improved at Eridge Station, and a lift was installed at the western end of the footbridge to give access to the Network Rail platform. The lift is not actually attached to the footbridge (except cosmetically) and has its own deep foundations. 04.03.2022 21372
In 2021 the work at Eridge was not totally complete and this poster on the footbridge explained that a lift was to be installed to provide access to the Uckfield Line platform. A ramp was also to be installed to provide step-free access to the Spa Valley Railway platform. 29.05.2021 20607
The worksite at Eridge, where works to install a lift were in progress. It is shame that a small area of the worksite could not have been permanently acquired as this could have provided level "walk on" access to Platform 1, without any need to use a lift. Lifts at remote stations have obvious disadvantages in the event of malfunction. 29.05.2021 20595
The completed lift at Eridge Station, looking east towards the station building on the bridge. 04.03.2022 21361 (The view here was restricted and whilst I carry a large amount of equipment it does not include extended branch loppers for vegetation that is just out of reach...!)
The completed lift at Eridge Station, looking east towards the station building on the bridge. 04.03.2022 18402 (The view here was restricted and whilst I carry a large amount of equipment it does not include extended branch loppers for vegetation that is just out of reach...!)
The completed lift at Eridge Station, looking east towards the station building on the bridge. 04.03.2022 18401 (The view here was restricted and whilst I carry a large amount of equipment it does not include extended branch loppers for vegetation that is just out of reach...!)
The lift on the Network Rail platform at Eridge Station, looking south. The lift has very deep foundations to achieve the necessary stability and is constructed on the site of the former Platform 1 trackbed. Behind the lift building the arch which originally allowed the track into the station can be seen. The lift building supports itself and is not actually attached to the footbridge, other than cosmetically. Network Rail has presumably decided that there is no possibility of them needing to lay track in Platform 1 again. The presence of the platform extension at the northern end and of extensive apparatus cases on the trackbed already effectively blocked the path. 04.03.2022 21376
The Uckfield line platform at Eridge, now called Platform 1, looking north. Previously a through line (Platform 1) served the left hand side of the platform, with a siding beyond it. All of this has gone and the former Platform 2 is now the bi-directional running line. 29.05.2021 20610
During the restoration of the Uckfield Line platform a redundant section of the station building was transformed into this magnificent Waiting Room. It looks quite superb and is a credit to those who designed and installed it. (There is a second Waiting Room off the booking hall at the top of the bridge). Eridge 29.05.2021 20613
A platform extension has been built at the north end of the Uckfield Line platform to bring the capacity up to ten coaches, and is viewed here from the Spa Valley Railway platforms. This work resulted in the demolition of the old signal box that stood on the site. The extension is, no doubt, built to modern standards but it looks quite awful and totally out of keeping with the otherwise well preserved station. The final irony is that for a large proportion of the time the line is served by trains of two or four coaches in length and thus the area is little used. Eridge 29.05.2021 20632
