South Merton railway station

South Merton railway station is located in Morden, the administrative centre of the London Borough of Merton in South London. The station is served by Thameslink trains on the Sutton Loop Line. It is in Travelcard Zone 4.

South Merton
South Merton Location of South Merton in Greater London
Location	Morden
Local authority	London Borough of Merton
Managed by	Thameslink
Station code	SMO
DfT category	F2
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	4
National Rail annual entry and exit
2014–15	0.194 million[1]
2015–16	0.140 million[1]
2016–17	0.114 million[1]
2017–18	0.120 million[1]
2018–19	0.115 million[1]
Key dates
7 July 1929	Opened
Other information
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51.403°N 0.2062°W / 51.403; -0.2062
London transport portal

History

Parliamentary approval for a line from Wimbledon to Sutton had been obtained by the Wimbledon and Sutton Railway (W&SR) in 1910 but work had been delayed by World War I.[2] From the W&SR's inception, the District Railway (DR) was a shareholder of the company and had rights to run trains over the line when built. In the 1920s, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL, precursor of London Underground) planned, through its ownership of the DR and the City and South London Railway (C&SLR, now the Northern line), to use part of the W&SR's route for an extension of the C&SLR to Sutton.[3] The SR objected and an agreement was reached that enabled the C&SLR to extend as far as Morden in exchange for the LER giving up its rights over the W&SR route. The SR subsequently built the line, one of the last to be built in the London area.[3]

In the original 1910 permission, the station was named "Merton Park" (not to be confused with Merton Park on the Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway to the north) due to its proximity to the Merton Park estate then being laid out to the north and Merton Park golf course to the south which was subsequently developed for housing.[2][4] The station opened as the temporary terminus of the line when the first section opened from Wimbledon on 7 July 1929. The remainder of the line to Sutton opened on 5 January 1930.[5]

Services

The typical service pattern operated by Thameslink is 2 trains per hour to St Albans City via Wimbledon (clockwise around the loop) and 2 trains per hour to Sutton (anticlockwise). Services to Sutton then continue on to St Albans City via Mitcham Junction. Some late evening services to St Albans City via Wimbledon are extended to Bedford. On Sundays, daytime services are extended to Luton.

On weekdays there are also peak time services operated by Southern. In the morning peak Southern services operate anticlockwise around the loop to London Bridge via Sutton and Mitcham Junction; and in the evening peak services run clockwise to London Bridge via Wimbledon and Tooting.

Thameslink services are usually operated by Class 700 trains which have replaced the older Class 319 units. Southern services are mainly operated by 8 carriage Class 455 units.

Connections

London Bus routes 164 and 413 serve the station.

The station is also about an 800m walk away from Morden Underground Station which is served by the Northern line.

References

1. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
2. Jackson 1966, p. 677.
3. Jackson 1966, p. 678.
4. Wilson 2008, p. 12.
5. Jackson 1966, p. 679.

Bibliography

• Jackson, Alan A. (December 1966). "The Wimbledon & Sutton Railway – A late arrival on the South London suburban scene" (PDF). The Railway Magazine: 675–680. Retrieved 7 May 2009.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Wilson, Geoffrey (September 2008). "The Wimbledon & Sutton Railway" (PDF). Merton Historical Society: Bulletin 167: 10–13. Retrieved 2 December 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

• Train times and station information for South Merton railway station from National Rail

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Morden South		Thameslink Wimbledon Loop		Wimbledon Chase
		Southern Sutton Loop Line Peak hours only
	Abandoned Plans
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Morden towards Sutton		District line (Wimbledon & Sutton Railway)		Cannon Hill towards Barking or Edgware Road