Letter: Campaign to Gauge Opinion on Restoring the Railway Line to Cranleigh

Published on: 31 Oct, 2024
Updated on: 31 Oct, 2024

Cranleigh station before its closure in 1965. Picture supplied by Ben Darnton.

From Adrian Chandler

See: What Cranleigh Really Needs is a Restored Railway Link

I was interested in the recent articles in The Guildford Dragon concerning restoration of the railway line which used to run to Cranleigh and beyond to Horsham. This has nicely coincided with a campaign the British Regional Transport Association has started to gauge opinion and enthusiasm for a restored railway.

Initially, leaflets (see below) are being distributed in Cranleigh where we feel that residents there will drive the interest.

I became interested in this line many years ago and became more involved when Guildford Borough Council was contacted by a councillor from Waverley just over five years ago. He initially needed to establish where the train would terminate at Guildford (possibly platform 3).

Working together, we visited various sites along the route to try and see if there could be any problems and, if found, how we could overcome them.

Sites visited were where it crosses the Horsham Road (A281) (possible tunnel), Bramley Station, the route south of Bramley as it ran alongside the Horsham Road and a possible site for a new Cranleigh Station (on the opposite side of the B2130 to the Hewitts Industrial estate).

Our conclusion was that a single track was certainly feasible whilst still maintaining the Downslink to Cranleigh and further options to Dunsfold and Horsham could be looked into. We didn’t see a problem with using modern rolling stock.