Cranleigh line

The Cranleigh line was a railway line in South East England that connected Guildford in Surrey with Horsham in West Sussex. It ran for 15 miles 48 chains (25.1 km) from Peasmarsh Junction on the Portsmouth Direct line to Stammerham Junction at Christ's Hospital station on the Arun Valley line. It served the villages of Bramley, Cranleigh, Rudgwick and Slinfold. The line was never electrified and was single track with passing loops at Bramley & Wonersh, Cranleigh and Baynards stations.

Construction of the line was started in 1860 by the independent Horsham and Guildford Direct Railway, which was acquired by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) in June 1864. The first passenger services ran on 2 October 1865, although remedial works to ease the gradient north of the River Arun crossing delayed the opening of Rudgwick station until the following month. Christ's Hospital station was opened on 1 May 1902.

The railway was never financially successful and there were never more than nine return passenger services on weekdays. Freight services were suspended during the 1955 railway workers' strike and never recovered thereafter. The public goods yards closed in October 1962. The line was listed for closure in the 1963 Beeching report, and passenger services were withdrawn on 14 June 1965.

Platforms remain in situ at Bramley & Wonersh, Baynards and Christ's Hospital, but the stations at Cranleigh, Rudgwick and Slinfold were completely demolished. The 381 yd long (348 m) Baynards Tunnel, where the line crossed the county boundary between Surrey and West Sussex, was bricked up at both ends and the cutting on the north side was infilled. Much of the route now forms part of the Downs Link path, which connects the North Downs Way at St Martha's Hill to the South Downs Way near Shoreham-by-Sea.