Guildford's railway has celebrated its 180th anniversary and with that in mind this seems like the perfect time to detail the railway's illustrious and important history. The date

of May 5, 1845 marks the first time the London & South Western Railway's (LSWR) line from London reached Surrey's county town's tracks. In many ways, this marked the epoch

of Guildford becoming an established town in the region, as it allowed for easy travel of passengers and goods to and from the capital and later, beyond. In a speech to crowds at Guildford

Train Station's 180th anniversary event, held on Friday, May 2, accomplished Guildford historian and journalist, David Rose, explained the importance of Guildford's railway,

line) is the most important date in Guildford's history." Mr Rose told the crowds. And, it's not hard to see why when you consider that it would be around another 50 years

until the car would be mass adopted by the people of Britain. The construction of the South of England's railway lines in the mid to late 1800s allowed for the mass transportation of

people and goods across the region, and, marked Guildford specifically as an important mid-way point between the country's crucial port cities and capital. One hundred and eighty years

of history is a lot to get through, here is the history of Guildford's railway line from way back in the 19th century - all the way to the present. 1845, MAY 5 - The first time the

London & South Western Railway's (LSWR) line from London reached Guildford. 1849, AUGUST 20 - London & South Western Railway's (LSWR) expands in the region, opening its

line from Guildford to Ash Junction. 1849, OCTOBER 15 - Further expansion from the LSWR saw the line extended from Guildford to nearby Godalming. Additionally, this day also marks rail

connectivity from the important rail town of Reading with Surrey, with the South Eastern Railway (SER) starting to runs trains from Reading to Redhill, via Guildford. 1865 OCTOBER 2 - The

London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) opened a line from Horsham to Guildford, connecting the south coast cities with Guildford and London. 1885, FEBRUARY 2 - The LWSR

opens a line via Cobham to Guildford, further connecting the town to London. 1888 - Guildford train station saw a significant rebuilding and enlargement this year, further expanding the

station to allow it to keep up with the rapidly expanding national railway system during this time. 1923, JANUARY 1 - The Southern Railway was formed connecting trains and their stations all

the way from Padstow, Cornwall to Ramsgate in Kent. The Southern Railway was formed as an amalgamation of several smaller railway companies, these being the London and South Western Railway

(LSWR), the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR). 1925, JULY 12 - The Southern Railway electrifies the line via Cobham

to Guildford. 1937, JULY 4 - The Southern Railway extends electrification to the rail line from London to Portsmouth via Guildford. 1948, JANUARY 1 - Following the end of the Second World

War, Britain's railways became nationalised under the name British Railways. This meant that the country's railways were now owned by the Government. 1952, NOVEMBER 8 - A train

suffers a brake malfunction as it approached Guildford station. The train overran signals and collided with a stationary steam locomotive in a incident which resulted in the deaths of two

people and injuries to a further 37. 1965, JUNE 12 - Exactly 100 years after its opening, the Horsham to Guildford line closes. Marking an end to direct train routes between the two towns.

This line ran through former, now closed stations in villages such as Cranleigh and Rudgwick. 1967, JULY 9 - Guildford's Motive Power Depot closes. The depot was an crucial aspect of

the station's importance at the time, as it acted as a facility where the region's locomotives were housed, repaired and maintained. Demolished in 1967, nowadays, you will find the

Farnham Road multi-storey car park on its former site. 1986, JUNE 10 - Four years after its creation in 1982, Network SouthEast, which operated across Greater London and the wider

South-East, is incorporated as section of the, then nationalised British Rail. 1988 - Exactly one hundred years after its last significant redevelopment, Guildford Station sees another

complete rebuild, with all of the station's infrastructure besides its platforms being renovated to become, mostly, what we now know as Guildford's train station. 1994 - The

privatisation of Britain's railways begins under John Major's Conservative government. 1996, MAY 5 - Great Western Railway (GWR) and South West Trains begin operating across the

region, with Guildford acting as somewhat of a mid-point between the two operating regions. 2017, JULY 7 - An explosion takes place in a train at Guildford station. Debris was thrown up to

70 m away with fragments, described as "quite sizeable" by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, launched across platforms and an adjacent car park, luckily no one sustained any

injuries. 2017, AUGUST 20 - South Western Railways (SWR) begins operating across the region, replacing the previous operator, South West Trains which was formed in 1996. SWR was created as a

joint venture between FirstGroup, a British multi-national transport group, and a Hong Kong based corporation. 2019, OCTOBER 28 - Work on the Guildford Train Station redevelopment project

begins, a scheme supported by Network Rail and developed by Solum, and is yet to be completed. 2024, DECEMBER 3 - The current Labour Government announces that South Western Railways will be

one of the three rail operators across the country which will become renationalised, with this set to start on May 25, 2025. ONTO THE FUTURE - Guildford Train Station and its surrounding

area are set for a "transformative" redevelopment in a £25million project which will see the construction of a new station building, 438 homes, shops, offices, and a sizable public

plaza, in a project which will be aptly named the 'Guildford Station Quarter'.