Redhill railway station was built in the 1840s very early in the life of Redhill and access to it for travellers from Nutfield and Bletchingley was provided via a farm track from Redstone Hill that was converted into a road.

This new road was extended under the railway via a single track tunnel to make a t-junction with the existing London to Brighton Road.

As traffic increased the tunnel acquired the name the death trap' due to it being only 12ft high with a single carriageway and approached on an acute angle at the foot of a considerable hill.

Discussions about widening the tunnel went on for some time and in 1899 the decision was taken to carry out the work and new road widths were set.

By April 1903 100 men were engaged in the preparatory work of removing 6,000 tons of soil, which was used alongside the Guildford line to create new sidings.

The new bridge was 20ft high and 42ft wide. Two feet below the road surface was an eight-inch thick boggy stratum with peat and sand beneath.

The concrete foundations had to go down 14.5ft to hard rock. During the excavation barite and fossilised wood were also found, as well as a spring that had to be diverted.

The result was the bridge that today carries the railway over an even busier Station Road.

l Article and picture courtesy of Alan Moore, author of A History of Redhill volumes 1 and 2, www.redhill-reigate-history.co.uk.