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.

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.

Locomotives frequently experienced poor rail head conditions and there are several reports of freight trains being brought to a stand inside, due to wheelslip.

[21][22][23] The original intention was for the railway to cross the unnavigable River Arun by a brick arch bridge, but an inspection carried out before the line opened, determined that the 1 in 80 gradient on the southern approach to Rudgwick station was too steep for trains to operate safely.

[28][29] The first proposal to link Horsham to Guildford by rail was presented to the board of the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in September 1846, but the company declined to support the initiative.

[28][38][40] The act allowed the LB&SCR to contribute up to £75,000 (equivalent to £8.9 million in 2023) to the capital requirements of the new line, which was to be built by the Horsham and Guildford Direct Railway (HGDR) company.

In exchange, the LSWR granted access to Guildford station, on the condition that the HGDR paid a proportion of the cost of providing any additional platforms required for its services.

[46] The new railway finally opened on 2 October 1865, but William Yolland, the BoT representative charged with inspecting the route, insisted that Rudgwick station was to remain closed until the steep gradient of 1 in 80 to the south was eased.

[29][46] The remedial work included the raising of embankments and a second bridge deck was added 10 ft (3.0 m) above the original brick arch over the River Arun, reducing the gradient to 1 in 130.

[11][53] North of Cranleigh, the line paralleled the Wey and Arun Canal,[16] which had experienced a short-term increase in income in the early 1860s, when it was used to transport building materials for the railway.

[3] In July 1880, the LB&SCR asked Frederick Banister, its company engineer, to develop a scheme to install a second track between Peasmarsh Junction and Bramley, which would have allowed a further increase in service frequency.

Under the provisions of the Light Railways Act 1896, a line linking Ockley and Selham (near Midhurst) was proposed, but failed to attract support.

Between 1897 and 1899, various routes for a branch from the Dorking and Holmwood areas to Cranleigh were suggested, but the railways were opposed by local residents, who feared that the LB&SCR was using the new schemes to block competition from the rival LSWR.

[65][66][67] The construction of Christ's Hospital school at the southern end of the line began in 1897, when the foundation stone was laid in a ceremony on 22 October by the future Edward VIII, then Prince of Wales.

[7][73] However, little additional rail traffic was generated for the railway, as the governors of Christ's Hospital elected to enrol boarders only and to not admit day pupils.

[76] In the late 1930s, the northern part of the line was proposed for electrification, to allow London Waterloo to Guildford via Cobham & Stoke d'Abernon services to be extended to Cranleigh, but the scheme was not developed further.

[82] Scenes for the 1965 comedy, Rotten to the Core, were filmed in the Cranleigh line platforms at Christ's Hospital, using an N class locomotive, which was otherwise prohibited on the route.

[85][g] Developments on the Cranleigh line in the early 1950s included the introduction of railmotors, consisting of tank engines coupled to a type of passenger carriage, known as a balloon trailer.

[94] An enthusiasts' special, which ran the full length of the route on Sunday 13 June 1965, was the final passenger train to operate on the Cranleigh line.

[95][96] The Horsham and Guildford Direct Railway Society (HGDRS) was formed in August 1965, with the aim of operating an hourly service on the line on weekdays.

Hambledon Rural District and Surrey County Councils, which had been in favour of the reopening project, withdrew their support for the HGDRS scheme at the end of 1965.

[98] Over the next few months, the track was lifted and, in April 1966, permission was given for the station site at Cranleigh to be used for the Stocklund Square shopping centre development and its associated car park.

[103][104] The station building at Bramley & Wonersh was demolished,[105] but the platforms were restored and replica level crossing gates were installed in a two-year project, completed in 2005.

[115][116] However, the "Surrey Rail Strategy", published by the county council in September 2013, determined that reinstatement north of Cranleigh was not viable and that passenger numbers "would be insufficient to justify the significant cost".

[117] Nevertheless, the Campaign for Better Transport advocacy group called for the reinstatement of the entirety of the line, following the cancellation of the "Restoring Your Railway" programme by the UK government in mid-2024.

[118] Plans to convert the trackbed of the Cranleigh line to a mixed-use path for walkers, cyclists and horse riders began to emerge around a year after closure, when Hambledon Rural District Council suggested that the route should be turned into a "walking freeway".

[119] In 1973, it signed a seven-year lease on the part of the railway that had been purchased by Surrey County Council with the intention of creating a "greenway" between Gosden, north of Bramley, and the border with West Sussex.

[120][i] The works included sealing the entrances to Baynards Tunnel with concrete blocks and filling the cutting on the northern approach with inert waste to create a ramped access to Cox Green Road.

Firstly, the demolished railway bridge over the River Wey was rebuilt in July 2006, allowing easier access to the Downs Link from Guildford town centre.

[144][145] In the late 19th century, livestock and agricultural products were transported from Baynards station via the line, including sheep from Romney Marsh, which were wintered in the area.