The London and Southampton Railway (L&SR) was authorised on 25 July 1834[3][note 1] and construction began in October of that year.

[6][note 2] Woking Common station was built with two platforms linked by a footbridge and a small freight yard was also provided.

[9] Nevertheless, it quickly became the railhead for west Surrey and the main entrance was positioned on the south side of the tracks for the convenience of those travelling by stagecoach from Guildford.

The Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation report concluded the crash was due to human error on the part of the driver of the Basingstoke train.

[19][20] The Basingstoke train locomotive, SR N15X class 32327 Trevithick, was damaged beyond economic repair and scrapped at Eastleigh Works.

A half-hourly RailAir bus service runs between the south side of the station and Heathrow Airport, a journey of about 50 minutes.