The Epsom number is 01372 747 747. Clocktower Cars is a licensed private hire operator based at the Epsom Clock Tower on the A24, with our head office at 5 Waterloo Road, KT19 8AY. Cars run 24 hours a day across KT17, KT18 and KT19. Book online or get a fixed quote first.
Whether you want a taxi in Epsom for the morning train, minicabs in Epsom for a group heading to Gatwick, cabs in Epsom after a night at the Playhouse, or a wheelchair taxi in Epsom for a hospital appointment, it is the same office and the same fleet.
Epsom is where this firm started and where it is named from. We are not a national operator with a local phone number — we are the company at the Clock Tower.
The Clock Tower at the top of the High Street is Epsom’s landmark, and it is where our Epsom office sits. That is not a marketing detail. It means the people taking your booking know that the A24 through the town centre is not the route you want at five o’clock, that the Ashley Centre car park empties onto a road that backs up, and that “the station” needs a follow-up question during Derby week.
Our head office is at 5 Waterloo Road, Epsom, KT19 8AY on 01372 725 000, with the Clock Tower office on the A24 at KT19 8BA. Between them, Epsom is the best-covered town on our network — which is what you would hope from the firm that is named after it.
Our own licensing authority is Epsom and Ewell Borough Council, which draws a clear line between two kinds of vehicle. A hackney carriage may be hailed in the street, taken from a rank, or pre-booked. A private hire vehicle may only be booked in advance through a licensed private hire operator.
We are the second kind. Every journey is booked ahead, which is why you will not flag us down on the High Street — and also why you know which car is coming, roughly what it will cost, and that the booking exists on record before anyone sets off. Drivers are licensed and DBS-checked; vehicles are licensed and insured for private hire.
Epsom station is unusually well connected for a Surrey town, and most people do not realise quite how well. It is run jointly by Southern and South Western Railway, and it reaches three different London terminals.
| Destination | Off-peak | Route |
|---|---|---|
| London Victoria | 2 per hour | via Hackbridge |
| London Bridge | 2 per hour | via West Croydon |
| London Waterloo | 2 per hour | via Wimbledon |
| Dorking | 3 per hour | 1 continuing to Horsham |
| Guildford | 1 per hour | — |
The station handled about 3.3 million entries and exits in 2024/25 and is still growing. Six trains an hour into central London, to three different terminals, is why so much of our Epsom work is the short run to and from the station.
Because all three terminals are served from the same station, the useful thing to tell us is not “the station” but your departure time. Six trains an hour sounds generous until you are aiming for a specific one, and Epsom’s approach roads are not forgiving at peak times.
We also cover Epsom Downs and Tattenham Corner stations, which serve the racecourse side of town and are a very different proposition — infrequent, and a long walk from most of Epsom.
| From Epsom | Distance | Typical drive |
|---|---|---|
| Gatwick | 16–19 miles | ~26–35 min |
| Heathrow | — | ~45–50 min |
Gatwick is decisively the closer airport from Epsom — roughly half the journey time of Heathrow. The route runs via the A24 or A217 to the M25, then the M23, or down the A240 and A23. Around 26 to 35 minutes in normal traffic, depending on which part of Epsom you start from and which way the M25 is behaving.
For all Epsom’s rail connections, there is no direct train to Gatwick. By rail it is about an hour to an hour and a quarter with at least one change. Against a half-hour drive, door to door, with luggage, at four in the morning, it is not a close contest. Full detail on our Epsom to Gatwick page.
Heathrow is roughly 45 to 50 minutes — near enough double the Gatwick run, because it means crossing to the far side of London or going round on the M25. Entirely routine work, but the one where an early start and a sensible buffer matter most. More on our Epsom to Heathrow page.
One practical difference worth knowing: Heathrow charges a flat £7 to enter a terminal drop-off zone, while Gatwick starts at £10 for ten minutes and then charges by the minute. The shorter journey costs more to pull up outside.
All covered from Epsom, along with Southampton, Dover and Tilbury for cruise departures — see all airport transfers, Gatwick and Heathrow.
Epsom Downs Racecourse sits between Epsom, Tadworth and Langley Vale, and it is host to the Derby — Britain’s premier flat race for three-year-olds over a mile and a half — along with the Oaks and the Coronation Cup.
The scale is worth stating plainly. The course has a capacity of 130,000, including everyone watching free from the open Downs, and the Derby was for years the most attended sporting event in the British calendar. Nothing else in our service area moves that many people in a day.
Epsom Downs and Tattenham Corner stations both serve the course — Tattenham Corner being where the monarch alights from the Royal Train on race days. Both are a long way from most of Epsom on foot, and the roads up to the Downs are narrow and, on the big days, effectively closed by sheer volume.
The same thinking applies to the smaller fixtures through the season and to events on the Downs outside the racing calendar.
The High Street and the Clock Tower, the Ashley Centre, the Playhouse and the Odeon. The A24 runs straight through, which makes the centre easy to reach and slow to leave at peak times — a side street is usually a quicker pickup than the High Street itself.
West of the town towards Chessington, with the Common and its ponds. Further from the station than the centre, which is exactly where standing bookings and school runs concentrate.
South and south-east, rising towards the racecourse and Langley Vale. Quiet residential roads, a genuine walk from anywhere useful, and the part of Epsom most affected when the Downs are busy.
North-west towards Ewell and the hospital. Neighbouring areas we also cover include Ewell, West Ewell, Ashtead, Banstead, Tadworth, Chipstead, Leatherhead and Worcester Park.
Epsom Hospital on Dorking Road is the nearest general hospital to the town and a short run from anywhere in KT17, KT18 or KT19. We also cover St Helier at Carshalton, the Royal Marsden at Sutton and the Epsom and Ewell clinics.
Two things make a taxi worth it rather than driving. You are dropped at the right entrance instead of circling a car park while your appointment time passes, and nobody is paying to leave a car there for an unknown number of hours. For collections after a procedure or a discharge, ring us when the patient is genuinely ready to leave rather than booking a time and hoping — discharges almost never happen when predicted.
Epsom and the surrounding villages have a dense mix of state and independent schools, and Nescot sits just up the road at Ewell with several thousand students on courses that run well beyond the school day. Between them they generate journeys at hours no ordinary school run covers.
A standing booking is set up once and then runs to the school calendar — same pickup, same times, term-time only, with a named regular driver wherever the rota allows. Most parents would rather see the same face at the gate than a different car each week, and we try hard to make that happen.
Drivers carrying children are licensed and DBS-checked. Child seats and boosters are provided when requested at the time of booking — give us the child’s age and we bring the right one. Where a child travels alone, we agree in advance exactly who hands over and who receives at each end.
Some families qualify for council-funded home-to-school transport: broadly, a child under eight living more than two miles from school, a child of eight or over more than three miles away, a child with SEND or mobility needs, or one with no safe walking route. That is arranged through Surrey County Council rather than through us, and worth checking before paying privately. More on travelling with children.
The Epsom Playhouse, the Odeon and the High Street pubs all finish at roughly the same time, and the last useful train has usually gone by then. Our office runs 24 hours, so a car at one in the morning is ordinary work rather than a special request.
Two things help. Book ahead if you know roughly when you are leaving, because Friday and Saturday nights are the busiest hours of our week. And check the car when it arrives: you booked a private hire vehicle, so the driver should already know your name and destination before you get in. A car that pulls up unbooked and offers you a lift is not us, and should not be anyone.
We run wheelchair-accessible vehicles, and they need requesting when you book rather than hoping on the day — there are fewer of them than saloons, so notice genuinely helps.
Beyond the vehicle, the detail is usually what matters: a driver who comes to the door rather than waiting at the kerb, helps with a folding chair or a frame, allows time rather than hovering, and knows which hospital entrance is the right one. If you are booking for a parent or relative, tell us once what would make the journey easier and it stays on the booking so it never has to be explained again. See accessible travel with Clocktower Cars.
We run pet-friendly journeys — the vet trip, the cattery drop, the move, the airport run with a dog in the back. Say what animal is travelling when you book, roughly what size, and whether it will be in a carrier or crate, and we will send a suitable driver and vehicle. Carriers make everything easier, and for a nervous animal the boot is usually kinder than the back seat.
Epsom’s six trains an hour into three London terminals make it a genuine commuter town, and that cuts both ways: when the line is disrupted, the car becomes the fallback for a whole office at once. Add the half-hour run to Gatwick and the account work looks after itself.
Accounts open through our account application, and there is more on executive and corporate travel. Ordinary bookings take card, cash or account, so nothing needs setting up to travel with us.
Call 01372 747 747 for the Clock Tower office, or 01372 725 000 for head office at 5 Waterloo Road. Either works at any hour, and the phone is quickest for anything urgent or complicated.
Book online any time, or request a fixed quote first if you would rather know the price before committing. Every branch and number is on our find us page.
Say it once when you book and it stays on the job, so it never needs repeating to the driver on the doorstep.
01372 747 747 for the Clock Tower office, or 01372 725 000 for head office at 5 Waterloo Road, KT19 8AY. Both are answered 24 hours a day. You can also book online or request a fixed quote first.
At the Epsom Clock Tower on the A24, with our head office at 5 Waterloo Road, KT19 8AY. The company takes its name from the Clock Tower. We also operate from branches across Surrey and south London including Ewell West, Sutton, Carshalton, Reigate, Leatherhead, Bookham, Chessington, Kingston, Guildford, Godalming and Weybridge.
Gatwick, by a wide margin — roughly 26 to 35 minutes against 45 to 50 for Heathrow. There is no direct train from Epsom to Gatwick, so by rail it is about an hour to an hour and a quarter with at least one change, which is why most Epsom airport work goes by car.
Three. Epsom station runs two trains an hour each to London Victoria via Hackbridge, London Bridge via West Croydon and London Waterloo via Wimbledon, plus three an hour to Dorking and one to Guildford. Tell us your departure time rather than just the station and we will get you there for the right train.
Yes, and book both legs well in advance — Derby week is the busiest period of our year. Agree a pickup point a few minutes’ walk from the course rather than at the main entrance, expect road closures around the Downs on race days, and tell us if you are a group so we can send one larger vehicle.
Yes, every day, including early-hours airport departures and late-night collections. Friday and Saturday nights are the busiest period, and Derby week busier still, so book ahead where you can.
Yes. Wheelchair-accessible vehicles are available and should be requested at the time of booking, as there are fewer of them than standard cars. Tell us what assistance would help — a door-to-door collection, help with a folding chair, or which hospital entrance you need — and it is recorded on the booking.
Yes, we run pet-friendly journeys. Mention the animal when you book, with its size and whether it travels in a carrier or crate, so we can send a suitable vehicle. Carriers make the journey easier for everyone, and for a nervous animal the boot is usually kinder than the back seat.
In everyday speech people use all three for the same thing, and we answer to all of them. In licensing terms Epsom and Ewell Borough Council draws a real distinction: a hackney carriage can be hailed in the street or taken from a rank, while a private hire vehicle — what most people mean by a minicab — must be booked in advance through a licensed operator. Clocktower Cars is a private hire operator, so whether you search for taxis in Epsom, minicabs in Epsom or cabs in Epsom, the answer is the same: book ahead and the car is yours.
Epsom town centre, Epsom Common, Stamford Green, Woodcote, the College Area, Horton, Livingstone Park and West Hill, plus Ewell, West Ewell, Stoneleigh, Ashtead, Banstead, Tadworth, Chipstead, Leatherhead, Worcester Park and Sutton. Epsom covers the KT17, KT18 and KT19 postcodes.
Call 01372 747 747, book online, or get a fixed quote before you travel. Gatwick in about half an hour, Epsom station runs to three London terminals, Derby Day, hospital appointments, school runs, accessible vehicles, pets and corporate accounts — 24 hours a day from the Clock Tower.
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