Transport in Brighton and Hove

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A Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company bus in the mid-1990s standard livery

The city of Brighton and Hove on the south coast of England has long had a variety of transportation. Today it has a major railway station, an extensive bus service, a large number of taxis, and even a small (but growing) auto rickshaw service. In the past it has had trolley buses and ferry and hydrofoil services.

[edit] Rail

Northbound and southbound Southern trains pass under the Dyke Road Drive overbridge, north of the Montpelier Sidings on the Brighton Main Line.

Brighton railway station was built in 1840 by the London and Brighton Railway, which also established one of the first railway-owned locomotive works (now gone). The station provides fast and frequent connections to Gatwick Airport, several London main-line stations, Luton Airport and Bedford, usually via the Brighton main line although some services use less direct routes, especially during periods of engineering work.

The 14:22 Virgin Trains service to Manchester Piccadilly, awaiting departure from Platform 3 at Brighton station. As of 2006, this is scheduled to take 5 hours and 40 minutes. Southern EMU 377401 is at Platform 2.

Regular services also operate via Bristol to Wales, and to Birmingham and Manchester. The Manchester service once continued to Glasgow, as Virgin Trains route VT3, and before that, under British Rail it went on to Dundee as the "Sussex Scot". This service has been cancelled and re-introduced in the past, but is not currently available (as of 2006).

The express London Victoria service takes 51 minutes today, compared with one hour in 1910, 80 minutes in 1859 and up to two hours in 1841.

Many London trains, though not the fastest expresses, stop at Brighton's other station on the Brighton main line: Preston Park railway station.

In addition to the main line to London, Brighton railway station also has connections to Hove and the West Coastway Line, and Lewes on the East Coastway Line. Intermediate stations within Brighton are London Road railway station and Moulsecoomb railway station, both on the Lewes line.

There were once three further stops on a line to the Kemptown area of Brighton: Lewes Road railway station, Hartington Road Halt and the terminus, Kemptown railway station. The entire line is closed and largely demolished.

Volk's Electric Railway, created in 1883, runs along the inland edge of the beach from the Palace Pier to Black Rock. It is claimed to be the world's oldest operating electric railway.

Between 1894 and 1901 there was another electric railway, also created by Magnus Volk: the "daddy long legs" used tracks laid out under the sea, avoiding the need to build a viaduct. The carriage had tall iron legs and carried the passengers above the waves. This ran from specially constructed piers at the Banjo Groyne to Rottingdean. It was never able to withstand stormy weather, and after several collapses and reconstructions, and final insurmountable problem of changes to the sea defences, it was abandoned. Remnants of its concrete foundations can sometimes be seen along the route at low tide between the Marina and Rottingdean.

There was formerley a branch line from near Aldrington Halt, Hove to Devil's Dyke. This ran between 1887 and 1935 and the old track is now used as a footpath and cycle track north of the Hangleton estate as far as the clubhouse of the Devil's Dyke golf-course. Briefly at the beginning of the 20th century a steep grade funicular railway took visitors to the bottom of the dyke itself and a cable car spanned the space above it. Remnants of the concrete piers used to support the cableway can still be seen on opposite sides of the dyke .

[edit] Bus

Bus "Fanny Burney" (registration number YN56 FFB) leaves the stop outside the Pavilions Retail Park (on the site of the old Preston Barracks) on a northbound Route 25 service.

Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company (merged into the Go-Ahead Group in 1993) operates a local bus service with approximately 300 buses. The former Brighton "Blue Buses" company dated back to the 1880s, and was taken over by Brighton and Hove in 1997. The council and bus company run a city-wide real-time bus information service. There is a limited night-bus service on some routes including "Metro routes" 7 & 25. Many of the buses bear names of famous people with local connections; see List of Brighton and Hove buses named after famous people.

The Stagecoach Group (through its Stagecoach South division) operates a frequent service (route 700) westwards along the south coast under the "Coastliner" brand name. On Mondays to Saturdays, six buses per hour leave from the Pool Valley bus and coach terminal: two to Southsea via Chichester and Portsmouth, two to Arundel and two to Littlehampton. Route map The journey to Southsea takes just over four hours. Additionally, an hourly service runs to Horsham (route 17).

Countryliner Coaches operate two complementary hourly services, which together give a half-hourly frequency on the core section of the route:

• Route 40: Churchill Square to the West Sussex village of Cuckfield
• Route 40X: Royal Sussex County Hospital to Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath

Metrobus runs two services:

• Route 87: Churchill Square to Haywards Heath (Sundays only)
• Route 273 Churchill Square to Crawley (Mondays to Saturdays)

The City Council operates shuttle bus services on weekdays from eastern parts of the city (such as Woodingdean and Whitehawk) to three educational establishments: City College, Varndean College and Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College (BHASVIC). A flat fare of 50p per journey is charged. There are two journeys in the morning and two return journeys in the afternoon. Details

The Council is also involved in a "door-to-door" bus link scheme covering the whole city. A company called Community Transport (Brighton, Hove & Area) Ltd, incorporated in 1991, operates the service on behalf of the Council. Specially adapted buses with passenger lifts or ramps for wheelchairs are used at all times, and journeys can be booked by telephone. Company website

[edit] Taxis

Various forms of transport outside Brighton station: two of the auto rickshaw fleet, a Dennis Dart bus (N218 NPN, fleet number 98) and two taxis in the white and aquamarine livery.

The city is served by a large number of taxis, operated by a variety of companies and individual drivers. Those which may be hailed on the street are painted in a standard white and aquamarine livery; private hire cars are not required to follow this colour scheme. Further information

The oldest taxi company in the city is Streamline Taxis, formed in 1936 as a co-operative association. Its members were individual vehicle proprietors, who operated independently but for whom an association of this type would be mutually beneficial. Each member paid a fee to join the association and a regular subscription fee to cover running and administrative costs. The association was governed by a committee of elected members. This structure is still in place today, and the association now comprises approximately 170 vehicles and 350 licensed drivers. Company website

Southern Taxis (Brighton) Ltd, trading as Brighton & Hove City Cabs, was established in 1962 and operates a fleet of approximately 180 vehicles and 250 licensed drivers. Company website

414141 Carcabs Ltd, trading as Carcabs, are based in Portslade and operate throughout the Brighton and Hove city area and further west. Company website

Brighton & Hove Radio Cabs Ltd are another large privately-owned firm, established in 1964 and based in the Seven Dials area of Brighton. Their present fleet comprises approximately 180 vehicles. Company website

The city's three main taxi ranks are in Western Road, East Street and outside Brighton railway station.

[edit] Auto rickshaws

As of mid-2006, auto rickshaws have been operating a network in Brighton. They operate set routes. The rickshaws must be hailed at a dedicated stop. Auto rickshaws are painted in a variety of bright colours, but are clearly recognisable thanks to their unique styling. They are powered by compressed natural gas. They are operated by Tuctuc Ltd.

[edit] Trams ^[1]

The first tramway in the Brighton area was the Brighton and Shoreham Tramway, which at its fullest extent ran from a terminus in Southdown Road, Shoreham to Westbourne Villas in Hove, on the former boundary between Hove and Portslade. The tramway never penetrated Hove, although a connecting horse-bus (route 112, operated by the Brighton and Preston United Omnibus Company) was available from the Westbourne Villas terminus. Construction took place in 1883 and 1884; the route was opened throughout on 3 July 1884, initially with steam-driven trams. After this proved unsuccessful, other methods of propulsion were tried (including, in 1887, an early battery-powered locomotive) until horse power took over in 1893. The British Electric Traction company took over the operations in 1898, but was unable to agree with any of the local authorities on a strategy for electrification. The tramway was therefore horse-drawn until the end, on 6 June 1913.

Brighton Corporation Tramways operated an extensive network of routes in the first four decades of the 20th century. The first route to operate, from 25 November 1901, ran from the main terminus at the Aquarium (outside Brighton Pier) to Lewes Road, a major route to the north-east; other routes were quickly established, so that by 1904 its full extent had been established. The routes were as follows:

Routes B and D formed a loop which took approximately 30 minutes to navigate. Route B ran clockwise (via Beaconsfield Road first, then returning via Ditchling Road). A depot serving the whole network was established on Lewes Road, a short distance before the terminus; the Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company now uses the building as its main depot. Improvements in motor bus and trolleybus technology meant that by the 1930s, the tram system found it difficult to compete, and most of the network was replaced by trolleybus or motor bus routes in 1939. The last tram arrived at Lewes Road depot in the early hours of 1 September 1939 - two days before the start of World War II.

Distinctive timber shelters were built at many stops in the early years of the network. Some of these are still standing today. Photo

[edit] References

1. ^ Harley, Robert J. Brighton's Tramways, Middleton Press, 1992. ISBN 1-873793-02-2.

[edit] External links

• Official City Transport site with live bus times, car parks, and further information
• City Council information on local transport including access to Transport Plan
• The weird cycle lanes of Brighton
• British Rail video of train operation between Brighton and Hove stations
• TucTuc Ltd. – operators of the auto rickshaw service; showing routes & times
• Brighton & Hove’s Transport History Trail