East Coastway Line

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Lewes Railway Station on 15 July 2003 - looking East
Lewes Railway Station on 15 July 2003 - looking East
East Coastway Line
km (from Brighton)
LUECKE LUECKE
to Hove West Coastway Line
BHFr ABZdr ABZ3lf HLUECKE
0.000 Brighton Brighton Main Line
STR
BRÜCKE
London Road viaduct
STR
HST
1.147 London Road (Brighton)
TUNNEL1
Ditchling Road Tunnel 63 yds
exHLUECKE eABZrf
Kemp Town Junction closed
HST
2.736 Moulsecoomb
STR
BRÜCKE
Lewis Road viaduct
STR STRrg HLUECKE
To Keymer Jnc (Brighton Main Line)
STR HST
Plumpton
STR HST
Cooksbridge
HST STR
5.613 Falmer
STR eABZrg exHLUECKE
pre 1868 Wealden Line alignment
TUNNEL1 STR
Falmer Tunnel 490yds (441m)
STR TUNNEL1
Lewes Tunnel  395 yds
CPICl CPICr
12.935 Lewes
ABZrg xABZrf
eABZlf exKRZu exHLUECKE
Wealden Line To Uckfield
STRlf xABZlg
HLUECKE HSTR ABZrf
14.705 Southerham Jnc Seaford Branch
STR
HST
17.984 Glynde
HST
25.146 Berwick
STR
HST
Polegate opened 1986 see text
eABZrg exHLUECKE
Cuckoo Line to Eridge closed
eABZlf exHLUECKE
Original alignment closed
eBHF
Polegate closed 1986
STRrg xABZrf
31.945 Polegate Jnc
STRrg ABZgf exSTR
34.581 Willingdon Jnc
STR STR exHST
Stonecross Halt Closed
STR STRlf xABZlg
34.621 Stonecross Jnc
HST STR
35.305 Hampden Park
STR HST
37.156 Pevensey & Westham
KBFe STR
38.483 Eastbourne
HST
38.383 Pevensey Bay
HST
41.783 Normans Bay
HST
44.518 Cooden Beach
HST
46.751 Collington
HST
48.059 Bexhill
eHST
St Leonards West Marine closed
ABZrg HLUECKE
Hastings Line To Tonbridge
TUNNEL1
Tunnel
HST
St Leonards Warrior Square
TUNNEL1
Tunnel
BHF
Hastings
LUECKE
To Marshlink Line


East Coastway is the name used by the train operating company, Southern (formerly South Central Trains), for the routes it operates along the south coast of Sussex and Kent to the east of Brighton, England. Those to the West of Brighton are named the West Coastway Line. The trains running under the East Coastway name serve stations between Brighton, Lewes, Eastbourne, Hastings and Ashford, together with the branch line to Seaford, whilst the long closed branch to Kemptown (an area of Brighton) used to diverge just east of London Road Station.

The Brighton Main Line route to Eastbourne and Hastings, via Plumpton & Cooksbridge, shares the East Coastway line east of Lewes station, thus for completeness, the line from Lewes to Keymer Jnc. (were it joins the Brighton Main Line) has been included on the route map. Not included here, but having their own articles, are the Newhaven & Seaford Branch and Kemp Town Branch.

Contents

[edit] The Route

  • Brighton: trains to and from Lewes mostly use the eastern platforms here.

London Road viaduct 28 arches.

Ditchling Road Tunnel 63 yd (58m)
Here lay the junction for the Kemp Town branch now closed

Falmer Tunnel 490yd (441m)

  • Lewes: has been the junction for other routes; only two remain open: Here lies the junction with the Keymer Jnc. to Lewes line

Lewes station was also the junction for two branch lines to the north: one for Eridge via Uckfield; the other to East Grinstead and beyond. Both leaving Lewes via the Wealden Line, splitting at Culver Junction.

Here lies the Southerham Junction for the Newhaven & Seaford branch

At one time, to the north side of the line lay interchange sidings for the then near-by cement works [1].

Continuing the main route:

  • Glynde:
    Here lay interchange sidings for two industrial branch lines; one to a Clay pit and the other to a Chalk pit.
  • Berwick
  • Polegate: This is both the current location of the station (opened 1986) and site of the original 1846 station.

The former line to Eridge via Hailsham (Cuckoo Line) diverged at this point. The junction originally faced west, but in 1871 its alignment was changed to face east to allow through running into Eastbourne. The branch was closed to passengers in 1965 and to freight in 1968.

  • Polegate (closed) Site of the second and largest Polegate station, 1871 - 1986, opened when the junction was re-aligned.

Eastwards, beyond the site of the station, was a triangular junction allowing direct access to Hastings. This is now closed, and all trains run into Eastbourne and reverse to continue their journey. On the top part of the triangle was once:

  • Stonecross Halt - now closed

The line to Eastbourne continues southwards: Here lies Willingdon Junction.

From here trains reverse through Hampden Park, and continue east at Willingdon Junction.

Continuing east at Willingdon Junction;

Eastbourne railway station
Eastbourne railway station

Tunnel

Tunnel

  • Hastings
    • Trains from London continue beyond Hastings to Ore where there are extensive carriage sidings, although the remainder of the line to Ashford is named the Marshlink Line.

[edit] History

Most of the lines operating within East Coastway were originally built by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway; the line between St Leonards Warrior Square and Ashford by the South Eastern Railway, although this later section (east of Ore) was not originally part of the East Coastway line services.

All the lines, as far as Ore (although not the Kemp Town branch), were electrified using the (750 V DC third rail) system by the Southern Railway during the inter-war years.

[edit] Lewes Station

Lewes station has a quite complex history, as follows; [2] [3]

A terminus was provided for services arriving from Brighton (1846 - 1857)
  • 27 June 1846: Line is extended from Lewes to Hastings.
A platform is provided, called 'Ham (or Southover)', slightly west of the divergence for the Hastings line (1846 - 1848)
Platforms (going by the name of 'Pinwell) are built opposite the Terminus, west of the Hasting line divergence serving trains to and from the Hasting direction (1847 - 1857)
  • 1857: A new station is built at the divergence of the keymer line
This was the first station at this site, the station building being of a Swiss chalet style [4] (1857 - 1889)
  • 1 October 1886: a new junction for the realigned Wealden Line opened.
The alignment of this line appears to have passed through the location of the original terminus; the station goods yard also being at this location. Prior to this date the Wealdon line joined the keymer line at a junction someplace between the north portal of Lewes tunnel and Cooksbridge station [5] (see the Wealden Line article for details).
The 1857 station is totally rebuilt and the track layout changed, this new station is still in use today.
On 5 November 1960, Lewes suffered severe flooding, legend has it that the Borough Surveyor requested that the London Platforms be blown up to allow flood water to escape via the railway track-bed, the British Railways district Engineer declined to co-operate. [6] In the 1960s, the original 1846 terminus building, fronting the public street (Friars Walk), was demolished. [7]

[edit] World War Two

[edit] Brighton

During a daylight air raid on 25 May 1943 a German bomber dropped five bombs that hit the upper goods yard north of Brighton station and part of the viaduct carrying the East Coastway line, along with other damage the bombs demolished two arches of the viaduct and killed one railway employee. Temporary repairs to the viaduct were soon made and by the year's end the damaged brickwork was restored [8].

[edit] Eastbourne

In March 1944 the station platforms were badly damage during a German air raid, ripping up track and bring down platform canopies. In 1942 railway employees were killed during an ARP exercise [9].

The 1911 locomotive shed was severely damaged, being left virtually roofless, by numerous air raids [10].

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ plates 72 & 73 plus map, Brighton to Eastbourne by Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Middleton Press 1985 ISBN 0 906520 16 9
  2. ^ maps opposite plate 50, Brighton to Eastbourne by Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Middleton Press 1985 ISBN 0 906520 16 9
  3. ^ London, Brighton & South Coast Railway Album, Klaus Marx, Ian Allan, 1982, ISBN 0 7110 1187 7
  4. ^ page 22, London, Brighton & South Coast Railway Album, Klaus Marx, Ian Allan, 1982, ISBN 0 7110 1187 7
  5. ^ Undated map from The Railway Magazine, reproduced in Brighton to Eastbourne by Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Middleton Press 1985 ISBN 0 906520 16 9
  6. ^ plate 65, Brighton to Eastbourne by Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Middleton Press 1985 ISBN 0 906520 16 9
  7. ^ plate 48, Brighton to Eastbourne by Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Middleton Press 1985 ISBN 0 906520 16 9
  8. ^ plates 13 through 16, Brighton to Eastbourne by Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Middleton Press 1985 ISBN 0 906520 16 9
  9. ^ plate 112, Brighton to Eastbourne by Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Middleton Press 1985 ISBN 0 906520 16 9
  10. ^ page 27, An Historical Survey of Southern Sheds, by Chris Hawkins & George Reeve; OPC, 1979 ISBN 0 86093 020 3
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