Uckfield railway station
Uckfield  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Place | Uckfield |
| Local authority | Wealden |
| Grid reference | TQ473209 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | UCK |
| Managed by | Southern |
| Number of platforms | 1 |
|
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries | |
| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2004/05 | 0.147 million |
| 2005/06 |
 0.217 million |
| 2006/07 |
0.263 million |
| 2007/08 |
0.310 million |
| 2008/09 |
0.335 million |
| 2009/10 |
0.337 million |
| 2010/11 |
0.403 million |
| History | |
| Original company | Lewes & Uckfield Railway |
| October 18, 1858 | Opened |
| January 1990 | Line singled (down platform closed) |
| May 13, 1991 | Relocated |
| December 9, 2000 | Original station demolished |
| March 16, 2010 | Station rebuilt |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Uckfield from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
 UK Railways portal | |
Uckfield railway station serves Uckfield in East Sussex, England. Train services from the station are provided by Southern, and the station is the terminus for the Uckfield branch of the Oxted Line.
History
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The present Uckfield station opened in 1991 replacing the original structure which was sited 55 yards (50 m) to the south. With the closure of the line south to Lewes (where a junction allowed trains to continue on to Eastbourne or Brighton), the original station found itself stranded on the wrong side of a level crossing on the High Street which created traffic congestion whenever a train was arriving or departing from the station. The decision was therefore made to close the original station (which had been opened in 1868) and to open a new station on the other side of the road. The original station was demolished on 9 December 2000 after it had been damaged first by flooding and then by vandals.[1]
Since 1986 there had been a campaign to re-open the line south of Uckfield through to Lewes, known as the Wealden Line, and has attracted cross-party support.[2] In 2008 the "Wealdenlink" presentation was published which gave new impetus to the campaign for reinstatement.[3] On 23 July 2008 the Central Rail Corridor Board (a joint group of local councils and stakeholders) commissioned study by Network Rail reported that there was not an economic case for reopening, citing a £141 million cost and an allegedly low "benefit-cost ratio" of 0.64 to 0.79 when a figure of 1.5 is the minimum required by the Department for Transport to make a scheme viable.[4]
As part of Network Rail's national stations improvement programme, Uckfield received a new station building to replace the 1991 portakabin-type structure which was deemed "not fit for purpose".[5] The new building was built to Network Rail's modular, pre-fabricated design used at Mitcham Eastfields and Greenhithe.[6] The components for Uckfield's new station building - consisting of a ticket office, public toilet, staff accommodation, ticket hall and café - were manufactured by Britspace in Yorkshire and installed by contractors Bryen & Langley.[7] The new building, which cost £750,000,[8] was opened for passenger use on 16 March 2010.[9]
Whereas the neighbouring East Grinstead line has 750V DC electric trains, the Uckfield line is run only by Class 171 diesel multiple units, which replaced older Class 205 and Class 207 DEMUs. It has been proposed many times that the line be electrified, but this is considered too expensive.[10] Rail usage figures published in March 2010 showed that journeys from the station had increased by 179% in the five years to 2008/09.[11]
Services
The typical off-peak service is one train per hour to London Bridge, calling at Buxted, Crowborough, Eridge, Ashurst (Kent), Cowden, Hever, Edenbridge Town, Hurst Green, Oxted and East Croydon. On Sundays this is reduced to an hourly shuttle to Oxted calling at all stations. Previously, most off peak trains from Uckfield only went as far as Oxted (with an interchange with East Grinstead line services), but since Southern has taken over the service, it has been extended and passenger numbers have risen. In December 2010 a new later evening service from London Bridge (around 11pm) was introduced allowing passengers for the first time in recent years to travel home from London late evening.
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buxted | Southern Oxted Line Uckfield branch |
Terminus | ||
| Disused railways | ||||
| Buxted Line and station open |
British Rail Southern Region Wealden Line |
Isfield Line closed; station open | ||
 Proposed Heritage railways |
||||
| Terminus | Lavender Line | Isfield Line closed; station open | ||
References
- ↑ "Disused Stations". Subterranea Britannica.
- ↑ Hart, Brian. "Wealden Line Campaign". Retrieved 2010-03-31.
- ↑ Hart, Brian. "WealdenLink". Retrieved 2010-03-31.
- ↑ East Sussex County Council (2008-10-20). "Lewes-Uckfield rail link". Retrieved 2010-03-31.
- ↑ Network Rail (2010-03-16). "New Station at Uckfield Opens for Passengers". Retrieved 2010-03-31.
- ↑ Network Rail (2009-07-02). "Uckfield Passengers to Benefit from a New Station". Retrieved 2010-03-31.
- ↑ "Modular building transforms Uckfield station". Modern Railways 67 (739): 8. April 2010.
- ↑ Uckfield News (2010-03-17). "New Uckfield rail station opens". Retrieved 2010-03-31.
- ↑ "Newly constructed station building opens at Uckfield" (PDF). Railway Herald (216). 2010-03-22. p. 6. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
- ↑ Tony McNulty (2004-06-10). "Lewes-Uckfield Rail Link". HC Deb, 10 June 2004, c495. House of Commons. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
- ↑ Southern (2010-03-17). "Brand New Station Opens at Uckfield". Retrieved 2010-03-31.
External links
- Train times and station information for Uckfield railway station from National Rail
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Coordinates: 50°58′08″N 0°05′46″E / 50.969°N 0.096°E