East Coastway Line

Brighton – Hastings / Seaford / Eastbourne
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend Brighton West Coastway Line to Southampton Central Brighton Main Line to London Bridge & London Victoria London Road Viaduct Brighton London Road Ditching Road Tunnel Kemp Town Junction Brighton Lewes Road closed 1933 Lewes Road Viaduct Hartington Road Viaduct Brighton Hartington Road closed in 1911 Kemptown Tunnel Brighton Kemp Town (until 1933, goods until 1971) Brighton Moulsecoomb Lewes Road Viaduct Falmer Falmer tunnel Brighton Main Line from London Victoria Wivelsfield Brighton Main Line to Brighton Plumpton Cooksbridge Wealden Line from Uckford Lewes tunnel Lewes Wedge Station Wealden Line nack Uckford Southerham Junction Southease Newhaven Town Newhaven Harbor Newhaven Marine decommissioned since 2006 Bishopstone Beach Bishopstone Seaford Glynde Berwick Polegate (new train station) Polegate (old train station) Willingon Junction Eastbourne Hampden Park Eastbourne Stone Cross halt Pevensey & Westham Pevensey Bay Normans Bay Cooden Beach Collington Bexhill St. Leonhards Bulverhyte St. Leonhards Marina West Hastings Line from (London–) Tonbridge Bo-peep tunnel St. Leonhards Warrior Square Hastings tunnel Hastings Marshlink Line to Ore - Ashford International

The East Coastway Line is a railway line in southern England . Together with the Marshlink Line , it connects the Brighton Main Line with the South Eastern Main Line along the coast . In addition to the main Brighton - Hastings line, there are also two branch lines to Newhaven - Seaford and Eastbourne , with a rebuilding of the Willingdon Junction triangle near Polegate forcing all trains to break at Eastbourne station . Another branch line to Kemp Town was shut down for passenger traffic in 1933 and for goods traffic in 1971 and then broken off.

Its western continuation is the West Coastway Line from Brighton to Southampton .

history

Main line

The Brighton - St. Leonards Marina West section was opened in June 1846 by the Brighton Lewes and Hastings Railway . This company was merged with other railway companies to form the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB & SCR) just a few weeks later . The St. Leonards Marina West - Hastings section was opened in 1851 by the London South Eastern Railway, which rivaled the LB & SCR, as part of its line opening from Ashford . The operational management between St. Leonards Marina West - Hastings has been the responsibility of LB & SCR since the opening.

Between the First and the Second World War , the routes of the East Coastway Line (except for the branch line to Kemp Town) were electrified with a conductor rail of 750 volts alternating current .

During World War II, the line was often the target of bombing by the German Wehrmacht , due to its proximity to the coastline. Destinations included the London Road Viaduct in Brighton, Eastbourne Station and the small locomotive depot in Eastbourne.

Today, Southern diesel trains operate on the route .

In the more recent past, the line has seen a sharp increase in passengers, even greater than that of the Brighton Main Line .

Kemp Town branch line

The branch line from Brighton to Kemp Town opened in 1869. In 1906, the Hartington Road stop was opened and closed again five years later. In 1917, LB & SCR stopped passenger traffic on the route for the first time, only to resume it in 1919. In 1933 it was finally discontinued, until 1971 the line was still used for freight traffic before it was completely shut down and broken off.

Newhaven-Seaford branch line

The Lewes - Newhaven - Seaford branch line was created in 1864 to connect the seaport of Newhaven to the rail network. The line includes six stations and stops, including two in Newhaven. After Newhaven Harbor there was a short branch to Newhaven Marine until 2006. The terminus in Seaford was originally double-tracked, but it has now been dismantled on one track. There is only a double lane between Lewes and Newhaven Harbor. Today the line is served every half hour by Southern trains to / from Brighton.

Originally the development of Eastbourne via Seaford was planned, instead a triangle was created at Polegate, which was cheaper. However, now all trains in Eastbourne have to make heads, which has a special feature for Hampden Park station: Each train passes the station twice: it either drives through once and stops once or it even stops twice.

Eastbourne branch line

In 1849, LB & SCR opened a single-track feeder line from Polegate to Eastbourne . A track triangle was then built in the area of ​​the junction so that trains to Eastbourne can run from both directions. Eastbourne is a terminus station after the idea of ​​an extension of the Newhaven-Seaford branch line to Eastbourne station was dropped.

In 1986 the Willingdon Junction triangle near Polegate was rebuilt and Polegate station relocated. Since then the direct route Polegate - Pevensey / Westham is no longer possible, all trains are forced to run to Eastbourne and turn heads there.

business

Southern serves the East Coastway line with several routes:

• London Victoria - East Croydon - Gatwick Airport - Lewes - Eastbourne - Hastings - Ore
• Brighton - Lewes - Eastbourne - Hastings - Ore (- Ashford International )
• Brighton - Lewes - Newhaven Town - Newhaven Harbor - Seaford
• The Hastings Line trains from London Charing Cross also come from St. Leonhards Warrior Square .

Web links

Commons : East Coastway Line  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/rus%20documents/route%20utilisation%20strategies/sussex/consultation%20responses/e/east%20coastway%20commuter%20group%20response%20to%20network%20rail % 20sussex% 20rus% 20_19% 20aug% 202009.pdf Report from Network Rail
3. ↑ History of Kemptown ( Memento of the original from December 12, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.