History
The Brighton Lewes and Hastings Railway was formed 7 February 1844 and received Parliamentary approval for the construction of a line between Brighton and Lewes 29 July 1844. Work was started by September, engineered by John Urpeth Rastrick, with the route crossing a valley with the London Road viaduct then running through the South Downs to Falmer before descending down to Lewes, with a station at Falmer. This section opened on 8 June 1846. By 27 June 1846 a single line extension was opened to just outside Hastings at Bulverhythe with an intermediate station at Polegate to serve Eastbourne (this section was later doubled in January 1849).
The following month (July 1846) the Brighton Lewes and Hastings Railway, along with other railways, merged to form the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. In November 1846 the bridge over the River Asten was completed and Bulverhythe station was replaced with Hastings and St Leonards station, later renamed St Leonards West Marina railway station.
For almost a year all services from London travelled via Brighton until a spur off the Brighton main line was constructed from Keymer Junction to Lewes and opened on 2 October 1847. On 14 May 1849, two branches from Polegate opened, one southwards to Eastbourne and one northwards to Hailsham making Polegate an important junction.
Lewes has had its fair share of stations. When the rail first arrived at Lewes, a terminus station was built in Friars Walk. Trains running from Brighton to Hastings first visited Lewes Friars Walk station then reversed out before continuing east. Platforms were built in 1847, known as Pinwell platforms, eliminating the need for reversing trains but were separate from Friars walk, a new junction station with four platforms was constructed and opened on 1 November 1857. Serving Brighton, London, Uckfield, Newhaven, Eastbourne and Hastings, the station was rebuilt and re-aligned 32 years later with the original route leading to the freight yards.
Another junction station on the line was at Polegate. In May 1849, two branch lines from Polegate were built, one southwards to Eastbourne and one north to Hailsham; both had left the station from the east which meant trains from Eastbourne had to reverse at Polegate. Although this was changed when the Cuckoo Line from Hailsham to Eridge was extended in 1880 and a new station was built 440 yards east and had four through platforms, the line to Hailsham was re-routed from the west of the station which eliminated the need to reverse trains from Eastbourne towards Tunbridge Wells.
Eastbourne railway station also increased in size as a terminal station. The present station is the second station in the town, built in 1880 and which once boasted four platforms, a locomotive shed and an extensive goods yard. A branch line was also built just north of the station heading east to the town's gas works and to the "Crumbles", an area of shingle which was once used for ballast on the railway line. The next station in the area was Hampden Park, built in 1888 as Willingdon, after the parish of Willingdon. The junction north of Hampden Park is called Willingdon Junction, where the route diverges either east or west.
A single line spur from Willingdon Junction to Stone Cross Junction was opened on 2 August 1871, forming a triangular junction between Polegate, Pevensey and Eastbourne and allowing direct trains to operate from Eastbourne to Hastings. This was doubled in 1862.
The remaining 0.25 miles (0.40 km) of line to Hastings were constructed by the South Eastern Railway in 1851 as a part of their line from Ashford to Hastings but the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway - obtained running powers over it.
Read more about this topic: East Coastway Line
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