History
The station was named "Hassocks Gate" upon its opening on 21 September 1841 by the London and Brighton Railway, which became the London Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1846. It was one of the few intermediate stations on the line with four tracks, to allow express trains to overtake those stopping at the station. However, the number of tracks was later reduced to two, although the additional width is still apparent from the siting of the station buildings.
The original 1841 station building was designed by David Mocatta, the architect of the railway, in a simple cottage style, but using the same modular system that he applied to other stations on the line.
For many years Hassocks Gate station was used by excursion trains for passengers visiting the nearby South Downs and suffered as a result as it became a meeting place for prostitutes. It stands almost at the summit of the line's climb from London before passing through Clayton Tunnel, a short distance south of the station. This was the site of the Clayton Tunnel rail crash in 1861, resulting in 23 deaths and 176 injuries.
Between December 1880 and August 1881 a new station building was constructed by James Longley & Co of Crawley. It was built in the same style as stations on the Bluebell and Cuckoo lines with a half-timbered upper storey, decorative brick eaves, stained glass windows and charming porches. The booking office was covered by a lantern-shaped roof and the platforms by wooden canopies on iron columns. The station was demolished in 1973 by British Rail and replaced with a CLASP structure which has been described as "truly awful".
In 2006 the local community announced that it was hoping to raise £2.5m to rebuild the station to the previous design.
These plans seem to have fallen through as in 2008 Network Rail announced that it would be carrying out an 18 month feasibility study to identify possible improvements to the existing building in order to facilitate access by the disabled and elderly. Recent changes (2011) to the station have seen the addition of ticket gate lines on both platforms and some refurbishment of the shelters. In January 2011 it was announced by Network Rail that "£1.25 million will be used to rebuild the station under the Department for Transport’s National Station Improvement Programme and that a further £1.6 million, from the Access for All scheme, will be used to install step-free access."
Work began on building the new station in November 2012.
Read more about this topic: Hassocks Railway Station
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