Brighton  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Station exterior. | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Brighton,Brighton and Hove, England | ||||
| Coordinates | 50°49′44″N0°08′28″W / 50.8288°N 0.1411°W /50.8288; -0.1411 | ||||
| Grid reference | TQ310049 | ||||
| Owned by | Network Rail | ||||
| Managed by | Govia Thameslink Railway | ||||
| Platforms | 8 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | BTN | ||||
| Classification | DfT category B | ||||
| History | |||||
| Opened | 11 May 1840 | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019/20 |  17.356 million | ||||
| Interchange |  1.660 million | ||||
| 2020/21 | 4.149 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.367 million | ||||
| 2021/22 | 11.228 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.926 million | ||||
| 2022/23 | 14.053 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.893 million | ||||
| 2023/24 | 14.548 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.981 million | ||||
Listed Building – Grade II* | |||||
| Feature | Brighton station including train sheds | ||||
| Designated | 30 April 1973 (amended 26 August 1999) | ||||
| Reference no. | 1380797[1] | ||||
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Brighton railway station is the principal station serving the city ofBrighton inBrighton and Hove,East Sussex, England, operated byGovia Thameslink Railway. It is the southern terminus of theBrighton Main Line, the western terminus of theEast Coastway Line and the eastern terminus of theWest Coastway Line. It is 50 miles 49 chains (50.61 miles, 81.45 km) fromLondon Bridge viaRedhill.
The station was built by theLondon & Brighton Railway in 1840–41, initially only connecting Brighton toShoreham-by-Sea, westwards along the coast, in May 1840. In September 1841, it was connected inland toHaywards Heath andLondon Bridge via the newClayton Tunnel; then in 1846 to the county town ofLewes to the east via theLondon Road Viaduct. The railway became theLondon, Brighton & South Coast Railway in 1846 following mergers with other railways with lines betweenPortsmouth andHastings.
With 14.5 million passenger entries and exits in 2023-24, Brighton is the busiest station inEast Sussex, the second busiest inSouth East England, and the seventh-busiest station in the country outside London.[2]
TheLondon & Brighton Railway (L&BR) built a passenger station, goods station, locomotive depot and railway works on a difficult site on the northern edge of Brighton. This site was 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from, and 70 feet (21 m) above the sea shore, and had involved considerable excavation work to create a reasonable gradient fromPatcham Tunnel.[3]
The passenger station was a three-storey building in an Italianate style, designed byDavid Mocatta in 1839–40 which incorporated the head office of the railway company.[4] (This building still stands but has been largely obscured by later additions.) The station is said to have many similarities to theNine Elms railway station of theLondon and Southampton Railway (1838) designed bySir William Tite.[5] Baker & Son were paid £9766 15s for the station building between May and August 1841.[6] The platform accommodation was built byJohn Urpeth Rastrick and consisted of four pitched roofs each 250 ft (76 m) long.[7] It opened for trains to Shoreham on 12 May 1840, and to London on 21 September 1841.[8][9]
The station site was extended for the opening of theBrighton Lewes and Hastings Railway on 8 June 1846[10] (which had been purchased by the L&BR in 1845). In July 1846, the L&BR merged with other railways to form theLondon, Brighton & South Coast Railway.[11]
Further extensions to the station occurred during the mid-19th century but only a limited number of additional platforms could be added because of the awkward sloping site. By the late 1870s the facilities were inadequate for the growing volume of traffic and so the existing platforms were lengthened to be able to accommodate two trains, and the three separate roofs were replaced by an overall roof during 1882/1883.
The station has an impressive large double-spanned curved glass and iron roof covering all of the platforms, which was substantially renovated in 1999 and 2000.[12]
At the front of the station is a bus station. The station has six bus stops which are served by Brighton & Hove bus routes1, 1A, N1,5B,6,7, N7,12, 12A, 12X,13X,14, 14C,18,24,26,27, 27B, 27C,46,48,49,55,59 and79.[13][14][15][16][17][18] The station taxi rank is outside the rear of the station. A tunnel runs under the station which once provided an open-air cab run at a shallower gradient than Trafalgar Street outside, which had been the main approach to the station before the construction ofQueen's Road (which was financially supported by the railway and intended to improve access). The cab run was covered (forming a tunnel) when the station above was extended over it on cast iron columns. The cab run remains in situ but has been sealed at the station end, with the sloped entrance infilled with concrete and used as a storage area.[19]
Help, a dog used to collect charitable donations, was displayed at the station following its death in 1891.[20]
A goods station and yard was also constructed on the eastern side of the passenger station but on a site 30 ft lower (9.1 m) due to the sloping site, which was initially accessed from the Shoreham line by a second tunnel under the passenger station. The tunnel entrance was filled in after new tracks were laid into the goods yard, but a portion of it was converted into offices duringWorld War II, and these were in use until the early 21st century. A portion of the tunnel is still used by a local rifle club, with an entrance staircase accessible from platforms 6 and 7. The site of the goods yard has since been redeveloped, and much of it forms theNew England Quarter.[21]
To the north of the station, on the east side of the main line, the railway constructed itslocomotive and carriage works, which operated from 1841 until 1911, when the carriage works was moved toLancing and 1957 when the locomotive works closed. ThereafterIsetta cars were briefly built in a part of the works.[22]
The London & Brighton Railway opened a small locomotive shed and servicing facility to the north west of the station for locomotives on the Shoreham line, in May 1840, and another, adjacent to the locomotive works for main line locomotives, the following year.[23]During 1860–1861John Chester Craven, the locomotive superintendent of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) began the removal of a large chalk hill to the north of the station, which had been dumped during the excavation of the main line. The space created was used to accommodate a new much enlarged motive power depot in 1861, replacing the two existing facilities.[24][25] During the early 1930s, following the electrification of the lines the steam motive power depot was rebuilt and reduced in size.[24] It was closed 15 June 1961 but remained in use for stabling steam locomotives until 1964 and was demolished in 1966.
The site is currently theNetwork Rail's ECR and infrastructure maintenance depot, andSouthern'sLovers Walk Depot, used for servicing most of Southern's single voltageClass 377 and formerlyClass 313 fleets.
Brighton station waslisted at Grade II*[1] on 30 April 1973.[1] As of February 2001, it was one of70 Grade II*-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city ofBrighton and Hove.[26]
The station has eight platforms, numbered 1 to 8 from left to right when looking from the main entrance. All platforms are long enough to accommodate 12-car trains, except platform 1 which can only hold up to 10 carriages.
Services at Brighton are operated bySouthern,Gatwick Express andThameslink usingClass 377,387 and700EMUs respectively.
Services at the station are as follows.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[27][28]
During peak hours and on Saturdays, the station is also served by an additional hourly toOre.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[29][28]
During peak hours, a number of Gatwick Express services call atPreston Park,Hassocks andBurgess Hill between Brighton and Haywards Heath.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[30]
On Sundays, the service to Cambridge is reduced to hourly.
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haywards Heath (Preston Park during peak hours) | Gatwick Express | Terminus | ||
| Preston Park or Burgess Hill | Thameslink | |||
| London Road orMoulsecoomb | Southern | |||
| Southern | ||||
| Disused railways | ||||
| Hove | British Rail Southern Region | Terminus | ||
The following companies have served Brighton in the past:
Until 1967 a service operated between Brighton andBirkenhead Woodside viaRedhill,Reading,Oxford,Birmingham Snow Hill,Wolverhampton Low Level,Shrewsbury andChester. The stock was provided on alternate days byBritish Railways successors to theSouthern Railway and theGreat Western Railway being theSouthern Region andWestern Region.
Until December 2007,South West Trains operated regular services to Reading andPaignton viaWorthing andChichester.[31]
Until December 2008CrossCountry and its predecessors operated services toBirmingham New Street and beyond.[32]
Until May 2018, Brighton was served by an hourly service toAshford International viaEastbourne. Now, all Ashford trains terminate at Eastbourne.[33]
Until May 2022,Great Western Railway operated limited 3 car services toBristol Temple Meads and beyond.[34][35]
Football matches at theFalmer Stadium are served by train services from Brighton to Falmer. A queuing system is in operation from 2 hours before kick off for trains departing from platforms 7 and 8. The stadium's 31,800 capacity means these queues are large close to kick off. After the game, fans leave the station via the emergency gates, and a queuing system is in operation forWest Coastway Line services departing from platforms 1 and 2.
TheLewes Bonfire night, usually on 5 November, attracts large numbers of people, many travelling through Brighton station. As a result, Southern operate a queuing system from the afternoon onwards.[36]
TheLondon to Brighton Bike Ride in June each year attracts large numbers of cyclists. As a result, Southern bans bicycles from many trains on the day, and on the following day it operates a queuing system at Brighton station.[37] The train operators had in the past allowed bicycles on trains for the many cyclists returning to London.[38]
Passenger facilities include a ticket office, a travel information office, and several retail outlets. There are bus stops, a taxi rank, a car park and bicycle storage. Facilities for cyclists were extended in 2014 when a "cycle hub" was built at the rear entrance to the station. The three-storey building combines storage space for 500 bicycles with shops to buy or hire a bicycle, a repair facility, toilets, showers, changing facilities and a café. It is open 24 hours a day and storage is free of charge; most funding came from theDepartment for Transport (£500,000),Network Rail (£200,000), local rail operatorSouthern and the city council (£100,000 each).[39]
In 2012 £4.5 million was secured from the Department for Transport's Station Commercial Project Facility for renovation of the concourse. Changes included an increased number of ticket barriers, improved layout, more seating and retail outlets and the removal of the previous WH Smiths structure.[40]
In 2021, a tactile map was installed, in collaboration with theRoyal National Institute of Blind People, to help blind and partially sighted passengers navigate the station.[41]
BothSouthern andThameslink have driver, on board supervisor and conductor depots at Brighton station.[42]
Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington, died at the station on 13 August 1884.[43]
On 4 August 1909, a train hauled byTerrier No.83Earlswood collided with the buffers at Brighton, due to the driver's error. Nineteen people were injured.[44]
On 30 September 1922, control of a steam engine was lost at the engine shed. When the engine got to the turntable there were no buffer-stops to stop the engine. This caused the momentum of the engine to derail and crash through a brick wall into the street, injuring one passer-by.[45]
The concourse includes food shops, cafés, a newsagent and other food and retail outlets. The front of the station often sees stalls and street food vans. Following a request by Labour MP for HovePeter Kyle in 2014, Southern added astreet piano to the concourse, with a vintage Southern Railway logo inscribed.[46]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Earlswood hit the platform buffers
