Newhaven Marine railway station

Newhaven Marine
The entrance to the platform at Newhaven Marine before demolition of the station in 2017.
Location
Place Newhaven
Local authority Lewes
Coordinates 50°47′15″N 0°03′24″E / 50.7875°N 0.0566°E / 50.7875; 0.0566Coordinates: 50°47′15″N 0°03′24″E / 50.7875°N 0.0566°E / 50.7875; 0.0566
Grid reference TQ450006
Operations
Station code NVM
Number of platforms 1
DfT category F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
History
Original company LB&SCR
Pre-grouping LB&SCR
Post-grouping Southern Railway
17 May 1886 Opened as Newhaven Harbour (Boat Station)
14 May 1984 Renamed Newhaven Marine
August 2006 Services Suspended on Safety Grounds
May 2017 Demolished
National Rail – UK railway stations
UK Railways portal

Newhaven Marine railway station was a station in Newhaven, East Sussex, England near Newhaven Harbour. It is legally open, but has been closed to passengers since August 2006 due to safety concerns. [1] The station has been a site of fascination due to the operation of 'ghost train' services to the station which do not appear in timetables and which are inaccessible to the public but which nonetheless call at the station once a day in order to fulfill the legal obligations of an 'open' station.[2][3]

In May 2018, it was revealed that the station is being considered for a legal closure as part of plans to improve freight connectivity in the area.[4]

History

The first station adjacent to the site was named Newhaven Wharf which opened with the line from Lewes on 8 December 1847 and closed when Newhaven Harbour station opened.[5][6] The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) opened the station on 17 May 1886, as Newhaven Harbour (Boat Station). On 14 May 1984 British Railways renamed it Newhaven Marine.[7]

The line to Newhaven Marine branches off the Seaford line at Newhaven Harbour Junction. The single platform of Newhaven Marine is numbered 3; it is long enough for 12 coaches, and is 16 chains (320 m) to the south of Newhaven Harbour station (56 miles 67 chains (91.5 km) measured from London Bridge via Redhill[8]). There is a run-round loop.[9]

While Newhaven Marine was once a busy station, offering connections for ferry passengers travelling to Dieppe in France, gradual reductions in ferry passenger numbers led to a fall in demand for the station.[10] By 2006, it was served by a daily Parliamentary train, the name given to services in the UK which are operated in order to meet the legal obligations of train companies to keep a station or line open. In August 2006, the station was closed to the public due to safety concerns over the condition of the roof canopy, [1] which was later removed. [11] A daily service continued to operate, stopping at the station platforms but with passengers unable to access it. [11] Attention was brought to the situation in a BBC Radio 4 programme, The Ghost Trains of Old England, in October 2010,[2] and the station became well known among railway enthusiasts for its unusual status.[3][12] At this time, much of the station building remained standing, with fences preventing access to the platforms.[2][3] A poster at the station offered ticket-holders a taxi to Newhaven Harbour station at the scheduled time of the Parliamentary train, although the journey between the two stations is less than a 2 minute walk. [2][3]

Services and station today

In 2017, the station buildings were demolished and access to the site remained impossible,[13] [14] but a daily service continues to call at the station. [13]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Terminus   Southern
Seaford Branch Line		   Newhaven Harbour

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Newhaven Marine Railway Station". Hansard. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "The Ghost Trains of Old England". BBC. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Pipe, Vicki; Marshall, Geoff (2011-06-01). "Newhaven Marine Ghost Train". Geoff Marshall (YouTube). Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  4. ↑ Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP. "Improving Port Connectivity". Lexology. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  5. ↑ https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/media/1737/newhaven_eus_report_maps.pdf
  6. ↑ Southern Region Record by R.H.Clark
  7. ↑ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 169. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  8. ↑ Yonge, John (November 2008) [1994]. Jacobs, Gerald, ed. Railway Track Diagrams 5: Southern & TfL (3rd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 17A. ISBN 978-0-9549866-4-3.
  9. ↑ Yonge, John (November 2008) [1994]. Jacobs, Gerald, ed. Railway Track Diagrams 5: Southern & TfL (3rd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 17A. ISBN 978-0-9549866-4-3.
  10. ↑ Gilbert, Gerard. "Travel: Channel ferry gets that sinking feeling". The Independent. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  11. 1 2 Department of Transport. "Freedom of Information Request 105003 response" (PDF). What do they know. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  12. ↑ "Seaside postcard: Newhaven". Diamond Geezer. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  13. 1 2 David, Gareth (25 May 2017). "Ghost train to Newhaven Marine". RailwayWorld. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  14. ↑ "Switch! Reverse that! - Episode 6, Day 9 - Bognor Regis to Gatwick Airport". All the Stations. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.