Lewes railway station
Lewes railway station serves the town of Lewes in East Sussex, England. It has five platforms and is on the East Coastway Line, 49 miles 74 chains (80.3 km) from London Bridge via Redhill. Train services are provided by Southern.
Lewes  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Place | Lewes |
| Local authority | Lewes |
| Grid reference | TQ416098 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | LWS |
| Managed by | Southern |
| Number of platforms | 5 |
| DfT category | C2 |
| Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries | |
| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2014/15 |  |
| – Interchange | |
| 2015/16 | |
| – Interchange | |
| 2016/17 | |
| – Interchange | |
| 2017/18 |  |
| – Interchange | |
| 2018/19 | |
| – Interchange | |
| History | |
| 1846 | Opened |
| 1857 | Resited |
| 1889 | Rebuilt |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| |
The station has a café and there is a taxi office on the main forecourt. There is a small taxi rank outside.
History
The first station in Friars Walk opened in 8 June 1846 was originally built as a terminus on the Brighton line. However, this station became inconvenient after an extension to Hastings opened on 27 June 1846. The new railway met the Brighton line at a junction just west of Lewes Station (i.e. towards Brighton), requiring trains serving Lewes to reverse. The director of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway called the station "the most incomplete and injudicious station ever erected".[1]
On 2 October 1847, the Keymer Junction to Lewes line opened. New platforms (called Pinwell) were built opposite the terminus, west of the Hasting line branch. On 1 November 1857, a new station was built at the divergence of the Keymer Junction line. The old station closed; the original booking hall with grand classical columns outside survived until the 1960s before it was demolished.[2] The new building was built in the style of a Swiss chalet.[3] A new junction for the realigned Wealden Line opened on 1 October 1868. The new alignment went through part of the station goods yard of the original terminus.[1] Before this change, the Wealden line joined the Keymer line at Hamsey Junction between the north portal of Lewes Tunnel and Cooksbridge Station.[4]
The second station was rebuilt in order to increase platform capacity and reduce the narrow curvature of the track. It opened on 17 June 1889.[5] On 1 October 1889 all passenger services were diverted from the original loop line between Lewes and Southerham Junction onto this alignment. The original route was retained for goods only.
On 5 November 1960, severe flooding of the track caused the suspension of all electric services, and replaced by whatever steam locomotives were available. The Borough Surveyor requested that the London-bound platforms at Lewes station should be blown up to allow flood water to escape via the railway track-bed. However, the British Railways district engineer declined to co-operate.[6] The line to Wivelsfield remained inoperable for some time.[7]
In the 1960s, the original 1846 terminus building fronting the public street (Friars Walk), was demolished.[8][9][10] The line to Uckfield closed on 23 February 1969, in order that a relief road in Lewes could be built over the redundant trackbed.[11]
Current layout
The station platforms are arranged in a "V" shape, with a large courtyard in between, which is bound by the tracks (platforms 2 & 3) on two sides and the station building on the third side. The two-floor building, with the entrance from the top floor, is accompanied with a gallery, which extends to the other platforms (1, 4 & 5) as the passenger bridge.
Northern platforms
Platform 1 is an eastbound platform for trains towards Eastbourne, Seaford and Hastings, from London
Platform 2 is a westbound platform for trains towards London Victoria via Haywards Heath
Southern platforms
Platform 3 is an eastbound platform for trains towards Eastbourne, Seaford and Ashford, from Brighton
Platform 4 is a westbound platform for trains to Brighton from Eastbourne and Ashford
Platform 5 is a bi-directional through platform for terminating trains towards Brighton and Seaford
Services
The typical off-peak service is:
- 6tph to Brighton
- 2tph to London Victoria via Gatwick Airport
- 2tph to Ore via Eastbourne and Hastings
- 2tph to Seaford
- 1tph to Eastbourne
- 1tph to Hastings
After the introduction of the new timetable in May 2018, the express service to and from Ashford International was discontinued, due to long journey times and lack of rolling stock, which caused overcrowding, which was especially true between Brighton and Eastbourne. Now, the Ashford service runs from Eastbourne as a stopping service.[12]
(tph = trains per hour)
| Preceding station | |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falmer | Southern East Coastway Line (Seaford Branch Line) |
Southease or Newhaven Town | ||
| Wivelsfield or Plumpton or Cooksbridge |
Southern East Coastway Line (Victoria-Eastbourne or Ore) |
Polegate | ||
| Falmer | Southern East Coastway Stopping |
Glynde | ||
| Brighton | Southern East Coastway Fast |
Polegate (Glynde on Sundays) | ||
| Disused railways | ||||
| Barcombe Line and station closed |
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Lewes and East Grinstead Railway |
Terminus | ||
| Barcombe Mills Line and station closed |
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Wealden Line |
Terminus | ||
References
Citations
- Mitchell & Smith 1985, pp. 49-50, Lewes.
- Mitchell & Smith 1985, Lewes.
- Marx 1982, p. 22.
- Mitchell & Smith 1985, p. 49, Lewes.
- Mitchell & Smith 1985, p. 50, Lewes.
- Mitchell & Smith 1985, Lewes, Fig. 65.
- Glover 2001, pp. 142-143.
- plate 48, Brighton to Eastbourne by Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Middleton Press, 1985, ISBN 0-906520-16-9
- maps opposite plate 50, Brighton to Eastbourne by Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Middleton Press, 1985, ISBN 0-906520-16-9
- London, Brighton & South Coast Railway Album, Klaus Marx, Ian Allan, 1982, ISBN 0-7110-1187-7
- "Uckfield to Lewes rail line: 50 years of hurt". Uckfield News. 23 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
- "Plans to axe unpopular two-carriage Eastbourne train service". Eastbourne Herald.
Sources
- Glover, John (2001). Southern Electric. Hersham: Ian Allan. pp. 142–43. ISBN 0 7110 2807 9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Marx, Klaus (1982). London, Brighton & South Coast Railway Album. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1187-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1985). Brighton to Eastbourne. Middleton Press. ISBN 0-906520-16-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)