Brighton railway station

Brighton
The station's exterior
General information
Location	Brighton, Brighton and Hove, England
Coordinates	50°49′44″N 0°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
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
2024/25	15.328 million
Interchange	1.298 million
Listed Building – Grade II*
Feature	Brighton station, including train sheds
Designated	30 April 1973 (amended 26 August 1999)
Reference no.	1380797[1]
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Brighton is the principal railway station serving the city of Brighton and Hove, in East Sussex, England. It is the southern terminus of the Brighton Main Line, the western terminus of the East Coastway line and the eastern terminus of the West Coastway line. It lies 50 miles 49 chains (50.61 miles, 81.45 km) from London Bridge, via Redhill. The station is operated by Govia Thameslink Railway, which operates services along with Gatwick Express and Southern.

With 14.5 million passenger entries and exits in 2023-24, Brighton is the busiest station in East Sussex, the second busiest in South East England and the seventh-busiest station in the country outside London.^[2]

The London & 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 in 1840–41. This site was 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from, and 70 feet (21 m) above, the sea shore and had involved considerable excavation work to create a reasonable gradient from Patcham Tunnel.^[3]

The station initially only connected Brighton with Shoreham-by-Sea, westwards along the coast, in May 1840. In September 1841, it was extended inland to Haywards Heath and London Bridge, via the new Clayton Tunnel; then to the county town of Lewes to the east via the London Road Viaduct in 1846. The railway became the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway in 1846, following mergers with other railways with lines between Portsmouth and Hastings.

The passenger station was a three-storey building in an Italianate style, designed by David 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 Nine Elms station of the London and Southampton Railway (1838) designed by Sir William Tite.^[5] Baker & Son were paid £9,766 15s for the station building between May and August 1841.^[6] The platform accommodation was built by John 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 the Brighton, 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 the London, 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; the three separate roofs were replaced by one overall roof during 1882-83.

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]

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 of Queen'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 is now used as a storage area.^[13]

Help, a dog used to collect charitable donations, was displayed at the station following its death in 1891.^[14]

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 during World War II; 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 the New England Quarter.^[15]

To the north of the station, on the east side of the main line, the railway constructed its locomotive and carriage works, which opened in 1841; the carriage works was moved to Lancing in 1911 and the locomotive works was closed in 1957. Thereafter, Isetta cars were built briefly in a part of the works.^[16]

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.^[17]

During 1860–1861, John 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.^[18][19] During the early 1930s, following the electrification of the lines the steam motive power depot was rebuilt and reduced in size.^[18] It was closed 15 June 1961 but remained in use for stabling steam locomotives until 1964 and was demolished in 1966.

Brighton station was Grade II* listed on 30 April 1973.^[1] As of February 2001, it was one of 70 Grade II*-listed buildings and structures and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades in the city of Brighton and Hove.^[20]

• Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington, died at the station on 13 August 1884.^[21]

• On 4 August 1909, a train hauled by Terrier no. 83 Earlswood collided with the buffers at Brighton, due to the driver's error. Nineteen people were injured.^[22]

• On 30 September 1922, control of a steam engine was lost at the engine shed; when it reached the turntable, there were no buffer stops to stop it. This caused the momentum of the engine to derail and crash through a brick wall into the street, injuring one passer-by.^[23]

The following companies have served Brighton in the past:

• London & Brighton Railway
• London, Brighton & South Coast Railway
• Southern Railway
• British Rail
• CrossCountry
• South West Trains
• Virgin CrossCountry
• Connex South Central
• Wessex Trains
• Thameslink^[a]
• First Capital Connect
• Great Western Railway.

Former services include:

• Until 1967, a service operated between Brighton and Birkenhead Woodside, via Redhill, Reading, Oxford, Birmingham Snow Hill, Wolverhampton Low Level, Shrewsbury and Chester. The stock was provided on alternate days by British Railways' successors to the Southern Railway and the Great Western Railway, the Southern Region and Western Region.

• Until December 2007, South West Trains operated regular services to Reading and Paignton, via Worthing and Chichester.^[24]

• Until December 2008, CrossCountry and its predecessors operated services to Birmingham New Street and beyond.^[25]

• Until May 2018, Brighton was served by an hourly service to Ashford International, via Eastbourne; all Ashford trains now terminate at Eastbourne.^[26]

• Until May 2022, Great Western Railway operated limited three-car services to Bristol Temple Meads and beyond.^[27][28]

The station has a staffed ticket office, which is open 22 hours per day. There is a car park, with 633 spaces.^[29]

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 in 2014 by the Labour MP for Hove, Peter Kyle, Southern added a street piano to the concourse, with a vintage Southern Railway logo inscribed.^[30]

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 that can only hold up to ten. There is step-free access to all platforms.^[29]

• Platforms 1 and 2 can only be used by services on the West Coastway line.^[b] They are served by Southern services towards Hove, Worthing, West Worthing, Littlehampton, Chichester, Portsmouth Harbour and Southampton Central.

• Platform 3 is the only platform that can be used by services on all three lines, although trains on the West Coastway Line are limited to four carriages in length; services on the Brighton main and East Coastway lines are not restricted. The signalling also allows this platform to be occupied by two units on two separate lines at the same time, with a West Coastway train at the near end of the platform and a Brighton main or East Coastway train (up to four carriages long) at the far end. During the day, the platform is usually used by Southern and Gatwick Express services to London Victoria.

• Platforms 4-8 can be used by services on the Brighton Main Line and the East Coastway line. Usually, platform 4 shares with platform 3 the Southern and Gatwick Express services to London Victoria; platform 5 is served by Thameslink trains to Cambridge; platform 6 by those to Bedford; and platforms 7 and 8 are used by Southern services on the East Coastway Line.

Current services at Brighton are operated by three train operating companies; these provide the following general off-peak services in trains per hour (tph):

Southern:^[31][32]

• 2 tph to Seaford
• 2 tph to Eastbourne; of which:
  • 1 tph continues to Ore
• 1 tph to Portsmouth & Southsea
• 1 tph to Chichester, via Littlehampton
• 2 tph to Southampton Central.

Gatwick Express:^[33][32]

• 2 tph to London Victoria, via Gatwick Airport; trains operate non-stop to Haywards Heath.

Govia Thameslink Railway:^[34]

• 2 tph to Bedford, via Gatwick Airport, London Bridge and Luton
• 2 tph to Cambridge, via Gatwick Airport, London Bridge and Stevenage.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Haywards Heath (Preston Park during peak hours)		Gatwick Express Brighton Main Line		Terminus
Preston Park or Burgess Hill		Thameslink Brighton Main Line
London Road or Moulsecoomb		Southern East Coastway Line
Hove		Southern West Coastway Line
	Disused railways
Hove		British Rail Southern Region Steyning Line		Terminus

The site is currently Network Rail's ECR and infrastructure maintenance depot, and Southern's Lovers' Walk Depot. It is used for servicing most of Southern's single voltage Class 377 fleet and formerly its Class 313 electric multiple units.

Both Thameslink and Southern have driver, on-board supervisor and conductor depots at Brighton station.^[35]

There is a bus station in front of the concourse. It has six stops, which are served by several Brighton & Hove routes; these connect the station with Brighton town centre, Hove, Saltdean, Portslade Village, Falmer and Eastbourne.^[36]

A taxi rank is outside the rear of the station.

Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.'s matches at the Falmer Stadium are served by train services from Brighton to Falmer. A queuing system is in operation from two 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 for West Coastway Line services departing from platforms 1 and 2.

The Lewes Bonfire night, held annually on or around 5 November, attracts large numbers of people, many travelling through Brighton station. As a result, Southern operate a queuing system from the afternoon onwards.^[37]

The London 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; on the following day, it operates a queuing system at the station.^[38] In the past, train operators had allowed bicycles on trains for the many cyclists returning to London.^[39]

• London to Brighton in Four Minutes: A short BBC film from the early 1950s, showing a speeded-up train journey
• Transport in Brighton and Hove.

• "£18m rebuild of Brighton station starts with £3m working platform". Rail. No. 323. EMAP Apex Publications. 28 January – 10 February 1998. p. 14. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brighton railway station.

• Brighton station page at Southern Railway
• Train times and station information for Brighton railway station from National Rail

• Pages from My Brighton and Hove
• Kent Rail's webpage on Brighton station
• YouTube video of trains arriving/departing in 1995
• Brighton-station.co.uk