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West Coastway line

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TheWest Coastway lineis a railway line in England linking the conurbations ofBrighton/Hove/LittlehamptonandSouthampton/Portsmouth,with 1.3 million people between them. It has short southward branches toLittlehamptonandBognor Regis,which offer direct services to and fromLondon.

West Coastway line
Looking eastwards fromFishersgate,April 2007.
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerNetwork Rail
LocaleWest Sussex
Hampshire
South East England
Termini
Stations39
Service
TypeSuburban rail,Heavy rail
SystemNational Rail
Operator(s)Southern(over whole)
GWR(long haul services from Portsmouth Harbour to Southampton and beyond to Bristol/Cardiff)
SWR(west part and parts north of Portsmouth)
Depot(s)Brighton
Littlehampton
Fratton
Southampton
Rolling stockClass 158 "Express Sprinter"(Southampton to Portsmouth)
Class 159 "South Western Turbo"
Class 166 "Networker Turbo"(Southampton to Portsmouth)
Class 377 "Electrostar"
Class 444 "Desiro"
Class 450 "Desiro"
History
Opened1840
Technical
Line length62 mi 4 ch (99.86 km)
Number of tracks2 (up to 4 in areas)
Track gauge1,435 mm(4 ft8+1⁄2in)standard gauge
Electrification750VDCthird rail
Operating speed85 mph (137 km/h) maximum
Route map

(Click to expand)

From Brighton theEast Coastway linecontinues toHastingsviaLewes,EastbourneandBexhill,and then toAshford International,Kentvia theMarshlink line.

The section east ofPortsmouthwaselectrifiedby theSouthern Railwaybefore the Second World War.The electrification of the tracks further west in the late 1980s enabled electric trains to travel the whole route viaNetleyto Southampton or viaBotleytoEastleigh.TheLondon and South Western Railwayran the tracks west ofFarlington Junction,north of Portsmouth, by the inland shore ofLangstone Harbour.This section was served and timetabled separately before its electrification, a vestige of having had a differentoriginal railway company.

Definition and electrification

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The West Coastway line runs almost alongside or within a few miles of the south coast ofSussexandHampshire,betweenBrightonandSouthampton.[1][2][3]

East ofPortsmouththe line waselectrified(using 750VDCthird rail) by the Southern Railway before the Second World War in two stages:

  1. Brighton to West Worthing in 1933,[4][5]
  2. West Worthing toHavantin 1938 (where it joined up with the electrifiedPortsmouth Direct line), including the Littlehampton and Bognor branches.

Services

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Current service patterns

Southernis the main operator of passenger services and stations on the line east ofPortsmouth.Service patterns have varied over the years, but have always included a slow service (calling at most or all stations) fromBrightontoPortsmouth.Regular services run fromLondon Victoriavia Gatwick which avoid Brighton by using the tunnel betweenPreston Parkand Hove. These services run to Littlehampton (2016); similar services extended to Chichester, Portsmouth and Southampton particularly in the initial decades of open competition between operators, making use of statutory and negotiatedrunning rights.Other services run from London Victoria via Gatwick and theArun Valley linetoBognor Regisor along more of the West Coastway line, between Ford and nearby Chichester, to Portsmouth or Southampton. All of the Southern services are operated by electricmultiple-units.Many of these trains join/ "couple" or divide/ "uncouple" during their journey, historically atBarnham,today atHorsham(except on Sundays, when trains still divide at Barnham).

The section west of Portsmouth sees trains from typically three operators. Its stations are managed bySouth Western Railway,who operate regular services from Portsmouth either to Southampton or to London Waterloo (less directly than itsPortsmouth Direct Line,instead via Fareham, Botley, Hedge End and Eastleigh).Great Western Railwayoperate diesel passenger trains from Portsmouth toBristol Temple MeadsandCardiff Central,with occasional services to the West Country orGreat Malvern.Southern operate hourly services: betweenBrightonandSouthampton Central;and betweenLondon VictoriaandSouthampton.The Southampton to London Victoria trains introduced at electrification created many direct routes, from Southampton, Swanwick, Fareham and Cosham to the West Sussex coast and particularly to Gatwick Airport.

In 2024, Southern proposed significant service pattern changes, by diverting all the services from Southampton Central to London Victoria to Portsmouth Harbour, as well as doubling Southampton Central to Brighton services, with an additional stop atWoolston.The lightly-used Littlehampton to Portsmouth & Southsea and Bognor Regis services will be replaced by a new Brighton to Chichester (via Littlehampton) service. The new changes are planned for June 2024.[6]

Historic service patterns

Beyond the line and its main links to London, before late 2007 trains ran from Reading or Basingstoke to Portsmouth or Brighton; Basingstoke to Portsmouth being current. TheDepartment for Transportwithdrew the obligation ofSouth West Trainsto run Brighton services — being somewhat orbital aroundLondon— which left free train paths which were filled by extra Southern trains mainly bound to or from London.

Prior to the 1980s electrification of the "(south) Hampshire lines", including the part of this line west of Farlington, they were operated as a separate entity terminating at Portsmouth – few trains traversed the Cosham to Farlington triangle which lies north of Portsmouth and Langstone Harbours, except a daily Brighton-to-Exeter through (direct) train.[7]After dieselisation using3Hunits in 1958, the general service pattern every hour was one semi-fast from Portsmouth to Southampton and Salisbury (some extended to Bristol), one stopping to Southampton Central and one train to Botley and Eastleigh (some extended to Reading and, until 1966, Romsey via Chandler's Ford).

History

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Main article:The Brighton to Portsmouth line of the LBSCR § History

The lines now operated under the banner "West Coastway" have a complex history and were built in stages by five different companies between 1840 and 1889.

The line from Brighton to Shoreham was a branch of theLondon and Brighton Railwaywhich opened 12 May 1840, before the completion of themain line.The extensions of this line toWorthing(opened 24 November 1845), toArundel & Littlehampton(opened 16 March 1846) and toChichester(opened 8 June 1846) were built by theBrighton and Chichester Railway.In July 1846 these two companies merged with others to form theLondon, Brighton and South Coast Railway(LBSCR), which continued the line toHavant(opened 15 March 1847) andPortsmouth(opened 14 June 1847). Part of this section became jointly owned with theLondon and South Western Railway(LSWR), following the opening of the LSWR line fromFarehamto Portcreek Junction on 1 October 1848 (connecting to theEastleigh–Fareham line).

TheSouthampton and Netley Railwaybuilt a line to connect with the Victoria Military Hospital atNetley,which opened 5 March 1866 and was operated by the LSWR. The final connecting link from Netley to Fareham was opened by the LSWR on 2 September 1889.

In the meanwhile the LBSCR opened theLittlehampton branchfrom Ford Junction on 17 August 1863 and theBognor Regis branchfrom Barnham Junction on 1 June 1864.

Accidents and incidents

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  • On 23 July 1894 the brake van and two carriages of a train were derailed and overturned at Farlington Halt. The guard was killed and seven passengers injured.[8]
  • On 22 September 1965, anelectric multiple unitcollided with a double decker bus on alevel crossingbetweenAngmeringandGoring-by-Seastations, due to errors by the crossing keeper. Eight people were injured and three killed.[9]

Developments, major engineering features and minor station closures

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  • Brightontrains serving the West Coastway leave from platforms 1, 2 and 3 on a curve to leave theBrighton Main Line.
  • There wasHolland Road Haltopened 1905 and closed 1956; when closed it was the only station on the West Coastway line to retain timber decking.[10]This station was sited just west of the Holland Road bridge. Remains of the steps from the street and the concrete supports can occasionally be seen in winter beside the Up (Brighton) line.
Note: To the east of the Holland Road bridge lay the site of a first Hove station, 1840 to 1880, the site was later used as a commercial coal yard[11]
  • Aldringtonreplaced Dyke Junction Halt in 1932 on an adjacent site. Dyke Junction Halt opened in 1905 to serve theDevil's Dykesingle-line branch (3.5 miles or 5.6 kilometres in length) closed 1938
  • there is the now closed branch to Kingston Wharf, servingShorehamHarbour
  • there was the junction for the line toHorsham,opened 16 September 1861 and closed 7 March 1966. The line followed the valley of theRiver Adur
  • there wasBungalow Town Haltopened 1910, later to serveShoreham Airport,closed in 1940 for national security reasons[12](Shoreham Airport became anRAFbase during WWII).
    • Littlehamptonbranch
    • This is a 2-mile (3.2 km) branch line opened as a single line in 1863 and doubled in 1887
  • Ford, was Ford Junction:at the third node of the triangle
  • Barnhamwas Barnham Junction until 1929 opened 1864 as the junction for
  • Draytonstation – closed
  • ChichesterOriginal terminus of theBrighton and Chichester Railwayon 6 June 1846; present station opened 1847 when the line was extended to Havant. Junction for theWest Sussex Railwayopened in 1897, closed 1935; and for the LBSCR branch toMidhurst,opened 1881 and closed to passengers 1935.
  • Havant:Junction for the L&SWRPortsmouth Direct linethroughPetersfieldand also for the LBSCRHayling Island branch lineopened 16 July 1867, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) in length with two intermediate stations servingLangstoneandNorth Hayling.The line closed in 1963.
  • A triangular junction — for the two routes to Southampton and Portsmouth Harbour. AfterFarlington JunctionandPortcreek Junction(between which was the now closedFarlington Halt railway station)Portsmouth Direct linetrains use the joint L&SWR/LBSCR metals to Portsmouth. The main West Coastway route travels across the triangle toCosham Junctionwhere the L&SWR section, opened on 2 September 1889, begins:
  • Cosham
  • Paulsgrove Halt- closed
  • Portchester
  • FarehamFirst opened in 1841 as part of theEastleigh–Fareham line.The lines to Portsmouth via Cosham and Southampton, via Netley, opened in 1848 and 1889 respectively (see dates above). There were also junctions forGosport(the original connection from London to the Portsmouth area) and toAltonvia theMeon valley– both closed.
  • Swanwick
  • Bursledon
  • Hamble
  • NetleyOriginal terminus of theSouthampton and Netley Railway,built to serve the Military Hospital, which had its own short railway and station. The line from here to St Denys was originally single track (later doubled)
  • Sholing
  • Woolston
  • Bitterneon the outskirts of Southampton. There was a passing point when the line was single track.

With the junction atSt Denysthe West Coastway Line joins the route of theSouth West Main Line

In July 2022, Transport for the South East proposed that an underground line should be built to connect Southampton Central and Netley stations, thus shortening the travel time between Southampton and Portsmouth to under 35 minutes.[13]

References

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  1. ^Colin J. Marsden (1985).Route Recognition 1: Southern Region.Ian Allan. p. 83.ISBN0-7110-1553-8.
  2. ^Graham Collett, ed. (1988).Surrey and Sussex by Rail.Jarrold. Chapters 5, 6, 8 & 9.ISBN0-7117-0331-0.
  3. ^Southern Main Lines – Crawley to Littlehampton.Middleton Press. 1986. Photo 105 caption.
  4. ^Edwin Course (1974).The Railways of Southern England: The Main Lines.Batsford.ISBN0-7134-0490-6.
  5. ^H. P. White (1982).A Regional History of the Railways of Southern England.Vol. 2 - Southern England (4th ed.). David and Charles.ISBN0-7153-8365-5.
  6. ^"Southern West Coastway changes".4 March 2024.
  7. ^*Edwin Course (1974).The Railways of Southern England: Secondary and Branch Lines.Batsford.ISBN0-7134-2835-X.
  8. ^"The Why and Wherefore: Accident at Farlington, 1894".Railway Magazine.123(919): 571. November 1977.
  9. ^Glover, John (2001).Southern Electric.Hersham: Ian Allan. p. 137.ISBN0-7110-2807-9.
  10. ^Vic Mitchell; Keith Smith (1983).Brighton to Worthing.Middleton Press. plates 19 through 22.ISBN978-0-906520-03-1.
  11. ^Vic Mitchell; Keith Smith (1983).Brighton to Worthing.Middleton Press. plate 20 and line map.ISBN978-0-906520-03-1.
  12. ^Vic Mitchell; Keith Smith (1983).Brighton to Worthing.Middleton Press. Plate 89.ISBN978-0-906520-03-1.
  13. ^"Southampton underground line proposed by transport planners".BBC News.4 July 2022.Retrieved25 March2024.
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