Bexhill railway station

Bexhill railway station serves Bexhill-on-Sea in East Sussex, England. It is on the East Coastway Line, and train services are provided by Southern.

Bexhill
377 101 at Bexhill station, looking east
Location
PlaceBexhill-on-Sea
Local authorityRother
Grid referenceTQ743075
Operations
Station codeBEX
Managed bySouthern
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryE
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 1.510 million
2015/16 1.525 million
2016/17 1.207 million
2017/18 1.328 million
2018/19 1.448 million
History
27 June 1846opened as Bexhill
9 July 1923renamed Bexhill Central
?renamed Bexhill
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Bexhill from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
A 1908 Railway Clearing House map of lines around Bexhill.
The station building

History

'Bexhill' was the original name of Bexhill West railway station which was on a branch from the Hastings Line at Crowhurst. This provided direct services north to London. That station and line closed in 1964.

The station known today as Bexhill was previously known as Bexhill Central. The station had a moment of glory in December 1911, when the platform was especially lengthened to accommodate the funeral train of Nripendra Narayan[1] the Maharaja of Cooch Behar, as a result of which for many years it had the longest platform in England outside London.

Description

The station is a grade II listed building,[2] and a restoration project to the platform canopies and ticket office area was completed in the summer of 2008.

The station is accredited as part of the Department for Transport's Secure Stations scheme, with a digital CCTV system in place. It is staffed during the daytime but not late in the evenings.

Services

Since May 2018, transport links to and from Bexhill by rail have been strengthened with four trains per hour in each direction between Eastbourne and Hastings, all of which call at Bexhill. The typical off-peak service Mondays to Saturdays is:

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Collington   Southern
Brighton/London Victoria - Ore		   St Leonards Warrior Square
Eastbourne   Southern
Brighton - Ashford		   St Leonards Warrior Square

Campaigns for service improvements

A local campaign group Bexhill Rail Action Group (BRAG)* was formed in 2005 in response to proposals to end through services to London Victoria. The campaign was successful and BRAG continues to campaign for local rail improvements.

Campaigners are seeking to upgrade and electrify the Marshlink Line to extend Southeastern high speed train services (which operate from London St Pancras via High Speed 1 to Ashford International) onwards via Rye to Hastings, Bexhill and Eastbourne, and which, if realised could slash journey times between Bexhill and the capital to around 1 hour and 15 minutes, instead of the average 1 hour 52 minutes currently.

References
  1. "Victoria and Albert Museum". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  2. Historic England. "Bexhill Central Railway Station  (Grade II) (1379825)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 May 2020.

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