Preston Park railway station

Preston Park railway station is on the Brighton Main Line in England, serving Preston Village and the northern suburban areas of the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. It is 49 miles 21 chains (79.3 km) down the line from London Bridge via Redhill and is situated between Hassocks and Brighton.

Preston Park
Preston Park in 2006
Location
PlacePreston Village
Local authorityCity of Brighton and Hove
Grid referenceTQ299067
Operations
Station codePRP
Managed bySouthern
Number of platforms3
DfT categoryD
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 0.436 million
2015/16 0.568 million
2016/17 0.527 million
2017/18 0.504 million
2018/19 0.545 million
History
1 November 1869Opened (Preston)
1 July 1879Renamed (Preston Park)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Preston Park from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
RCTS railtour in 1962.

The station is managed by Southern, which is one of two companies that serve the station, alongside Thameslink. Between 2008 and 2018, Gatwick Express also served Preston Park with a limited number of services at peak times only; these services were withdrawn as part of the May 2018 timetable change.

There are also two spur tracks which run from Preston Park through a tunnel to Hove.

History

The London Brighton and South Coast Railway opened a new station named Preston, on 1 November 1869 to serve the growing parish of Preston, then north of the Brighton boundary. The station was enlarged and remodelled to its present design in 1879 during the construction of the Cliftonville Curve spur line from the main line to Hove and the West Sussex coast line.[1] The station was then renamed Preston Park although the nearby Preston Park did not exist until 1883.

In 1881 the railway murderer Percy Lefroy Mapleton alighted at the station after having killed Isaac Frederick Gold and dumped his body in Balcombe tunnel.

Facilities

The station has a pair of island platforms, linked by a subway; only three platform faces are now in operation. The three tracks through the station reduce to two before traversing Patcham Tunnel, almost two miles (3.2 km) further north.

Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club's former home, Withdean Stadium is located a short walk from the station, and for this reason, during its tenancy of the stadium, the club offered free travel vouchers with its match tickets — allowing fans to travel from Brighton to Preston Park without there being an apparent surcharge of the train fare.

Services

Trains at Preston Park are operated by Thameslink and Southern. The typical off-peak service from this station is:

Additional trains operated by Gatwick Express call at the station during the peak periods as well as additional Thameslink services to Bedford and Littlehampton.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Thameslink
Brighton Main Line
Southern
West Coastway Line

See also

References
  1. Turner, John Howard (1979). The London Brighton and South Coast Railway 3 Completion and Maturity. Batsford. pp. 105–7. ISBN 0-7134-1389-1.

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