Wivelsfield railway station
Wivelsfield  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Place | Burgess Hill |
| Local authority | District of Mid Sussex |
| Grid reference | TQ320200 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | WVF |
| Managed by | Southern |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
| DfT category | E |
|
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries | |
| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2010/11 |
 0.484 million |
| 2011/12 |
0.493 million |
| 2012/13 |
0.496 million |
| 2013/14 |
0.500 million |
| 2014/15 |
 0.479 million |
| History | |
| 1854 | First station opened at Keymer Junction |
| 1 August 1886 | Present station opened |
| 1 July 1896 | Renamed (Wivelsfield) |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Wivelsfield from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
 UK Railways portal | |
Wivelsfield railway station serves World's End and other northern parts of Burgess Hill in West Sussex. Although the station is called Wivelsfield, the village of Wivelsfield actually lies approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) to the northeast of the station. The station is also 9.9 miles (16 km) north of Brighton. The station is just north of Keymer Junction, where the East Coastway Line towards Lewes and Eastbourne diverges from the Brighton Main Line and Thameslink.
History
The London Brighton and South Coast Railway opened a station called Keymer Junction on the Lewes line, just beyond the junction, towards the end of 1854, although, it appears that some trains may have called at Keymer Crossing from the completion of the junction in 1847.[1] The station was closed on 1 November 1883 to allow for the proposed remodelling of the junction. However, when the railway later sought Parliamentary authority to abandon their planned changes, they were required to provide a replacement station to the north of the junction on the present site.[2]
The second Keymer Junction station was opened on 1 August 1886 and retained that name until 1 July 1896 when it was renamed Wivelsfield. Construction of the new station involved widening a narrow, high embankment. Just over two months after it opened, heavy rain caused a landslip which caused a long section of the Up (northbound) platform, and the waiting room building, to collapse and fall down the embankment.
On 23 December 1899, a serious accident happened here, when a red signal was obscured by thick fog. A train from Brighton collided with a boat train from Newhaven Harbour at 40 miles per hour (64 km/h), and six passengers were killed and twenty seriously injured.[3] The accident resulted in improvements made to the signalling at Keymer Junction.
Services
Train services are provided by Southern and Thameslink.
The typical service from the station is:
- 2tph in each direction between London Bridge and Brighton (Thameslink)
- 1tph in each direction between London Victoria and Eastbourne (extended to Ore in peak times) (Southern)
On Sundays all London Victoria - Eastbourne trains are extended to Ore and the London Bridge - Brighton service does not run, being replaced by an hourly London Victoria - Brighton service (operated by Southern).
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haywards Heath | Southern East Coastway Line |
Plumpton or Lewes | ||
| Haywards Heath | Southern Brighton Main Line |
Burgess Hill | ||
| Thameslink Thameslink |
||||
| Haywards Heath | Southern Gatwick Express Peak Times Only |
Burgess Hill | ||
Future
In Autumn 2015 Network Rail released the Sussex Area Route Study,[4] where two options for the proposed grade separation of Keymer Junction are detailed, both of which would transform the station dramatically. Option 1 is the minimal option and creates a new platform 0 on the west side of the station served by a 3rd track from the new flyover line from Lewes. Option 2 is much more ambitious and builds on option 1 by adding an additional 4th platform on the east side of the station as well, served by a 4th track on the line to Lewes. Whilst this would enable each line to the south to have a dedicated platform the primary benefit would be that the existing platforms could be used to turn back trains in either direction as needed without blocking the main lines.
Gallery
Main street-level entrance
Northward view from Platform 1
View northward, towards Haywards Heath
View southward, towards Brighton
References
- ↑ Turner, John Howard (1978). The London Brighton and South Coast Railway 2 Establishment and Growth. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-1198-8. p.250.
- ↑ Turner, John Howard (1978). The London Brighton and South Coast Railway 3 Completion and Maturity. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-1389-1. p.127.
- ↑ Mitchell, Vic and Smith, Keith (1986). Southern Main Lines - Three Bridges to Brighton. Middleton Press. ISBN 0-906520-35-5.
- ↑ "Sussex Area Route Study" (PDF). Network Rail. 15 October 2015. p. 165. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
External links
- Train times and station information for Wivelsfield railway station from National Rail
Coordinates: 50°57′50″N 0°07′15″W / 50.96389°N 0.12083°W