The Seaford branch line is a rural

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

constructed in 1864 primarily to serve the port of

Newhaven Newhaven is a port town in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England, lying at the mouth of the River Ouse. The town developed during the Middle Ages as the nearby port of Seaford began drying up, forcing a new port to be established. A ...

and the town of Seaford. It now sees fairly regular trains across the line except for the branch to the closed station.

History

Engineered by the

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR (known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton)) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at ...

's Chief Engineer Frederick Banister, the first section of the line was opened in 1847 to aid the transport of goods to and from

. The line was extended in 1864 to serve the holiday town of Seaford. There used to be extensive sidings at Newhaven Docks and even a railway swing bridge over the River Ouse to connect to the other side. These have now been removed, such as station. Once a busy station serving ferries to and from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, the walk of just under 1/4 mile to station and the lack of winter ferries forced its closure. The line was

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

(750 V DC

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a track (r ...

) by the Southern Railway in 1935. The line between and was reduced to single track to save costs in 1975.

Route

*Services, generally originating from , stop at on the East Coastway Line, the last station before the branch line splits off. *The branch line starts at Southerham Junction on the East Coastway Line. *The first station on the line is , which serves the village of Southease and also has links to the

South Downs Way The South Downs Way is a long distance footpath and bridleway running along the South Downs in southern England. It is one of 16 National Trails in England and Wales. The trail runs for from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in East Susse ...

*The line then continues, running alongside the River Ouse to , which is the station serving the town centre of

, across a swing bridge over the nearby

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

. *The following station no longer serves ferries to

. **Immediately after Newhaven Harbour station, a small branch splits off to , which was closed to passengers in August 2006 but remained technically open until October 2020. Originally built to link with cross-channel ferries, this short branch line is now closed to passengers, but occasional freight trains still use the sidings, as well as a small number of passenger trains terminating at Newhaven Harbour using the branch line to reverse. *The line then becomes a single-track and is one of a few single-track third-rail lines in the country. *It passes the closed station of , and over a foot crossing that offers access to the abandoned village of

Tide Mills Tide Mills is a derelict village in East Sussex, England. It lies about two kilometres (1.2 miles) south-east of Newhaven, East Sussex, Newhaven and four kilometres (2.5 miles) north-west of Seaford, East Sussex, Seaford and is near ...

. *The line then straightens out and calls at two more stations. ** (serving the village of Bishopstone and the western end of Seaford) and ** (the end of the line, serving Seaford town centre)

Train services

Train services are operated by Southern. Class 377 "Electrostars" are used on the line to transport passengers to

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

and

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. The normal off peak train service on the line is two trains per hour between

and Seaford calling at London Road, Moulsecoomb,

Falmer Falmer is a small village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Lewes (district), Lewes District of East Sussex, England, lying between Brighton and Lewes, approximately five miles (8 km) north-east of the former. It is also ...

, Southease (1tph only), Newhaven Town, Newhaven Harbour (1 tph only), Bishopstone and Seaford. Services alternate between calling at Southease and Newhaven Harbour. Currently, there are no regular direct services from the branch line towards London, with passengers needing to change at Lewes in order to travel towards

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...

and

London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a London station group, central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, London, Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named afte ...

Passenger volume

Comparing the number of passengers in year beginning April 2002 to the year beginning April 2010, Southease has increased by 96%, Newhaven Town by 45%, Bishopstone by 58% and Seaford by 56%. Newhaven Harbour has declined by 51%.

References

{{Railway lines in South East England Rail transport in East Sussex Railway lines opened in 1864 Railway lines in South East England