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	Bexhill-on-Sea, Rother England
Grid reference	TQ743075
Managed by	Southern
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BEX
Classification	DfT category E
Key dates
27 June 1846	opened as Bexhill
9 July 1923	renamed Bexhill Central
?	renamed Bexhill
Passengers
2015/16	1.525 million
2016/17	1.207 million
2017/18	1.328 million
2018/19	1.448 million
2019/20	1.502 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

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

All services at Bexhill are operated by Southern using Class 377 EMUs and Class 171 DMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[3][4]

• 1 tph to London Victoria via Gatwick Airport
• 2 tph to Brighton (semi-fast)
• 1 tph to Eastbourne (stopping)
• 3 tph to Hastings of which 2 continue to Ore
• 1 tph to Ashford International

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.
3. "Timetable 21: Hastings and Eastbourne to Brighton and London" (PDF). Southern, December 2019.
4. "Timetable 23: Ashford International to Hastings and Eastbourne" (PDF). Southern, December 2019.

External links

• Train times and station information for Bexhill railway station from National Rail