Hove railway station

Hove railway station serves Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is 50 miles 56 chains (81.6 km) measured from London Victoria. The station and the majority of trains serving it are operated by Southern.

For the railway station in Australia, see Hove railway station, Adelaide.
For the railway station in Belgium, see Hove (B) railway station.

Hove
The main façade in 2010, looking northwest
LocationHove, Brighton & Hove
England
Grid referenceTQ289055
Managed bySouthern
Platforms3
Other information
Station codeHOV
ClassificationDfT category C2
Key dates
1 October 1865Opened (Cliftonville)
1 July 1879Renamed (West Brighton)
1 October 1894Renamed (Hove and West Brighton)
1 July 1895Renamed (Hove)[1]
Passengers
2015/16 2.452 million
2016/17 2.043 million
2017/18 2.233 million
2018/19 2.332 million
2019/20 2.329 million
 Interchange 0.370 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
The original station building at Hove, now used as a hand car wash.
The island platform looking east, with the long footbridge behind. Southern EMU 377436 stands at Platform 1 with a London Victoria service.

The only other operator is Great Western Railway, which provides a limited number of services each day towards Wales and the West Country. Gatwick Express trains stable at Hove from time to time.

It is the closest railway station to the County Cricket Ground, Hove where Sussex CCC play matches.

History

The original Hove railway station, situated further to the east, opened on 11 May 1840 by the London and Brighton Railway, on its line from Brighton to Shoreham-by-Sea, designed by the architect David Mocatta.[2] It closed on 1 March 1880, and the site became part of Holland Road Goods Depot.'[3] A wooden halt named Holland Road Halt was also opened a short distance to the west in 1905, served by local trains towards Worthing and on the branch line to Devil's Dyke. This closed in 1956, and no trace now remains of its platforms.[4]

The present Hove station was opened on 1 October 1865. It was originally named Cliftonville, then West Brighton, before being renamed Hove and West Brighton in 1894 and finally Hove in 1895.

Station architecture

The original station building, dating from the station's opening in 1865, is on the south side of the line and to the east of the present ticket office and concourse, being separated from this by a long footbridge (a public right of way) linking the residential roads of Goldstone Villas and Hove Park Villas. The section of road on which the original building stands is called Station Approach. It is currently in commercial use. The design is very similar to that of the buildings still in use at West Worthing, Shoreham-by-Sea, Portslade and London Road stations, and the former Kemp Town station in Brighton.

In 1893, coinciding with the first renaming, a new building was provided to the west. This contains the current ticket office and other station facilities. A large steel and glass porte-cochere stands outside at an angle, sheltering the taxi rank, forecourt and entrance area. This was moved from London Victoria following rebuilding works there which had rendered it redundant.

The island platform is reached by subway; access from the footbridge between the old and new buildings is no longer possible, as the stairs from it are locked out of use. This platform has a modest building incorporating a café, staff accommodation and waiting room, with a separate toilet block. A wide canopy runs for most of the length of the platform.

Future developments

In 2007, a Department for Transport white paper on the Thameslink Programme contained proposals to extend the Thameslink network to various additional routes in southern England; one of these would have been the section of the West Coastway line between Hove and Littlehampton, with services running via the Cliftonville Curve from the Brighton Main Line.[5] Two trains per peak hour have been extended from London Bridge to Bedford from 20 May 2018 and an extra service will join in December 2018[6]

Layout

There are three platforms- Platforms 1 and 2 can be (and are) used for any combination of arrival or departure. Platform 3 cannot be used for arrivals from the West Coastway or departures towards London in the up direction.

Services

The station is situated a short distance west of the junction between the West Coastway line from Brighton and the Cliftonville Curve, which connects the West Coastway route with the Brighton Main Line. As a result, the station is often used for interchange between Brighton trains and those running to and from London Victoria via the Brighton Main Line. An island platform allows straightforward cross-platform interchange. A separate side platform, with direct access to the station concourse and exit, is used for westbound services.

The typical off-peak service pattern is as follows:

Eastbound

Westbound
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Brighton   Southern
West Coastway Line		   Aldrington
Preston Park   Southern
Mainline West		   Portslade
Haywards Heath
(Burgess Hill on Sundays)		   Southern
Mainline West		   Shoreham-by-Sea
Brighton   Great Western Railway
Bristol-Brighton		   Shoreham-by-Sea

Facilities
  • Concourse
  • Ticket office (x2)
  • Quick ticket
  • Automatic ticket gates
  • News agents
  • Flower shop
  • Post box
  • Photo booth
  • Cash machine
  • Telephones
  • Waiting room (x2)
  • Toilets
  • Lifts
  • Information office
  • Taxi rank
  • Car park

See also

References
  1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 124.
  2. Cole, David (1958). "Mocatta's stations for the Brighton Railway". Journal of transport history. Manchester: Manchester University Press. 5: 149–157. ISSN 0022-5266.
  3. Body, Geoffrey (1989). Railways of the Southern Region. Patrick Stephens. ISBN 1-85260-297-X
  4. Mitchell, Vic and Smith, Keith (1983). South Coast Railways - Brighton to Worthing. Middleton Press. ISBN 0-906520-03-7
  5. "Delivering a Sustainable Railway - White Paper CM 7176". Department for Transport. 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
  6. "Countdown to massive train timetable changes". www.eastbourneherald.co.uk.

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