Bexhill West Branch Line
| Bexhill West branch line | |
|---|---|
The Bexhill West branch
|
|
| Overview | |
| Type | Heavy rail |
| System | Hastings Line |
| Status | Closed |
| Locale | East Sussex, United Kingdom |
| Termini |
Crowhurst 50°53′19″N 0°30′05″E / 50.8887°N 0.5014°E Bexhill West 50°50′27″N 0°27′49″E / 50.8407°N 0.4635°E |
| Stations | 3 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1 June 1902 |
| Closed | 15 June 1964 |
| Owner | Crowhurst, Sidley & Bexhill Railway (1902-05) South Eastern Railway (1905-22) Southern Railway (1923-47) British Railways (1948-64) |
| Operator(s) |
South Eastern & Chatham Railway (1902-22) Southern Railway (1923-47) British Railways (1948-64) |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 4 miles 40 chains (7.24 km) |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Bexhill West branch line was a short double-track branch line which was opened on 1 June 1902. It was built by the Crowhurst, Sidley & Bexhill Railway under the patronage of the South Eastern Railway. The Chief Engineer to the project was Lt Col Arthur John Barry. Diverging from the Hastings Line at Crowhurst, an intermediate station at Sidley was served before the terminus was reached at Bexhill West. The line was closed under the Beeching Axe on 15 June 1964.
In the late nineteenth century, Bexhill had expanded rapidly. The town had been served by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway since the opening of Bexhill Central on 27 June 1846. In 1896, a line was promoted by the Crowhurst, Sidley and Bexhill Railway, which was nominally independent. The scheme was supported by the South Eastern Railway, which entered into an operating arrangement with the London, Chatham and Dover Railway which came into effect on 1 January 1899, forming the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. The Crowhurst, Sidley & Bexhill Railway Company was incorporated in 1897, and permission was granted in that year for the line's construction. Lt Col Arthur John Barry was appointed as Chief Engineer to the project.
The construction of the branch included a new station at Crowhurst (grid reference TQ 760 129), on the Hastings Line, where a private siding had existed since about 1877; an intermediate station at Sidley (TQ 743 090) and the terminus at Bexhill-on-Sea (TQ 735 074). Between Crowhurst and Sidley, a major viaduct was built to carry the line across a valley. The line was supported by the South Eastern Railway because it was hoped that passengers would use that line instead of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway's routes to London, which were 10 miles (16 km) or 16 miles (26 km) longer, depending on whether one travelled via Plumpton or Brighton. Seven contractors' locomotives were used in the construction of the line, one of which was an 0-6-0ST named St Leonards. Over 300,000 cubic yards (230,000 m3) of earth was moved during the construction of the line. Initially, the line had some success, but following the electrification of the railway between Hastings and Brighton in 1935, traffic on the branch declined.
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