Polegate railway station

Polegate
Location
Place	Polegate
Local authority	Wealden
Grid reference	TQ582048
Operations
Station code	PLG
Managed by	Southern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	D
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	0.760 million
2005/06	0.804 million
2006/07	0.842 million
2007/08	0.906 million
2008/09	0.864 million
2009/10	0.843 million
2010/11	0.878 million
2011/12	0.942 million
2012/13	0.975 million
2013/14	0.994 million
2014/15	1.027 million
History
1846	Opened
1881	Resited 440yds east
1986	Resited.New station on first site
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Polegate from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Polegate railway station serves Polegate in East Sussex, England. It is on the East Coastway Line, and train services are provided by Southern.

History

First station

The first station opened on 27 June 1846 when the London and Brighton Railway built a line from Brighton to Hastings via Lewes. The station was built at Polegate to serve the nearby towns of Hailsham and South Bourne, the latter now part of Eastbourne.^[1] The first station was on the site of the present station. It then became a junction station on 14 May 1849 when an east facing branch headed northwards to Hailsham was opened and another southwards to Eastbourne, the station had enlarged to three through platforms and a bay platform for Hailsham services.^[1] The station then also had a one road engine shed and small freight yard complete with granary and weighing machine.

Second station

In 1881 the second station was opened in connection with the construction of a new westward facing line to Hailsham and the 1880 extension of the Cuckoo Line to Eridge, and the re-aligned branchline to Eastbourne which the present line follows today. The second station had four through platforms. The East Coastway line through Polegate was electrified in 1935 bringing in faster more frequent services. In 1965 the Cuckoo line north of Hailsham was closed followed in 1968 by complete closure of the branch to Hailsham. On 6 January 1969 the spur line to Pevensey (Stone Cross Junction) was closed and the up line was lifted, leaving the down line open for departmental trains until 1974 when the line became a mile long engineers siding with access only from Stone Cross Junction, this was then lifted in August 1984. and once extensive goods sidings were gradually closed and removed.^[1]

Second Polegate Station now a restaurant

Station platforms of the second station in March 1986

The station closed in 1986 when a newer station opened 440 yards west, although caused controversy when the subway under the station connecting the platforms was also closed as it offered a short cut for non rail travellers to cross from one side of the town to the other without walking towards the high street and using the level crossing. The level crossing is the only means from crossing from one side of the town to the other.

Present station

The current building is the third station to be built in Polegate on the site of the original station and was completed in 1986 by Network Southeast, and officially opened by Ian Gow in 1987. The station has a booking hall, and three waiting rooms. A footbridge connects both platforms although step free access is available by the Level Crossing. The site of the goods yard is now developed with a shopping precinct and car park to the north of the station and a housing estate to the south-east of the station.

The closed lines to Hailsham and Pevensey are still evident, the Hailsham branch now being a cycle path, the cuckoo trail, through to Heathfield. The trackbed to Pevensey is mostly intact with the A22 road cutting though the route. The second station is now a Restaurant, called The Old Polegate station, the restaurant area is upstairs above the original booking hall. The west bound platform is still in existence although cut back for passing trains.

Signal boxes

In its heyday, Polegate had three signal boxes, Polegate 'A' or West, Polegate 'B' or East and Polegate Crossing. Polegate 'A' signal box was situated at the western end of the station and controlled the junction for the Cuckoo Line to Hailsham and Eridge and the goods yard. Polegate 'B' signal box, situated at the eastern end of the station controlled the junction for Eastbourne and Hastings based services. Polegate Crossing which controlled the level crossing was abolished in February 2015. The Polegate Crossing signal box was subsequently demolished overnight between the 14th and 18th November 2016.

Services

The typical off-peak service is:

• 2tph to Ore (via Eastbourne).
• 2tph to London Victoria (via Haywards Heath).
• 2tph to Brighton.
• 1tph to Eastbourne.
• 1tph to Ashford International.

Station facilities

• Booking Office
• Three waiting rooms, one on Eastbourne platform and two on the Lewes platform
• Automated Ticket Gates on both platforms
• Automated announcements
• Two ticket issuing machines for selling tickets and collecting pre-paid tickets.

References

1. Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith. South Coast Railways - Brighton to Eastbourne. Middleton Press. pp. various. ISBN 0-906520-16-9.

External links

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

Coordinates: 50°49′16″N 0°14′46″E / 50.82111°N 0.24611°E