Tuesday 6 April 2010

horsham 1977


73 001 passes through this Sussex station on an engineering train.


Rail blue EMUs (4 SUBs) wait in the sidings. These were used on the Dorking line.


Overall shot of this classic Southern station.


Exterior, nicely dated by the cars!

(All pics 3.8.1977 © Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)


At the end of the classic Sussex film 'The Moon and the Sledgehammer' the final shot shows traction engine passing the exterior of Horsham station. This is the same scene as the final shot above, taken just a few years later.

Back on 3 August 1977 I had an hour or so at the station and took these four shots, capturing the station in everyday mood, though just by luck I did catch a class 73 come through. The station was fairly substantial reflecting its previous importance as a junction for three other lines, two of which closed in 1965 and 1966, the routes to Guildford and Shoreham.

More info (from Wikipedia)

Horsham railway station serves the town of Horsham in West Sussex, England. It is on the Arun Valley Line 38 miles (61 km) south of London Victoria and the Sutton & Mole Valley Lines, and train services are provided by Southern. Services on the Sutton & Mole Valley Line from London Victoria via Dorking terminate here, the others continue into the Arun Valley: a half hourly service from London Victoria to Southampton Central or Portsmouth Harbour (alternating) and Bognor Regis. These trains usually divide here with the front (Southampton/Portsmouth) portion travelling fast (next stop Barnham) and the rear (Bognor Regis) half providing stopping services.

History

Horsham would have been an important midway point in two of the original proposals for a London to Brighton railway via the Adur valley but in the event Sir John Rennie's proposed direct line through Three Bridges and Haywards Heath was given parliamentary approval. As a result, the original Horsham station was the terminus of a single track branch line from Three Bridges opened by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) in February 1848.
The down line from Horsham railway station.
Between 1859 and 1867 the station was enlarged on several occasions to coincide with the doubling of the branch line from Three Bridges; the extension of the railway from Horsham along the Arun Valley Line; the opening of new lines from Horsham to Shoreham via Steyning and from Christ's Hospital to Guildford. Finally, in 1867 a new route to DorkingLeatherhead and thence to London, was opened.[1] The station was again partially rebuilt and resignalled, with three signal boxes, in 1875.[2]
RCTS Sussex Rail Tour in 1962
The present station was built by the Southern Railway in the International Modern Style in 1938 to coincide with the electrification of the line. The building is grade II listed, see external links below. The lines to Guildford and Shoreham both fell victim to the Beeching Axe in the mid 1960s, the former being closed to passengers on 14 June 1965 and the latter on 7 March 1966.
In September 2011 the station frontage was closed to undergo extensive refurbishment work to the main ticket hall. It reopened late in 2012 with a new side entrance, internal lift access, relocated barriers and stairway, a new ticket office, and new information screens. The platforms received a rebuild of the roofing and refurbished waiting rooms. Previously, the building was shared with a business, who vacated in order to give the floor space needed to create the new features and new ceiling and lights and so completing a complete reconfiguration of the layout.

Accidents and incidents

  • On 9 January 1972, an engineers train overran signals and was in a rear-end collision with an electric multiple unit at the station. Fifteen people were injured. The crew of the engineers train had failed to check their brakes on departure from Three Bridges and thus failed to discover that the isolation cock between the two locomotives had not been opened.

Services

Off-peak frequencies on Mondays to Fridays: (As of Feb 2009)
From 10 December 2007, the service towards Portsmouth Harbour/Southampton Central and Bognor Regis now divides at this station and attaches here towards London Victoria via Gatwick Airport and East Croydon during off-peak hours, as part of the new West Coastway timetable.

Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05 2.033 million
2005/06Increase 2.067 million
2006/07Increase 2.203 million
2007/08Increase 2.382 million
2008/09Increase 2.444 million
2009/10Decrease 2.361 million
2010/11Increase 2.515 million
2011/12Increase 2.579 million
2012/13Increase 2.628 million

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