Brighton Main Line

Brighton Main Line
Legend
South Eastern Main Line London Victoria London Bridge Spa Road Victoria carriage sidings Southwark Park Grosvenor Bridge over River Thames South Bermondsey West London Line South Western Main Line to Waterloo Battersea Park to North Kent Line South Eastern Main Line to Kent Coast Chatham Main Line South London Line Latchmere Junctions East London Line Clapham Junction New Cross Gate Nunhead-Lewisham Link to Shepperton, Hounslow Loop, Windsor Line and Reading Brockley South Western Main Line Catford Loop Line Honor Oak Park Wandsworth Common Forest Hill Sydenham Balham Chatham Main Line Crystal Palace Line via Streatham Hill to London Bridge Streatham Sutton and Mole Valley Lines to Sutton Penge West Anerley Streatham Common to Birkbeck Norbury Crystal Palace Line Thornton Heath Norwood Junction Selhurst Selhurst Depot Sutton and Mole Valley Lines to West Croydon East Croydon sidings East Croydon South Croydon Oxted Line Purley Oaks Purley Quarry Line Redhill Line Coulsdon North Coulsdon South Merstham tunnel Quarry tunnel M23 motorway M25 motorway Merstham (L&BR) Merstham Redhill North Downs Line Redhill to Tonbridge Line Red Hill & Reigate Road Redhill tunnel Redhill sidings Earlswood Salfords Horley Gatwick Airport Tinsley Green/ Gatwick Airport Three Bridges Arun Valley Line Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells Central Line Three Bridges works Three Bridges sidings Three Bridges sidings M23 motorway Balcombe tunnel Balcombe Ouse Valley Viaduct over River Ouse Proposed (unbuilt) Ouse Valley Railway to Bluebell Railway Ardingly aggregates Copyhold Junction Haywards Heath Haywards Heath Tunnel Wivelsfield Keymer Junction East Coastway Line Burgess Hill Hassocks Clayton Tunnel Patcham Tunnel Preston Park Cliftonville Tunnel Brighton depot and carriage sidings West Coastway Line East Coastway Line Brighton

The Brighton Main Line (also known as South Central Main Line) is a British railway line divided in the north into two sections running from London Victoria and London Bridge to Brighton. It is about 51 miles (81 km) long, and is electrified throughout. Nearly all passenger trains are provided by Govia Thameslink Railway which operates the Southern, Gatwick Express and Thameslink brands. A small section has Great Western Railway services, currently sole operator of the line from Gatwick Airport to Reading, Berkshire known as the North Downs Line. The many Sussex services to Central London use the line and generally its branches as do south London, East Surrey and Tonbridge, Kent services.

History and geography of the line

Original proposals

There were six original proposals to build a railway between London and Brighton. The London and Brighton Railway (L&BR) emerged with an Act of Parliament of 15 July 1837 after a prolonged and expensive battle, with the most direct route, from the London and Croydon Railway (L&CR) at Norwood Junction to Brighton, using the L&CR from Norwood to London Bridge. A condition required by Parliament was that the railway should share its line between Croydon and Redhill with the South Eastern Railway main line to Dover. This clause gave rise to 60 years of disputes between the two companies.

Brighton line

Land use between London and Brighton was largely rural. The line was planned to traverse the North Downs, the Wealden ridge and the South Downs while avoiding steep gradients.

Due to the difficult terrain and relatively sparse population between Croydon and Brighton, the line by-passed several towns and villages on the London-Brighton road, such as Reigate and Crawley. Even so, it required substantial earthworks, notably through the North Downs at Merstham, with one of the largest cuttings in Britain; seven tunnels (Merstham, Balcombe, Haywards Heath, Clayton and Patcham initially, then Quarry and Redhill which were constructed later); and several embankments. To avoid steep gradients or detours, the 1,475-foot-long (450 m), maximum 96-foot-high (29 m) Ouse Valley Viaduct was built near Balcombe.

The line opened in two stages:

12 July 1841: Norwood Junction to Haywards Heath.

21 September 1841: to Brighton.

Branch lines

The branch line from Brighton to Shoreham-by-Sea was finished on 12 May 1840, before the main line, as it did not involve significant civil engineering works (all the materials arrived by sea from mainland Europe). The Newhaven section did not materialise until 1846, when the Brighton - Hastings line was opened by the Brighton Lewes and Hastings Railway. A few weeks later the L&CR, the L&BR and other railways in Sussex amalgamated to form the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR).

Lines to Victoria

A branch line from Norwood to Crystal Palace was built in 1851, extending to Sydenham in 1854, Balham and Wandsworth in 1856, Battersea in 1858, and London Victoria in 1860. A cut-off line reducing the distance between East Croydon and Balham opened in 1862.

Quarry line

There were frequent disputes resulting from the companies' sharing of the busy section between East Croydon and Redhill. The LB&SCR owned the section between East Croydon and Coulsdon North, and the SER (later the South Eastern and Chatham Railway) from Coulsdon South to Redhill. Eventually the LB&SCR built the "Quarry Line", a by-pass for express trains between Coulsdon North and Earlswood, avoiding Redhill. It opened on 8 November 1899 (1 April 1900 for passengers trains).

Electrification

The line was the first UK main line to be electrified throughout. The LB&SCR electrified its South London Line on 1 December 1909 using an overhead high-tension single-phase system; within three years the line from Victoria to Selhurst railway station was also converted, and in 1920, from London Bridge to South Croydon. In 1921 plans were drawn up to extend overhead electrification to Brighton,^[1] extending 3.5 miles (5.6 km) toward the edge of today's Greater London at Coulsdon North, before being scrapped by the amalgamated operator under the 1923 grouping: Southern Railway which decided to standardise on the third-rail system of the former London and South Western Railway. In 1928/29 the lines began conversion to third-rail operation.

Electrification was in place southward to Coulsdon North by 1929 – to Three Bridges in the north of Sussex in July 1932, then reaching Brighton and West Worthing on the coast on 1 January 1933.^[2]

The third rail is electrified at 750 V DC, and in the early part of the 21st century had its power supply upgraded for the introduction of Electrostar stock by Southern. Traction current supply is supervised by Lewisham, Selhurst and Brighton electrical control rooms which will be superseded by the Three Bridges ROC.^[3]

Accidents and incidents

• On 8 March 1965, a freight train was derailed at Streatham Common. All four lines were blocked and the line was closed between Balham and Selhurst.^[4]
• On 16 December 1972, two electric multiple unit passenger trains were in collision at Copyhold Junction, West Sussex after the driver of one of them misread signals. Fifteen people were injured.^[5]
• On 4 March 1989 an electric multiple unit passed a signal at danger and collided with another just north of Purley station, causing part of it to fall down the embankment. Five people were killed and 88 were injured.

Services

A Thameslink train ready for a dawn departure from Brighton

The line is four-track to Balcombe Tunnel junction, where it becomes double track as far as Preston Park. Except for a pair of platform loops at Haywards Heath, there are no passing loops.

The fastest trains from Brighton to Victoria stop only at Gatwick Airport; some trains also stop at Hassocks, Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Horley, East Croydon and Clapham Junction. Thameslink services from Brighton via East Croydon continue to Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon, St Pancras, and stations in North London and Hertfordshire, to Luton and Bedford.

Non-stop Gatwick Express trains run between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport. A train departs in both directions every 15 minutes, with a journey time of 30 minutes. Great Western Railway run trains between Gatwick Airport and Reading via Redhill and the North Downs Line.

A 24-hour service runs between Three Bridges and London Victoria and Three Bridges and Bedford via Blackfriars with a frequency of 1 train an hour on the Victoria route and two trains per hour on the Bedford route throughout the night.

Contingency plans

From Balcombe Tunnel junction to Preston Park the tracks reduce from quadruple to double track.^[6] A train that fails in this section causes most disruption, so two provisions are in place to keep the service running.

Bi-directional signalling

Normal running and 'Bi-directional' signal outside Haywards Heath Tunnel

The line is divided into three sections of bi-directional signalling, which allows trains to cross over to the opposite line and run in the "wrong direction". These are:

• Balcombe Tunnel junction to Copyhold Junction (just north of Haywards Heath).
• Haywards Heath to Keymer Junction (just south of Wivelsfield).
• Keymer Junction to Preston Park.

Diversionary route

The section from Wivelsfield to Preston Park can be bypassed by turning eastwards onto the Lewes line at Keymer Junction. At Lewes trains can reverse to head westwards to Brighton via the East Branch line, rejoining the main line at Montpelier Junction. However this diversion does not allow trains to call at Burgess Hill, Hassocks, and Preston Park.

Branching routes

A 1908 Railway Clearing House map of Brighton Main Line between South Croydon and Selhurst / Forest Hill, as well as surrounding lines.

Branches from the line to Victoria

• between London Victoria and Battersea Park, the Chatham Main Line to North Kent
• at Battersea Park, the South London Line to London Bridge
• at Balham, the Crystal Palace Line via Crystal Palace^{[n 1]}
• at Selhurst, to West Croydon

Branches from the line to London Bridge

• between London Bridge and New Cross Gate, the South Eastern Main Line and South London Line
• at New Cross Gate, the East London Line to Highbury & Islington
• at Sydenham, the Crystal Palace Line to Streatham Hill and via Balham to London Victoria
• at Norwood Junction, via Crystal Palace to London Victoria, London Bridge and Blackfriars, and to West Croydon

Branches south of East Croydon

• at South Croydon, the Oxted branch line^{[n 2]}
• at Purley, the Caterham and Tattenham Corner Lines^{[n 3]}
• at Redhill, the North Downs Line to the west^{[n 4]}, and the Tonbridge branch^{[n 5]}
• at Three Bridges, the Arun Valley Line^{[n 6]} to Portsmouth via Horsham^{[n 7][n 8]}
• at Wivelsfield^{[n 9]} the East Coastway Line to Eastbourne and Hastings via Lewes direct, avoiding Brighton^{[n 10]}
• at Preston Park, a branch of the West Coastway Line to Littlehampton, avoiding Brighton^{[n 11]}
• at Brighton, the West Coastway Line; and the East Coastway Line to Eastbourne, Hastings and Seaford

Notes

References

Sources

• Bonavia, Michael R. (1987). The history of the Southern Railway London:Unwin Hyman. ISBN 0-04-385107-X.
• Dawson, Philip, (1921) Report by Sir Philip Dawson on proposed substitution of electric for steam operation for suburban, local and mainline passenger and freight services, London Brighton and South Coast Railway.
• Moody, G. T. (1979) [1957]. Southern Electric 1909-1979 (Fifth ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 0 7110 0924 4. 

Further reading

• "Operation New Look". Rail Enthusiast. EMAP National Publications. January 1983. pp. 35–37. ISSN 0262-561X. OCLC 49957965. 

External links

• London to Brighton in two minutes - time-lapse video.
• Brighton Main Line 2 website

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