Horsham railway station

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 (in east Crawley) 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.

File:horsham station.jpg

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 Dorking, Leatherhead and thence to London, was opened.{{Cite book| last= Turner | first= John Howard | year=1978 | title= The London Brighton and South Coast Railway 2 Establishment and Growth | publisher=Batsford | isbn= 0-7134-1198-8 |pages=99–106, 111–2 }} The station was again partially rebuilt and resignalled, with three signal boxes, in 1875.{{Cite book| last= Turner | first= John Howard | year=1979 | title= The London Brighton and South Coast Railway 3 Completion and Maturity| publisher=Batsford |isbn=0-7134-1389-1 |page=67 }}

File:Horsham RCTS Sussex Rail Tour geograph-2683937-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg

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 was designed by James Robb Scott and 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 Henfield Hire, 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.

{{clear}}

• 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 {{rws|Three Bridges}} and thus failed to discover that the isolation cock between the two locomotives had not been opened.{{cite book |title=Southern Electric 1909–1979 |first=G. T. |last=Moody |orig-year=1957 |year=1979 |edition=Fifth |publisher=Ian Allan Ltd |location=Shepperton |pages=216–17 |isbn=0-7110-0924-4}}

Services at Horsham are operated by Southern and Thameslink using {{brc|377}} and {{brc|700|n}} EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:{{cite web|url= https://www.southernrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/station-information/stations/-/media/goahead/gtr-all-timetables/timetables-15-dec-2019-to-16-may-2020/gtr1912ptt28web.pdf|title= Timetable 28: Portsmouth and Southampton to London via Horsham|work= Southern, December 2019}}{{cite web|url= https://www.southernrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/station-information/stations/-/media/goahead/gtr-all-timetables/timetables-15-dec-2019-to-16-may-2020/gtr1912ptt33web.pdf|title= Timetable 33: Horsham and Dorking to London|work= Southern, December 2019}}{{cite web|url= https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/station-information/stations/-/media/goahead/gtr-all-timetables/timetables-15-dec-2019-to-16-may-2020/gtr1912ptt10web.pdf|title= Timetable 10: Peterborough to Horsham|work= Thameslink, December 2019}}

• 2 tph to {{stn|London Victoria}} via {{stnlnk|Gatwick Airport}}
• 1 tph to London Victoria via {{stnlnk|Epsom}} and {{stnlnk|Sutton|London}}
• 2 tph to {{stnlnk|Peterborough}} via Gatwick Airport, Redhill and {{stn|London Bridge}}
• 2 tph to Portsmouth Harbour (non-stop to {{stnlnk|Barnham}})
• 2 tph to {{stnlnk|Bognor Regis}} (stopping)

In the peak hours, the station is served by a single service between London Bridge and Bognor Regis (via Littehampton).

On Sundays, the service to London Victoria via Epsom does not run. In addition, the Thameslink service is reduced to 1 tph and runs to Bedford, instead of Peterborough.{{cite web |website=www.thameslinkrailway.com |title=Timetables |url=https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/timetables}} Mainline services are reduced to 1 tph and trains divide at Barnham instead of at Horsham.

{{rail start}}

{{rail line two to one|previous1={{stnlnk|Crawley}}|previous2={{stnlnk|Littlehaven}}
{{smalldiv|Limited service}}|next={{stnlnk|Christ's Hospital}}
or
{{stnlnk|Barnham}}|route=Southern
{{smalldiv|Arun Valley line}}|col={{Southern colour}} }}

{{s-rail-national|rows2=2|previous=Littlehaven|toc=Thameslink|route={{smalldiv|Arun Valley line}}}}

{{S-rail-national|hide2=yes|previous=Warnham|toc=Southern|route={{smalldiv|Sutton and Mole Valley lines}}|notemid={{smalldiv|Monday-Saturday only}}}}

{{Disused Rail Insert}}

{{rail line|rows1=2|rows2=2|next={{stnlnk|Christ's Hospital}}|route=British Rail Southern Region
{{smalldiv|Cranleigh line}}|col={{BR(S) colour}} }}

{{Rail line|hide1=yes|hide2=yes|next={{stnlnk|Christ's Hospital}}|route=British Rail Southern Region
{{smalldiv|Steyning Line}}|col={{BR(S) colour}} }}

{{end}}

A small wooden motive power depot was built at the station in 1876.Turner (1979), p.66. This was replaced by a brick-built ten-road semi-roundhouse together with a 46 ft (14 metre) turntable in 1880. This in turn was extended with a further eight-roads in 1900. In 1927 the Southern Railway installed a 55 ft (16.8 metre) turntable. This depot was closed in 1964.{{Cite book| last= Hawkins | first= Chris and Reeves, George.| year=1979 | title= An historical survey of Southern sheds| publisher=Oxford Publishing Co. | isbn= 0-86093-020-3}} p.45.

Nearby is the type 13 signal box dating from 1938, which is also Grade II listed. It closed in 2005 when its controls were transferred to Three Bridges Integrated Electronic Control Centre.

{{Main|Thameslink Programme}}

New services from Horsham have been introduced to destinations north of central London from December 2018.[http://assets.goaheadbus.com/media/cms_page_media/1273/Proposed%202018%20Thameslink%20service%20pattern.pdf Proposed Thameslink service pattern] The new timetable was originally proposed in May 2014, with services between Horsham and {{Stnlnk|London Bridge}} transferred from Southern to Thameslink, and extended to Peterborough via St Pancras International, Stevenage and St Neots.

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Horsham railway station}}

{{Stn art lrnk|HRH|RH135RB}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070228095943/http://www.southernrailway.com/routes.php?r=7&m=route Route Map and Timetable for Sutton & Mole Valley Line]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070228095913/http://www.southernrailway.com/routes.php?r=4&m=route Route Map and Timetable for Arun Valley Lines]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070704061301/http://www.hiddenhorsham.co.uk/52/listedphotos.htm#461982 Photos] of the station and signal box together with English Heritage listing description
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080518162140/http://www.hiddenhorsham.co.uk/66/railway.htm Feature] about the history of the station and signal box since 1834

{{West Sussex railway stations}}

{{TSGN and SE Stations|Mole Valley=y|Mainline West=y|Redhill=y|FCC None=y|SE None=y}}

Category:Horsham

Category:Railway stations in West Sussex

Category:DfT Category C2 stations

Category:Former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway stations

Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1848

Category:Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway

Category:Grade II listed railway stations

Category:Art Deco architecture in England

Category:James Robb Scott buildings