Hove railway station

History

The original Hove railway station, situated further to the east, opened on 11 May 1840 by the London and Brighton Railway, on its line from Brighton to Shoreham-by-Sea, designed by the architect David Mocatta. It closed on 1 March 1880, and was converted into the Holland Road Goods Depot.' A wooden halt named Holland Road Halt was also opened a short distance to the west in 1905, served by local trains towards Worthing and on the branch line to Devil's Dyke. This closed in 1956, and no trace now remains of its platforms.

The present Hove station was opened on 1 October 1865. It was originally named Cliftonville, then West Brighton, before being renamed Hove and West Brighton in 1894 and finally Hove in 1895.

Station architecture

The original station building, dating from the station's opening in 1865, is on the south side of the line and to the east of the present ticket office and concourse, being separated from this by a long footbridge (a public right of way) linking the residential roads of Goldstone Villas and Hove Park Villas. The section of road on which the original building stands is called Station Approach. It is currently in commercial use. The design is very similar to that of the buildings still in use at West Worthing, Shoreham-by-Sea, Portslade and London Road stations, and the former Kemptown station in Brighton.

In 1893, coinciding with the first renaming, a new building was provided to the west. This contains the current ticket office and other station facilities. A large steel and glass porte-cochere stands outside at an angle, sheltering the taxi rank, forecourt and entrance area. This was moved from London Victoria following rebuilding works there which had rendered it redundant.

The island platform is reached by subway; access from the footbridge between the old and new buildings is no longer possible, as the stairs from it are locked out of use. This platform has a modest building incorporating a café, staff accommodation and waiting room, with a separate toilet block. A wide canopy runs for most of the length of the platform.

Future developments

The Thameslink 2000 project (now known as the Thameslink Programme) contains proposals to extend the Thameslink network to various additional routes in southern England; one of these would be the section of the West Coastway line between Hove and Littlehampton, with services running via the Cliftonville Curve from the Brighton Main Line. This will see services that currently terminate at London Bridge continuing through Central London and northwards via the Midland Main Line or East Coast Main Line to destinations such as Luton or Cambridge. This however is not imminent, a Department for Transport whitepaper states only that "the Thameslink Programme will be completed by the end of 2015" and that "interim outputs will be delivered by the end of 2011".

Layout

There are three platforms- Platforms 1 and 2 can be (and are) used for any combination of arrival or departure. Platform 3 cannot be used for arrivals from the West Coastway or departures towards London in the up direction.

Services

The station is situated a short distance west of the junction between the West Coastway line from Brighton and the Cliftonville Curve, which connects the West Coastway route with the Brighton Main Line. As a result, the station is often used for interchange between Brighton trains and those running to and from London Victoria via the Brighton Main Line. An island platform allows straightforward cross-platform interchange. A separate side platform, with direct access to the station concourse and exit, is used for westbound services.

The typical off-peak service pattern is as follows:

Eastbound

Westbound

Facilities