Could Horsham - Shoreham ever reopen?

[21C101]

Has there ever been a serious campaign to reopen this route. Proposed for electrification by the Southern Railway in 1946, it had steady rises in passengers from 1948 till closure in 1966.

The closure was apparently marginal with no attempt to single the line or destaff and even BR apparently wondering whether they had done the right thing.

Had it survived and been electrified it would surely have been as busy as the mid sussex or tonbridge hastings and provided a diversionary route to Brighton.

In fact were the government to deem Steyning, Partridge Green, Henfield and Southwater as four of the governments proposed new "Garden Cities", with the line still largely intact as a footpath & no major engineering structures or level crossings, it might be an ideal candidate for private funding by property developers on the kilbride model?

 

[NorthernSpirit]

I've often thought that the withdrawn T68's could be pressed into use again and plonked onto this line. At the moment there is a 'rail replacement bus' that runs sporadically through the year which is operated by Southern Transit using the service numer 3.

 

[dysonsphere]

a quick look on Google show many problems on the route mainly new bypasses and industerial estates. Gave up before I gor to Shoreham. And the Stenying bypass appears to built on the old alingement.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

It should be remembered that nothing is permanent if the government wants it. HS2 being an example of this.

If they want it badly enough, then whatever is in the way will get demolished.

 

[bangor-toad]

Hi there,
There's never been a serious re-opening campaign that I've come across.

The alignment is fairly clear but there are some significant obstacles. Heading north from Shoreham:

There a large bridge missing over the River Ouse
The Stenying by-pass uses about a mile of the alignment and there's not really much alternative. Incidentally if you look carefully to the east you can see the remains of the old station platform as you drive along.
At Henfield houses have been built on the station site. To re-use that site would, rather ironically, require the demolition of the housing develop called "Beechings"
At Partridge Green there a number of houses, an office block and an industrial unit blocking the route.
Southwater has grown since the railway left and there would be some challenges getting through the town. Probably less than you'd immediately think but it wouldn't be cheap.


As it currently stands I can't see any business case that would give a positive result for this line.
Shame really but the reality is what it is...

Cheers,
Mr Toad

 

[HarleyDavidson]

You would have more success reinstating Guildford to Horsham, apart from a couple of river & minor road bridges which are missing, plus two over the A281at Bramley & Rudgwick, you'd need a small deviation around Stockland Square shopping area in Cranleigh, the tunnel at Baynards needs to be dug out, the rest is pretty clear, unless they've extended the medical centre at Rudgwick further on to the trackbed.

 

[455driver]

You would have more success reinstating Guildford to Horsham, apart from a couple of river & minor road bridges which are missing, plus two over the A281at Bramley & Rudgwick, you'd need a small deviation around Stockland Square shopping area in Cranleigh, the tunnel at Baynards needs to be dug out, the rest is pretty clear, unless they've extended the medical centre at Rudgwick further on to the trackbed.

You forgot about the residents of Cranley who dont want their town turned into a park and ride site.

 

[21C101]

You forgot about the residents of Cranley who dont want their town turned into a park and ride site.

Thats an interesting point, I'm guesing that all the towns between Horsham and Shoreham would have had a lot more development had the railway not shut "a la" Burgess Hill, with the towns becoming commuter dormitory towns, and the people there are probably quite glad it did shut for that reason.

The physical obstacles pointed out are not trivial but nothing that cannot be got round. I reckon for example a single track alongside the Steyning bypass is do-able.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Another thing I notice is that the no.17 Horsham to Brighton service only takes about 20 minutes longer to do the journey than the train did (1h25 against 1h 05 in 1950 timetable) and of course that is to town centre at each end not just station

Plus for Henfield and Partridge Green the journey time to Brighton by Bus now is typically 30/34 minutes as compared with 42/47 minutes on the 1950 train timetable. AIUI the main commuting flow was to Brighton on that line.

Similarly, Steyning/Bramber has an hourly bus service to Shoreham station taking 25 minutes, which continues right up to Midnight and serves Beeding which never had a station.

I think this was one of Beechings points, some of the towns like Steyning had to lose services in order for the bus services to be viable. Had the line stayed open then I'm sure the bus service would have been about 2 a day with Beeding having no station and Bramber folk having a long walk to an ill sited one.

In Flitwick for example, a town of 12,000 bus services are awful, 1-2 an hour to bedford, no evening service, 4 a day to Biggleswade, two a week to Milton Keynes and none to Luton

The reason is that the railway hoovers up the main passenger flow from Flitwick to Bedford and Luton/London with a 15 minute interval service. Fine if you live in Flitwick but, deprived of the traffic between principal towns the buses are hopelessly uneconomic meaning that the small towns and villages between get little or nothing. The only reason there is a half decent daytime bus from Flitwick to Bedford is that Ampthill Station closed (pop 8,000) as it was nearly as far from the town as Flitwick station and so it is used to get Ampthill - Bedford and by commuters going from Ampthill to Flitwick Statio. What few buses there are are mostly only there because the council subsidises them.

It seems that, as in so many cases, the real problem with Horsham - Shoreham closure was the lack of integration of with bus services that was the Beeching Achilles heel. It is only in the last few years that it is possible to look up any bus service on the internet and do the logistical integration yourself, prior to that it was impossible without local knowledge or detailed planning.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

You forgot about the residents of Cranley who dont want their town turned into a park and ride site.

It's not the residents of Cranleigh that are against it, it's the fascists of Bramley, who're the biggest bunch of whining,whinging gits going.

They're always bitching about the accident rate, plus the traffic & pollution levels through the village and yet are quite happy to clutter up Shalford, Farncombe,Godalming & Guildford with their large posh cars & sod anyone else.

What they seem to have forgotten is that if you have direct rail links to London & transport hubs such as Heathrow, Gatwick airports, their property prices increase at an exponential rate. Ask the residents of Portchester & Fareham, their properties value has gone through the roof, due to the electrification of the Portsmouth to Southampton/Eastleigh lines back in the 80s, which has bought a fast, frequently and viable alternative to the car.

 

[paul1609]

Im doubtful that there are many people who commute from Portchester to London on a daily basis 1 h47 is way over what most people are willing to endure. I used to commute from Littlehampton to London Bridge which was 1 hr 40 and there were only 10 annual season ticket holders. Numbers really only used to pick up from Worthing onwards

 

[Robertj21a]

Hi there,
There's never been a serious re-opening campaign that I've come across.

The alignment is fairly clear but there are some significant obstacles. Heading north from Shoreham:

There a large bridge missing over the River Ouse
The Stenying by-pass uses about a mile of the alignment and there's not really much alternative. Incidentally if you look carefully to the east you can see the remains of the old station platform as you drive along.
At Henfield houses have been built on the station site. To re-use that site would, rather ironically, require the demolition of the housing develop called "Beechings"
At Partridge Green there a number of houses, an office block and an industrial unit blocking the route.
Southwater has grown since the railway left and there would be some challenges getting through the town. Probably less than you'd immediately think but it wouldn't be cheap.


As it currently stands I can't see any business case that would give a positive result for this line.
Shame really but the reality is what it is...

Cheers,
Mr Toad

I can't think where that missing 'large bridge' over the Ouse north of Shoreham must be. I thought the line ran alongside the Ouse on the eastern side all the way up to Bramber.

 

[steamybrian]

I can't think where that missing 'large bridge' over the Ouse north of Shoreham must be. I thought the line ran alongside the Ouse on the eastern side all the way up to Bramber.

Travelling north the railway crossed from the east bank to the west bank of the River Adur near Beeding Cement Works.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

Im doubtful that there are many people who commute from Portchester to London on a daily basis 1 h47 is way over what most people are willing to endure. I used to commute from Littlehampton to London Bridge which was 1 hr 40 and there were only 10 annual season ticket holders. Numbers really only used to pick up from Worthing onwards

I know of folk who commute to/from the IoW & beyond Brockenhurst into London, so 1hr 47 isn't that bad.

 

[Abpj17]

In Flitwick for example, a town of 12,000 bus services are awful, 1-2 an hour to bedford, no evening service, 4 a day to Biggleswade, two a week to Milton Keynes and none to Luton

The reason is that the railway hoovers up the main passenger flow from Flitwick to Bedford and Luton/London with a 15 minute interval service. Fine if you live in Flitwick but, deprived of the traffic between principal towns the buses are hopelessly uneconomic meaning that the small towns and villages between get little or nothing. The only reason there is a half decent daytime bus from Flitwick to Bedford is that Ampthill Station closed (pop 8,000) as it was nearly as far from the town as Flitwick station and so it is used to get Ampthill - Bedford and by commuters going from Ampthill to Flitwick Statio. What few buses there are are mostly only there because the council subsidises them.

To what extent does that reflect demand though - is Flitwick essentially a commuter town with most of the population working in Bedford, Luton, Milton Keynes or London? Good point about all the small towns or villages tho - are some of them served by buses that don't server Flitwick tho?

 

[21C101]

To what extent does that reflect demand though - is Flitwick essentially a commuter town with most of the population working in Bedford, Luton, Milton Keynes or London? Good point about all the small towns or villages tho - are some of them served by buses that don't server Flitwick tho?

No, basically Flitwick is the local "hub" ie it has the Railway Station, library and a s**ing great Tesco.

There are hourly buses direct from Bedford to Luton but those go along the A6, several miles away from Flitwick via stationless Elstow, Wilstead, Clophill and Barton Le Clay, so its a different corridor

 

[paul1609]

Travelling north the railway crossed from the east bank to the west bank of the River Adur near Beeding Cement Works.

It was called Coombs bridge after the hamlet on the western bank. It was the limit of the truncated branch to the cement works until the 1980s.
Unless it has been removed in the last couple of years the buffer stops and the last length of track are still there.

 

[infobleep]

You would have more success reinstating Guildford to Horsham, apart from a couple of river & minor road bridges which are missing, plus two over the A281at Bramley & Rudgwick, you'd need a small deviation around Stockland Square shopping area in Cranleigh, the tunnel at Baynards needs to be dug out, the rest is pretty clear, unless they've extended the medical centre at Rudgwick further on to the trackbed.

The Baynards tunnel is now a bat haven. Not sure what they could do about that. Anyway I can't see the line reopening even if I'd like it to.

 

[Dr_Paul]

I think that the Horsham to Shoreham route was one of those lines closed in the 1960s whose closure has since been regretted but whose reinstatement is rather too difficult to envisage taking place. Had it remained in place, it would, I feel, have become increasingly useful not merely as a commuter line both to London and Brighton, but also as a relief to the main Brighton to London route.

To be fair, however, I do think that those looking at the economics and practicalities of the railway network in the early 1960s, whatever else one might think of them, could not have envisaged the remarkable rise of out-of-London urban development and the concomitant increase in commuter traffic.

 

[steamybrian]

I think that the Horsham to Shoreham route was one of those lines closed in the 1960s whose closure has since been regretted but whose reinstatement is rather too difficult to envisage taking place. Had it remained in place, it would, I feel, have become increasingly useful not merely as a commuter line both to London and Brighton, but also as a relief to the main Brighton to London route.

To be fair, however, I do think that those looking at the economics and practicalities of the railway network in the early 1960s, whatever else one might think of them, could not have envisaged the remarkable rise of out-of-London urban development and the concomitant increase in commuter traffic.

I fully agree.
The same goes for Uckfield- Lewes line but at least the trackbed on that route has been "safeguarded" from redevelopment.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

But I think that NR have put it in the too difficult to do tray, along with Skipton to Colne, amongst others.