Kemp Town railway station

Infobox UK disused station
name = Kemp Town (closed)


caption = A train at the station, viewed from the north
manager = London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
owner = Southern Railway
Southern Region of British Railways
locale = Kemptown
borough = Brighton & Hove , East Sussex
platforms = 1
years = 1869
events = Station opened
years1 = 1933
events1 = Station closed to passengers
years2 = 1971
events2 = Station closed to freight

Kemp Town railway station, sometimes colloquially referred to as Kemptown railway station, was a terminus station in Kemptown, Brighton (now part of the city of Brighton and Hove), East Sussex, England, UK, on the (now) closed Kemp Town branch line. This line branched off the East Coastway Line a short distance from the Ditchling Road tunnel, between London Road and Moulsecoomb stations. The Kemptown railway branch line and all its stations are no longer extant.

History

The station was located in the Kemptown area of the town, which derives its name from Kemp Town, a 19th century housing development in the east of the area, approximately two miles to the east of the centre of Brighton. [http://www.kemptown.org/history/ History of Kemptown]

Because of rivalries between the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) and London, Chatham and Dover Railway, the LB&SCR decided in 1869 to build a short but expensive branch line from Brighton railway station to Kemptown, chiefly as a blocking move to prevent another line being laid into the town. The branch line with its costly viaducts and tunnel never paid its way, being twice as long as the equivalent journey by road.

The LB&SCR closed the line to passenger traffic as early as 1917, but only temporarily, reinstating the services in 1919. The branch line and its remaining stations finally closed to passenger traffic in 1933 and to freight by 1971, having been used as a "Brighton East" freight depot to help reduce the work of the main depot sited near the main Brighton Station [Brighton to Eastbourne by Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Middleton Press 1985 ISBN 0 906520 16 9] .

Hartington Road Halt only survived five years, being opened on 1 January 1909 and closing April 1911 [Plate 30, Brighton to Eastbourne by Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Middleton Press 1985 ISBN 0 906520 16 9 ] .

World War II

Between October 1941 and May 1944, during World War II, Kemptown Tunnel was used as an overnight air raid shelter for electric multiple unit stock even though it meant using a steam locomotive to move them, the Kemp Town branch not being electrified [Text above plate 52, Brighton to Eastbourne by Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Middleton Press 1985 ISBN 0 906520 16 9 ] .

Land use after closure

The site is now the Freshfield Industrial Estate. The portal of the railway tunnel leading through to the site of the Hartington Road Halt (now a block of flats), and eventually to the also-lost Lewes Road Station, may still be viewed from the compound of a self-storage warehouse and van rental company. Hartington Road viaduct was demolished in 1973, Lewes Road viaduct following in 1976. [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/k/kemp_town/index.shtml Kemp Town in Subterranea Britannica]

Former Services

Gallery

See also

* List of closed railway stations in Britain
* Transport in Brighton and Hove

References

Bibliography

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