Withyham railway station

Infobox UK disused station
name = Withyham
gridref = TQ499364


manager = London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
owner = Southern Railway
Southern Region of British Railways
locale = Withyham
borough = Wealden
platforms = 1
years = 1 October 1866
events = Station opened
years2 = 2 January 1967
events2 = Station closed

Withyham was a railway station on the Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells Central Line which closed in 1967, a casualty of the Beeching Axe. [ [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/w/withyham/index.shtml Withyham railway station on Subterranea Britannica] ] The station building survived the closure and is now a private residence named the "Old Withyham Station"; much of the trackbed as far as Groombridge is part of the Worth Way and Forest Way footpaths, with the section as far as Tunbridge Wells West now reopened by the Spa Valley Railway.

Reopening

With regard to the possible reopening of the remaining section of the line from Tunbridge Wells to Three Bridges, number of obstacles would appear to stand in the way of such action, most notably:

1)An industrial site currently occupies the former location of Forest Row railway station as well as a small recycling centre to west.

2) The formation has been built across in several places notably in East Grinstead where about one mile of the trackbed from Station Road to the Lewes Road tunnel has been taken over for a relief road (the A22 ironically named "Beechings Way" after Richard Beeching whose recommendations closed the railway line). As there is no feasible alternative route into the station, this road would need to be reconverted back to rail. Any such action would in all likelihood result in a cut in capacity on an already highly congested road network.

3) The site of Grange Road has disappeared under a small parade of shops as well as housing which block 0.64 miles of the formation.

Gallery

See also

* List of closed railway stations in Britain

References