Cooksbridge railway station

Railway station in East Sussex, England

50°54′14″N 0°00′32″W / 50.904°N 0.009°W / 50.904; -0.009Grid referenceTQ400134Managed bySouthernPlatforms2Other informationStation codeCBRClassificationDfT category F2HistoryOriginal companyLondon, Brighton and South Coast RailwayPre-groupingLondon, Brighton and South Coast RailwayPost-groupingSouthern RailwayKey dates1 October 1847Opened as Cook's BridgeMay 1885Renamed CooksbridgePassengers2018/19

40,9122019/20

42,8582020/21

21,1522021/22

47,5522022/23

62,220

Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Cooksbridge railway station serves the village of Cooksbridge in East Sussex, England. It is on the East Coastway Line, 47 miles 31 chains (76.3 km) from London Bridge via Redhill. Train services are provided by Southern.

The station is unstaffed. A PERTIS ticket machine was installed in 2008 on both the London-bound and the Lewes-bound platform.

History

Cooksbridge lies on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway "cut-off" line between Keymer Junction, near Wivelsfield on the Brighton Main Line, and Lewes. The erstwhile Brighton, Lewes and Hastings Railway were authorised to build the line in 1845; the LBSCR purchased it and opened the link on 1 October 1847.^[1] The station opened as Cook's Bridge^[2] on the same date.^[3] The first station master was Richard Strevett who stayed until promoted to Hailsham on 17 August 1861. This replacement (George Bennett) lasted only a few weeks, arriving on 16 August 1861 and returning to his old job (porter at Brighton) on 6 September 1861. His replacement, Alfred Paver, was appointed on 13 September 1861.^[4]

The initial services were very sparse. The May 1848 timetable shows Up Trains to London at 8.30am and 5.50pm and a London arrivals at 9am. (Afternoon passengers were directed to travel via Lewes on the 5.50pm train).^[5]

During May 2020, Platform 1 was extended to accommodate 8 coach trains, as opposed to a previous 6.^[6]

Services

All services at Cooksbridge are operated by Southern using Class 377 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[7]

1 tph to London Victoria via Gatwick Airport
1 tph to Eastbourne

On Sundays, the service is still hourly, but with Eastbourne trains continuing to Ore via Hastings

Prior to December 2019, the station was served by a limited weekday service only with no weekend services. In December 2019, a regular hourly service was introduced on weekdays and Saturdays, followed by an hourly Sunday service in May 2020.^[8]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Wivelsfield or Plumpton		Southern East Coastway Line		Lewes

References

^ Official notice published in The Sussex Advertiser. 28 September 1847. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 68. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
^ Dendy Marshall, C.F.; Kidner, R.W. (1963) [1937]. History of the Southern Railway (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 515. ISBN 0-7110-0059-X.
^ The employment records of the London Brighton & South Coast Railway held in the National Archives.
^ The Sussex Advertiser. 30 May 1848. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ "Cooksbridge Station Sees Improvements". Rail Record. 9 May 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^ Table 190 National Rail timetable, May 2022
^ "Network Rail improvement works at Cooksbridge – May 2020". www.hamsey.net. Retrieved 9 May 2020.