Cooksbridge railway station

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.

Cooksbridge
The platforms at Cooksbridge, looking northwest
General information
Location	Cooksbridge, Lewes District, East Sussex England
Coordinates	50.904°N 0.009°W / 50.904; -0.009
Grid reference	TQ400134
Managed by	Southern
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	CBR
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Original company	London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
Pre-grouping	London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
Key dates
1 October 1847	Opened as Cook's Bridge
May 1885	Renamed Cooksbridge
Passengers
2019/20	42,858
2020/21	21,152
2021/22	47,552
2022/23	62,220
2023/24	80,692
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

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

A Class 377 set passes through Cooksbridge, with a Southern service to London Bridge.

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

1. Official notice published in The Sussex Advertiser. 28 September 1847. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
2. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 68. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
3. 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.
4. The employment records of the London Brighton & South Coast Railway held in the National Archives.
5. The Sussex Advertiser. 30 May 1848. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
6. "Cooksbridge Station Sees Improvements". Rail Record. 9 May 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
7. Table 190 National Rail timetable, May 2022
8. "Network Rail improvement works at Cooksbridge – May 2020". www.hamsey.net. Retrieved 9 May 2020.

External links

• Train times and station information for Cooksbridge railway station from National Rail