Newhaven Marine Ghost Station
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2011
- Did you know that Newhaven has three station? Newhaven Harbour, Town ... and Marine. We go for a trip to track down the parliamentary train that runs once a day - weekdays only - at 8.15pm from Newhaven Marine to Lewes. Except that Newhaven Marine station is closed, so you can't actually get on the train ...
Read more abotut it here: diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/201...
And here: ianmarchant.wordpress.com/2010...
This train seems to run more frequently than most other Southern services lately...
ok
and it seems to be on time every single day with no exception
@Reddington thx for explaining my joke ig? I didn't get it myself in a year :3
5 years later here's a reply
ye smelly old southern isnt exactly the best rail company when it comes to services
So, technically, THIS is the least used station in the UK, given it still officially exists but has zero passengers per year... 😈
It’s not on the map though, so does it still count?
it was officially closed last year.
Personally I don’t count stations like this
The reason the temporary closer sign was there was because they closed the station due to the poor canopy condition. They demolished it (the reason for the sign) and were about to put the panels back in to the canopy but due to a lack of traffic and it being a short walk from a frequently used station it would not pay for itself in the long run, and so it was phased out on the map and trains infrequently stopped there. Trains still run there for the same reason all ghost trains run. It is easier to run an empty train down an old siding than pull up the track, let it decay, or leave it to be vandalised.
Thank you, Mr. Train
Ghost trains often also run to satisfy a contract that requires a certain minimum of service and also covers other, much more profitable lines.
This would be crazy: Announcement at Lewes station:
*'fanfare'* The train now arriving at platform 2 is the 19:45 Southern service to Newhaven Marine, calling at Southease, Newhaven Town & Newhaven Marine. Passengers for Newhaven Marine will need to board the front 0 coaches as this station has short platforms.
Platform 2 for 1945 southern service to Newhaven Marine. Calling at Southease, Newhaven Town, Newhaven Harbour, and Newhaven Marine. Customers for Newhaven Marine should hitchhike the outside of the train. This train is formed of 3 coaches.
The PID announcer would actually just say that the train terminates at New Haven & would then say private. There's also a parliamentary service in the Streatham area near Brixton that the PID says is private even though it isn't & is just a parlimentary service
Newhaven Marine railway station is now demolished (in 2017) with the old track still in place as of 2018.
Sadly the Newhaven Marine station has been demolished completely and in the next couple of weeks the beautiful old signal box will be taken out of commission and replaced by remote control. On the positive side, the spur to the docks will remain in use and be expanded to be used to transfer gravel aggregates from the dock for onward movement by train. This will mean that the swing bridge will need to be opened less much to the delight of local residents. Weirdly, the parliamentary trains (which need to travel in twice a day) will still have to continue as empty coaching stock, even now there isn't a station to go to. (all told to me by a very helpful and friendly signalman)
Back here in the Netherlands they have many (sortof) abondoned tracks next or close to stations. however trains still ride on these just to keep the rust of the tracks, they do this so in case a train has trouble like a engine breaks down they can be parked on those old tracks so the mainline won't get occupied, it's not only cheaper but also usefull
Excellent video! I remember using the Marine station to catch the ferry to France in the 1970s. It's only purpose was to provide a space off the main line for trains connecting with the ferries to wait. Effectively a glorified siding. When the ferries ceased, there was no reason for the station to exist, but closing it would cost money for the necessary public enquiry and parliamentary approval.
Unfortunately the signal box is now long gone and so has newhaven marine station it’s now in demolition and it’s redevelopment now that means there is nothing to portray the station of newhaven marine as of 2023
The old 2040 from Victoria to Paris St Lazarre was a great way of going to Europe. Get off at Newhaven Marine, up the stairs, through customs on to the ship. About 3am, down the stairs, through customs on to the train on the platform next to the ship (both terminal and station since demolished in Dieppe, and track lifted) and get in to Paris just before 8am.
I did it too - BR had a special Sep/1959 allowing 12 hours daytime in Paris, return for 5 pounds sterling! Wow, gotta do that and we did. Marvellous - a.m.Coach Tour Paris Historique and p.m Coach tour Paris Moderne. Saw ALL the sights. Excellent!
I remember doing that in 1994. It was to see Arsenal play PSG in the Cup Winners Cup semi final first leg in Paris.
One of my earliest trips to France was from London Victoria to Newhaven Marine and the old ferry terminal. Shame it's so derelict now.
Really fascinating, as are all the Geofftech and Londinist videos I have been viewing recently. Thank you very much indeed.
This is a really excellent film. And you're right - when it eventually appeared, it was just like a ghost train 👍🚂
I am in the truly privileged situation of having got a real train to and from this ghost station - when I travelled London Victoria to Dieppe, via Newhaven, back in July, 1987 😁
A regular 'ghost' service like this, as well as keeping the rails shiny and preserving a train company's access rights, ensures all the points and signals get used occasionally and have not become seized up. It also keeps the route knowledge of the train drivers up to date. Drivers have to keep their experience up for all the routes they drive and if they don't for a while, their knowledge lapses officially and they won't be able to drive that route again until formally retrained on it. A regular train like this allows the train company to rotate the crews on the train allowing all the regular drivers to keep their knowledge. Why should they need too? Because the old station can be used as a turn-back siding if the Seaford branch beyond Newhaven was blocked for any reason, perhaps for planned engineering work, or if a previous train had broken down on the single track. Also if a train from Lewes was running really late for some reason and the next one was immediately behind it, on time, then the late one could be terminated short at Harbour station and reversed in the old Marine station.
It's also used because it costs a lot to and a long time for it to be disused so they use it as a siding money saving 😀
Nowadays freight trains use it as a turn around point, sadly the station is gone now
Makes sense for a turn-around, and the best way to keep it in good shape is to use it once or twice a day. The walk between stations doesn't look very long at all. It also looks easier with platforms on opposite sides of the tracks so you know who's going inbound, and who just got off the train.
Newhaven Marine station was used for the overnight boat train service from Stirling in Scotland originally. The station is still there but no trains use it now as it is unsafe.
Just watching this in 2020 after reading an article that "this route had been axed"
Yes, I have recently seen Network Rail's formal closure notice in The Times.
I used to work at the Bus depot on the opposite side of the track. What you can see in the background is the old ‘graveyard’, but on occasion when bring a bus in or out, I would see the ghost train and always wondered why it even a thing. I always assumed it was just a service that turned around at Newhaven harbour and they used the ‘siding’ as a turnaround point.
I like that the NSE sign is still there
In the 1980s there used to be an Inter-City Cross Country train service which ran from Newhaven Marine to Manchester Piccadilly during the summer months hauled by a class 47 locomotive. I remember seeing this as in 1986 my parents and I travelled from Wimbledon for a day trip over the Channel to Dieppe courtesy of a class 455 EMU from Wimbledon to Clapham Junction, a class 421 (4 CIG) from Clapham Junction to Lewes and then a class 423 (4 VEP) to Newhaven Harbour for the Sealink ferry to Dieppe. But I remember walking the short distance with my dad from Newhaven Harbour to Newhaven Marine station and back then Marine station was still in more-or-less regular use by the occasional passenger train.
Went down to Newhaven Harbour today and..... they've just demolished the Newhaven Marine station!! Thanks for the video to remember it by! And keep up the good work documenting the lesser-known aspects of our railways.
Sadly this was demolioshed in 2019
I get that (for whatever reason) parliamentary trains exist to prevent routes being closed, but isn't it a bit...possibly legally-shady to have parliamentary train go to a station that isn't even OPEN?
The actual procedure may seem a bit daft, but it is legally perfectly valid, and actually done with very good reason, which is that IF something catastrophic happens on the normal rail network these lines can be used to divert around problems. Some lines are also maintained for infrequent but important use, and I believe that there are some "Parliamentary" lines that are maintained for use in times of national crisis...
Damian Freeman Actually, the station is still legally open (much like Norton Bridge) but as it is 'unsafe' (Even though nothing happens to the drivers when they're there) passengers aren't allowed there. It's kind of like a police cordon, but it's more permanent and only southern officials are allowed there, instead of police officers. It is however now listed as an empty stock movement so take that as you will 😊👍
It's 'unsafe' because the building is falling to bits, not because it's a crime hotspot.
Ah but parliamentary trains no longer exist in the legal sense of the Railways Regulation Act, which actually mandated trains to run to stations and take passengers (for no more than a penny a mile, no less!)--these trains merely exist to avoid closing stations or lines: and the station is not 'closed'!
I don't think that a 0.1 mile stub end siding makes a very good diversion. If they need to short turn the line they could just do it on the mainline at the main station.
Yes Viki,Geoff,your 'cameraman' 😂
I have found out that this service runs through the Network Rail TRUST Computer Database now as 5F28 from Newhaven Harbour - Newhaven Marine and then as 5F30 from Newhaven Marine to Brighton ECS!
The train stops here so that it can terminate, to go back on itself. It just stops at the station, so the driver can get out if he wishes to have a break before he carries on. It may also let other trains go past on the main route, before the train terminates. The train didn't carry on, it turned back on itself, so it can start a new service going the opposite way.
Marine station gone, harbour station level crossing goes march 7th 2019 and new freight line into harbour then gets commisioned. New road link into harbour also being built ready for traffic mid 2020.
The station is now due to officially close October 22nd 2020.
There is another ghost station at Tilbury Riverside,it was demolished years ago,there is a container depot on the site but tickets still say "Tilbury Town or Riverside".
Bus 99 of Ensign Bus operates from Tilbury Town c2c Station to the old Riverside Station.
I'm loving watching these videos again after 11 years!!!
The branch is used sometimes as an turnaround for trains going into Newhaven harbour. The branch can also be used to turn around diverted trains in an event that there is disruption on the Eastbourne line
Went there only a few years ago - by steam train special from London. We went down the Brighton Line, then onto Lewes, then to Newhaven Marine. Returned via Hastings and Robertsbridge.
In a similar vein - when London Transport ran trams, once a year a ghost tram would go out and run over all the disused sections of track . The reason for this (slightly different case) was that if the rails weren`t used at least once annually the council would then have the right to just dig them up without LT`s consent.
By jove, that was a smashing film! I thought for a moment that I wouldn't see the bloody train (what with it being a ghost train and all) and there before my tired eyes I saw the train. I dare say that it is NOT a ghost train but a real train! Good show!
The Marine Station building has now be demolished and the signal box will be gone soon. The track still exists and is being reinstated for possible use by new freight business customers in the port.
The signalling also now controlled from Three Bridges and a possibility that once the new port access road is completed that the level crossings may be removed.
I suspect that it is required to run because it was specified in the enabling Act in the 1800s. There is a fairly similar one runs each day into Stalybridge near Manchester. In the timetable it shows in just one direction and carries no passengers.
It would need an expensive change via Parliament to get rid of the requirement, cheaper to just carry on!
If you go onto real time trains and type in newhaven marine it will show you the actual departures based on the railway computers and where it comes from and goes to.
PS. I love all your videos, especially the tube related ones with you, Geoff keep up the good work
Train Boy h
By the way, as of December 2012, the ghost train timings are different. Arrives 07.38 empty stock from Lewes; departs 07.43 to form the 07.49 Newhaven Town-Brighton service.
Bringing things up to date, there is still a ferry service from Newhaven to Dieppe. I used it many years ago whilst living in Kent and the one and strongest memory about Marine Station was that you could have heard a pin drop when arriving at the terminus en route for France.I am investigating as to whether DFDS allow foot passengers aboard their ferries.
Interesting point.Getting from Dieppe the wet bit even in the 70s was by shuttle bus suggesting that SNCF were also economising on their side to match passenger expectations. In this case, very few!
And Dieppe was once a pretty busy place! Not any more, it seems.Alistair
It’s Southern Rail
They haven’t stopped the service, it just always runs 10 hours late
Whose here after the TSW East Coastway route was announced?
I am, love driving that route
so cute how excited she got when she saw the train, made me smile :)
Owing to its situation, merely yards away from the main running lines,I’m guessing the Marine branch is now utilised as a “siding to facilitate empty stock movements/stabling?
Wow, this is crazy.
It's a real ghost train with real ghosts on it
Nope, it's completely empty and it is just reversing back into the station
Now I know about the permanent replacement buses in Norton Bridge... But this? This is unbelievable! They literally run a train that passengers can't get on? That's hysterical!
walk around the fence.
I liver in nearby Seaford and used to park a bus near Newhaven Marine - I believe that I'm right in saying that during the first and second world wars the line even extended further into the dock area and a search on Google earth you can see where the old rail lines were.
2:42 Because although it is physically closed, it is still a legally open station. It takes lots of bureaucracy to close a station in the UK legally, so it's just cheaper to run an obligatory (parliamentary) train every now and then there.
Sometimes I see this train parked at Newhaven marine and I always wondered why it was there
Fun! and very well presented too. Love this stuff.
I assume it is shunting into the sidings for a service which terminates up the tracks and then changes tracks at Marine for the return. Seems fairly logical, they just can't be bothered to maintain a station which is so close and doesn't have much demand.
Not sure if this may apply to UK as eell, but the train may go on the branch to the station to do some "rail cleaning", to prevent them from rusting.
It’s simply turning back to go back to depot out of service after possibly working a part route service
I used to live next to Newhaven Harbour and commuted to London regularly... I got the ghost train regularly and was the only person on board until the town!
The train now on Mondays to Fridays (2F01) leaves Brighton at 1922 and runs in service to Newhaven Harbour. At 1952 it arrives there to drop off and becomes 5F28 to Newhaven Marine at 1955, arriving at Marine at 1957. It then becomes train 5F30 to Brighton, departing at 2015 and running empty. Working timetables for throughout Britain are available online. Just type Newhaven Harbour in as the station, choose a date, then put in Local Operational Day where Around Now is written on the good site.
It is not a ghost train. The service uses the Marine station as a turn around. It is not possible to turn around at the other station before it.
Weirdly, the train to Newhaven Marine is an ECS (Empty Coaching Stock) move while the train from Newhaven Marine is a passenger service, just not advertised.
There is another service at 7:27 from Lewes to Newhaven Town via Newhaven Marine, but this is also an ECS move.
Ahah! So that way they can run the trains without having to let passengers on! That's a clever loophole!
It's sad that Newhaven marine station has gone now 😞
Well done, interesting video and very well presented, thank you.
Looks like they just use the tracks for turning the train around after all passengers get out at the active Newhaven Harbour stop... 10 minute wait is probably so it arrives at Harbour according to the timetable.
I enjoyed this video. Very well presented.
Well it's quite obvious why the Train pulls into Newhaven Marine station, the train has a break of about 10 minutes before heading back into the opposite direction, if he sat on the Platform in Newhaven Harbour, he would block the track going futher on, and he couldn't go back the way he came on the same track either as A, there is most likely Directional traffic in place, like on a road, and B, the Platform for the opposite direction is on the other side, Newhaven Marine has two tracks and switches, allowing him to change tracks for Newhaven Harbour. You see stations like this in a lot of Metro lines across the world, as they are a necessety to keep the traffic flowing smoothly.
There is lot's of these, when the operator takes on the contract they have to for fill the contract, with these stations even if no one uses it, or they face being fined.
Ridiculous system. This is not how privatization should work.
I live in Newhaven and the reason is very simple. Not all trains on the Lewes to Seaford line go the whole way so they terminate at Newhaven Town, skip through Newhaven Harbour and then use Newhaven Marine as a point to turn round to go back to Lewes.
Southern sends one of its trains regularly to a station where no one can get on or off at... Northern can't even put a train out on a busy commuter service.
I could be wrong here, certainly now anyway, as I'm basing this comment on knowledge from the 1990s, but I believe that line is kept open by running the "Parliamentary" trains as it is occasionally takes freight services. Certainly when I was running trucks into and out of the old ferry terminal there, there would be freight trains there which, I believe, were being used in connection with the harbour improvements that were taking place that led to the passenger terminal moving further up the harbour where it was deeper and so able to accommodate the larger ferries that were coming into use on the cross-channel routes. However, the old ferry terminal made a good place to dock the craft being used in the work and therefore the old marine station made a good place to move stuff into and out of. I believe it is still used, infrequently, when harbour maintenance work such as dredging and the like is being carried out, which may only be every five or ten years, but maintaining the line in operation saves on equipment and waste material having to be moved by road...
gosportjamie it is too long for me so that why I dislike it(sorry)
Dan Evans
You disliked because you couldn't be bothered to read, and then said sorry? I'm lost.
Also on Monday to Friday, there seems to be something in the morning, departing Lewes at 0727 (train 5F90), into Marine at 0738 and out at 0743 back up to Newhaven Town to commence service on the service to Brighton at 0749 (train 2F90).
Just seen the video. In the West Midlands when they built the new Smethwich Golton Bridge Station. It made the old station redundant. They had one train stop at it a day for a year at 5 am in the morning to make sure that the they did not break the law. I was told by a B.R. Official that before they could officially close the station they had to give a years notice to Parliament and continue providing a service from it. Like Newhaven it is now behind wire and you can still see the platforms. The new Golton Bridge station is 200 yards away. The old station was a through station and used to have a lot of traffic both stopping and passing through. These days the site still does have the through traffic they just do not stop now !
She should have tried to ask the driver as he was there for 10 minutes anyways or the man in the sign house. Would be interesting to hear what is behind this train
You can use realtime trains to track trains services such as this.
This station probably would of been to do with a ferry train service, OR Newhaven marine was there in the first place, then came along the new harbour station.
Fun fact they built the Royal sovereign lighthouse which now sits in the channel right next door to Newhaven Marine. It was then moved to its current position in the middle of the channel
Was Newhaven Marine where the train carriages actually ran into special ferries with rails on the 'train deck'? The Golden Arrow Victoria to Gare du Nord.
It looks like a certain train service instead of going all the way to the left of the bend, terminates in one direction to head back where it came, making Newhaven Marine a railway siding.
All I see here is the rail company using what they have already in place to fulfil a need and not "redeveloping" just to make a railway siding.
Although, you could claim that it was picking up the passengers of the dead... :P
If you look on Apple maps on earth mode the ghost train is at Newhaven marine 😂
Wow you can read, consider yourself blessed
Looks like theyr using newhevan marine station as a sort of run round so that the train can enter the other Plattform for the return trip.
The train used to run because of a local bye law and because the local council (Lewes) paid the railways for it to run even though there were no boats (or passengers) for the train to meet.
"So we're here at Lewes..." Inspector Morse be in later?
A quick look at the satellite pic shows there is a scrap-metal loading wharf just past Newhaven marine station. There could be future commercial use to keep it open.
+nlo114 Realtimetrains shows one train a day to Acton. It ran on the 31st March:
www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/advanced/NEWHVHA/2016/03/31/0600-2000?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt
Was it not just used as a spur/ Reverser to shunt In to and back to gain access to the up line again?
Thank you for the interesting video and nice presentation.😎
Are people still watching this?
Of course! Bureaucracy at its finest
Just watched it for the first time in 2023
Are they not legally obliged to provide a Train to that station otherwise it's a long legal process going through the courts & Parliament so it cost less just to run a train in & stop then return am I right Geoff
The train was forming an ECS from the southern depot to new haven marine
There is actually s ghost train here in Florida. It uses the old hrlms line there is no record of the line i cant even find it on the internet
Tickets are not sold to/from Newhaven Marine anymore, therefore there is no eligibility for a taxi service to Harbour. The poster says you need a valid ticket from Marine to use the 'replacement taxi' service.
It’s a bit sad when you see these videos as it shows just the decline of some areas. When you see the closed tube stations, you often have to imagine what it is like when it wasn’t a huge redevelopment or a Starbucks. This has been like it for decades and nothing has happened with the site that’s just crumbling. Really sad to see
Wow.... that must make trains VERY EXPENSIVE ..... at least its only a couple of hundred yards to get back on track again.
"my camera man (Geoff)"
Someone got demoted! Lol
(I used to live in Newhaven and now live in Seaford) Its an interesting point about keeping the station "open" (see Iain White's comment) . Can the station be said to be open if you cant actually board a train? And who owns the marine station anyway? Is it National Rail or is it the Port Authority? Some >15 years have passed since I boarded a boat via the bridge walkway from the Marine Station (sadly no longer in existance) but was that railway or port?
The building sort of exists today but most of the canopy has been removed. Its even harder to get anywhere near the platform (again, by who's authority? I attracted the attention of a disgrunteld port security a few years ago trying to photograph the place but as I was on the platform, there probably wasnt a lot he could do except moan at me). Not sure if the ghost train still runs but the rails are still there. Occassional freight test runs have been seen in the sidings as a possible re-use of them.
According to Wikipedia "The station can still be accessed as there is no longer fencing at the entrance of the platform.", so you should go have a look around; maybe you can find sone other intresting stuff
that's a very sweet thing. To sort of repeat the past with the ghost train, maybe they should get an older train to do it.
Wow, this is great- where does this Ghost Train start from/go to?
not boats ships go from newhaven its been deserted for years. sometimes they do stop there but only very rarely
Could this train be what is called a parliamentary train? For further info see You Tube video 'A Parliamentary Train at Privale' by citytransportinfo.
Yes it could be because it's timetabled see here: www.southernrailway.com/your-journey/plan-your-journey/timetables/ but a palamentry train is a train that's timetabled once maybe twice a day to keep it open as there is a long and expensive procedure to close a line or a piece of track
Parliamentary'
This is such a great video!
what if they are using the Marine station as a crossover?
superb reportage
I think it is just a siding for trains begging at new haven harbour
Geoff was only camera man back then 😂
Why are there 3 stations in new haven all in 10 mins distance of eachother