Littlehampton railway station

A station called Arundel & Littlehampton opened in 1846 on the main Brighton–Portsmouth Line.[1] This closed shortly after the branch line to the town itself opened in August 1863, when a west-facing connection was made at Ford Junction. In 1887, the third side of the triangle was constructed,[2] allowing through running from the lines from Horsham and Brighton. The south junction was named Littlehampton Junction, while the eastern connection was named Arundel Junction.[3]

A station building similar to that at Arundel was provided; this lasted until 1937, after which redevelopment was severely delayed by the Second World War and planning disputes.[4] One original structure remained until 1986, when Network SouthEast started building a new concourse and ticket office. This was finished late in 1987, and was officially unveiled on 15 January 1988.[5][6] [7] The line was electrified in 1938, with an official unveiling ceremony being held on 30 June 1938.[8] The station handled goods traffic until 1970.[9]

There is a mechanical signal box to the north west of the station.

A locomotive shed was also provided. Built with the station, it also went out of use in 1937 when the line was electrified. Currently in use at Littlehampton is a carriage shed used to store, maintain and clean Class 377 'Electrostars' and Class 313s; more recently next to the shed, two more sidings have been fitted with waste disposal facilities to empty train toilets and are used to store trains over night. Two more sidings were constructed for train storage. Also present is a train washer and siding for trains to dry in. Light maintenance jobs can also be carried out on trains at Littlehampton.

Off-peak, all services at Littlehampton are operated by Southern. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:

• 2 tph to London Victoria via Worthing [10]
• 1 tph to Bognor Regis [11]
• 1 tph to Portsmouth & Southsea [12]

Additional services operate during the peak hours including services to Brighton. During the peak hours, there are also a small number of trains to Bedford, operated by Thameslink.

On Sundays, the service to Portsmouth & Southsea does not run and the service to London Victoria is reduced to 1 tph.

There are also limited services on the Arun Valley line during times of engineering work or service disruption.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Angmering		Southern West Coastway line		Terminus
Ford		Southern Littlehampton to Bognor Regis		Terminus
Angmering		Thameslink Bedford to Littlehampton Peak Hours Only		Terminus
Arundel		Southern Arun Valley line Limited Service		Terminus

• Booking Hall
• Ticket Office (1 Window)
• Quick Ticket (x2)
• Post Box
• Photo Booth
• Automatic Ticket Gates
• Snack Bar/Cafe
• Waiting Room
• Toilets
• Telephones
• Information points
• Departure Boards: 1 on all 4 platforms and four in booking hall just before ticket gate.
• Waiting Area
• 4 platforms
• Sheltered seating around the whole station
• Southern staff depot
• Taxi Rank (10 taxis max)
• Car Park (Approx 50 spaces)
• Bicycle storage (In the car park with CCTV monitoring 24 hours a day)
• Bus stops (Buses towards Brighton, Bus stop just outside the station. Buses towards Bognor Regis & Chichester, bus stop opposite the station) Served by Stagecoach South, Metrobus & National Express Coaches

On 4 August 1920, the 13.10 train from Ford had a brake failure. The train hit the buffer stops, demolishing them, going through the station and Albert Road, eventually coming to rest in Franciscan Way. There were about thirty passengers in the train, of whom thirteen suffered from minor injuries, or from the effects of shock. The driver and fireman escaped injury by jumping from the foot-plate just before the collision occurred.[13]

In the summer of 2009 a train collided with the buffer stops on Platform 2. No one was injured in the collision.

• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.

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