Worthing railway station

Worthing railway station is the largest of the five stations serving the town of Worthing in West Sussex (The other stations being East Worthing, West Worthing, Durrington-on-Sea and Goring-by-Sea). It is 10 miles 46 chains (17.0 km) down the line from Brighton. The station is managed by Southern, who operate the majority of trains serving it; Great Western Railway and Thameslink who only run a handful of services per day during peak hours. It is one of the main stations on the West Coastway Line; all timetabled trains stop here.

Worthing
Looking westwards from Worthing station
LocationWorthing, Worthing, West Sussex
England
Grid referenceTQ145033
Managed bySouthern
Platforms3
Other information
Station codeWRH
ClassificationDfT category C[1]
History
Opened24 November 1845
Passengers
2015/16 2.578 million
2016/17 2.104 million
2017/18 2.225 million
2018/19 2.395 million
2019/20 2.342 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

At times in its history the station had been named Worthing Central. This name is sometimes incorrectly still used, either out of habit or intentionally to distinguish it from West Worthing and East Worthing stations.

Worthing is the only station in DfT category C that has not been given a subcategory; it is listed by DfT as simply "C", while all other stations in this group have been divided into C1 and C2.[1]

History

The station opened on 24 November 1845. The first service arrived early in the morning from Shoreham but the official opening was scheduled for mid-day. Crowds thronged on Teville Bridge adjoining the station to witness a train from Shoreham drawn by a locomotive called "Ercombert", probably named after Eorcenberht of Kent (died 664), a king of Kent. As the train passed under the bridge, a local band of musicians played the National Anthem.[2]

The original station buildings opened in 1845 and are now Grade II listed.[3] They were converted into 2 cottages sometime after 1859 when a new station was built further west. This "new" station was rebuilt and expanded in 1911.[4]

In August 2007, ticket barriers were introduced separating the platforms from the ticket office. However, their effectiveness is compromised by the layout of the station insofar as the rear car park entrance leads directly to the subway connecting the platforms. A small ticket booth, frequently unmanned, has been installed in the subway in an attempt to address this issue. In April 2009, the station was made fully accessible to disabled passengers, which new ticket windows which can be adjusted to height and a ramp was also provided. The station was also fitted with new folding doors.

Facilities

The main station entrance is on the south side in Station Approach. The passenger car park is on the north side of the station in Southcourt Road and has a separate entrance to the station. Parking is free only on Sundays and Bank Holidays. The concourse and ticket office leads directly to the side platform (platform 3), which is used mostly for westbound services. The island platform (platforms 1 and 2) is connected to this platform by a subway, which also leads out to the car park.

Station facilities include:

  • Booking hall
  • Ticket Office (3 windows)
  • Automatic Ticket Gates
  • Lifts
  • Espresso Coffee shop (also sells newspapers)
  • Snack bar (in the booking hall)
  • Waiting rooms
  • Toilets (refurbished February 2007)
  • Departure boards: 2 on each platform and 4 in ticket hall (including 1 that only shows direct services)
  • Car Park
  • Telephones
  • Bicycle Storage

Platform layout

The station has three platforms, all of which are long enough to accommodate 12-carriage trains.

Services

Most trains serving the station are run by Southern with some Thameslink and GWR services at peak times, with the typical off-peak service consisting of the following:

On Sundays the eastbound service is halved in frequency (2tph to Brighton and 1tph to London Victoria), while westbound there is 1tph to Portsmouth Harbour, 1tph to Littlehampton and 1tph to Southampton Central.

Great Western Railway serves the station with two services a day to Bristol Temple Meads via Southampton Central, Salisbury and Bath Spa, one of which continues to Great Malvern via Gloucester, Cheltenham Spa and Worcester Foregate Street. In the opposite direction, there is one daily service from Great Malvern (via Bristol Temple Meads). On Sundays there is no service to or from Great Malvern, but there is a service to and from Cardiff Central (via Bristol Temple Meads).

Preceding station National Rail Following station
East Worthing   Southern
Brighton - West Worthing		   West Worthing
Lancing   Southern
London Victoria to Littlehampton		   West Worthing
Lancing   Southern
Brighton - Southampton		   West Worthing
Lancing or
Shoreham-by-Sea		   Thameslink
Bedford - Littlehampton		   West Worthing
Lancing   Southern
Brighton - Portsmouth		   Angmering
(West Worthing at peak times)
Shoreham-by-Sea   Great Western Railway
Great Malvern-Brighton		   Barnham

References
  1. "Part D: Annexes" (PDF). Better Rail Stations. Department for Transport. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  2. "Worthing. Opening of the Railway". Brighton Gazette l. England. 27 November 1845. Retrieved 26 June 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. Historic England, "The Original Worthing Railway Station (1263260)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 26 June 2017
  4. "Observations". Chichester Observer. England. 19 April 1911. Retrieved 26 June 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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