Haywards Heath railway station

Haywards Heath Southern
Platforms	4
Other information
Station code	HHE
Classification	DfT category B
Key dates
12 July 1841	Opened (terminus)
21 September 1841	Opened (through)
1883[1]	Ardingly branch opened
1933	Electrification and Rebuilt
28 October 1963[1]	Ardingly branch closed
Passengers
2018/19	4.382 million
Interchange	0.673 million
2019/20	4.487 million
Interchange	0.607 million
2020/21	0.955 million
Interchange	0.102 million
2021/22	2.575 million
Interchange	0.270 million
2022/23	3.395 million
Interchange	0.325 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Haywards Heath railway station is on the

Trains calling at Haywards Heath are operated by

The London and Brighton Railway opened its main line from a junction with the London and Croydon Railway at Norwood as far as Haywards Heath on 12 July 1841, with a coach service to take passengers on the remainder of their journey towards Brighton. This was the result of a roof fall during the construction of Haywards Heath Tunnel just south of the station on 2 January 1841, which killed three men.^[3] The remainder of the line to Brighton opened shortly after on 21 September of the same year.

The original station was designed by the architect

On 3 September 1883 the

In 2014, work began on a new "Station Quarter", which would include construction of a new multi-storey car park and footbridge to service the platforms, a new Waitrose supermarket on site and a regeneration of the existing station buildings.^[8] The multi-storey car park was opened in late 2016 along with the new footbridge, while the new Waitrose supermarket was opened in March 2017.^[9]

In 2021, a tactile map was installed, in collaboration with the Royal National Institute of Blind People, to help blind and partially sighted passengers navigate the station.^[10]

Layout

The station lies on a quadruple-track^[a] passing loop (the line either side of the station is double-track), which allows fast services to overtake stopping services. As such, it has a total of four platforms, one per track, numbered 1 to 4.^[11]

• Platforms 1 and 2 are used for southbound services to destinations such as Brighton, Littlehampton, Eastbourne and Hastings. Non-stop services usually pass through platform 2.
• Platforms 3 and 4 are used for northbound services towards London and beyond. Non-stop services usually pass through platform 3.

Unusually, the platforms have been numbered "right-to-left" (when facing London), instead of "left-to-right" which is the usual numbering scheme on the Brighton Main Line.

Platforms 1 and 4 are signalled bidirectionally, which allows trains to reverse here or run "the wrong way" through the station at times of disruption. Platforms 2 and 3 are partially signalled in both directions, allowing trains running to/from the south to reverse here.^[12][13]

A short distance north of the station lies a single-track unelectrified freight-only line, which runs to an aggregates terminal at Ardingly; this branch can only be accessed via platform 1.^[1][14]

Access

There are three entrances/exits at the station. The main one is just off Commercial Square; access to platforms is in the form of a subway under the railway line. The other two entrances and exits use the new footbridge on the southern end of the platforms; one end of the footbridge leads onto Market Place and the other end connects with the station car park at Clair Road. All routes in and out of the station offer step-free access via lifts from footbridge or ground level to the platforms.

Services

Services at Haywards Heath are operated by Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express using Class 377, 387 and 700 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[15]

• 2 tph to Bedford via London Bridge
• 2 tph to Cambridge via London Bridge
• 6 tph to London Victoria (4 of these are operated by Southern and 2 by Gatwick Express)
• 6 tph to Brighton (2 of these run non-stop, 2 call at Burgess Hill only and 2 call at all stations)
• 2 tph to Eastbourne of which 1 continues to Ore via Hastings
• 2 tph to Littlehampton via Worthing

During the peak hours, the station is served by one Southern train per day in each direction between London Bridge and Littlehampton.

During the evenings and on Sundays, the service between Brighton and Cambridge is reduced to hourly. In addition, the Gatwick Express services do not run on Sundays and the station is instead served by a half-hourly Southern service between London Victoria and Brighton.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Balcombe or Three Bridges		Thameslink Brighton Main Line		Wivelsfield or Burgess Hill
West Coastway Line		Burgess Hill
		East Coastway Line		Wivelsfield
		Gatwick Express Gatwick Express		Brighton
				Burgess Hill Peak Hours Only
	Disused railways
Ardingly Line and station closed		Lewes and East Grinstead Railway		Terminus

Freight sidings

The freight sidings at Haywards Heath were constructed during the

Today a sidings track does remain from Old Wickham Lane Bridge, 700 meters north of the station to Folly Hill Tunnel entrance. This line is not often used anymore; however, it is protected for future extension to the Bluebell Railway. An area imminently east of platform 1 is also protected for the potential terminus platform / station for the Bluebell if it does reach Haywards Heath.^[16] The new terminus would have a maximum of 1 platform, but would not be numbered platform 0.

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Haywards Heath railway station.

• Train times and station information for Haywards Heath railway station from National Rail

51°00′18″N 0°06′18″W / 51.005°N 0.105°W / 51.005; -0.105