Brighton to Eastbourne – a Southern route, a Gatwick Express train!

My Southern DaySave ticket rolls on from Brighton to Eastbourne. It will be getting too dark to record soon, but there’s still time to check out Brighton’s wonderful station and then enjoy the run through the South Downs to Eastbourne.

Although I’m limited to Southern services, the ToC (Govia Thameslink) has substituted in one of its Gatwick Express Class 387s for this journey. That suits me fine as I’ve never travelled on a GX train before…

Departure: Brighton, England, UK
Destination: Eastbourne, England, UK
Distance: 38 km / 24 miles
Duration: 44 mins
Average speed: 52 km/h 32 mph

Example Costs:
+ Standard class off-peak single: £13.10 / €15,30
+ I was travelling on a Southern Daysave: £23.50 / €27,10

Date of Travel: November 2023
Operator: Southern Railway
Motive power: Class 387/2 4-car electric multiple unit. Built: Bombardier, Derby (2015 onwards)

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Whilst there’s been a station at Brighton since 1840 I wanted to climb up above the station to look down on the remarkable Station train shed which itself dates from 1883 and walking back down the road only underlines just how many acres of glass are supported by its iron

Frame the original station from 1840 designed by David MCAT in an Italian at style is now somewhat lost behind the later Port CER and the Towering train shed behind right let’s walk through the old station building for that wow moment as we enter the train shed and here are the

Two massive arches renovated around the year 2000 and looking absolutely marvelous and the blue of the iron workor is complemented by the bright andov albian bunting that bcks this Concourse area to the side there’s ticket machines are plenty and some lovely touches both new and original all

Around and it’s handy that tlink Gatwick Express and Southern have lined their trains up for inspection to one side is a lovely Travel Center with extensive bike racks and the public piano reminds us the Brighton has a very Lively gay community and for the very first time today my Southern day save ticket

Actually works in the automatic barriers and I can head off towards my train which is on platform 8 and we’ll talk about the train in a minute because the most interesting thing is underfoot as we have to step onto wooden yes wooden platform you know walking along platform

8 is almost like walking along Brighton Pier right back to the train and it looks very red for a southern train but as tlink Southern and Gatwick Express are all just brands of the goia tlink franchise it isn’t really a big shock to see them using one of their gatok

Express livered 387’s on this run the 387 themselves are pretty new as they started to enter service only as recently as 2016 a welcome to beautiful Brighton station and uh I’m on a train that’s marked as Gatwick Express but I’m not going on the Gatwick Express this train

Is going to be taking me from Brighton further on down the coast to eastborn so yeah on the earlier video we came in from Portsmith to Brighton so I thought let’s keep going but I’ve stopped for a couple of tea Jeffrey tea we’ll uh we’ll do this little hop from Brighton to

Eastborn and see how it goes we’ll exit the station and immediately cross the London Road Viaduct through London Road station itself and then on to Brighton University campus at mam next up is Falmer where we’ll probably get to see the New Brighton hve albian stadium and after we leave Brighton’s suburbs it’s

On to the Junction Station at Lewis before stopping at the country stations at glind and Berwick polegate marks the start of the eastborn connation and then after a final pause at hamen Park no not that hamen Park we’ll run into the Terminus station at eastborn the

Distance will be around 38 km or 24 Mi and the journey is scheduled to take 44 minutes so even though we’re now on the east coastway line the average speeds well they’re still pretty low aren’t they right let’s hop on board and see what Delights are normally reserved for airline

Passengers oh and it’s just like a great western 387 we have the classic fainer eining board seats loved by few hated by many although I’m more worried that my tea is beginning to Stew anyway leg room is decent and as you’d expect there’s luggage Stacks to complement the overhead luggage racks

And there’s also power supplies I mean the seats well they’re okay I’m only going to be here for 45 minutes but I hate the bright red maette and I’ve already seen how awful this can become just check out the red on those old EMR trains leate and straight out of the station we

Swing eastbound over the London Road Viaduct which was completed in 1846 this brick built Viaduct is 370 M long and has 27 arches and it’s worth noting that it was built over an empty Valley and that the city of Brighton has actually grown up around it and as we travel up the valley

There’s soon lots of University buildings alongside the line as we approach molam station which was opened in May 1980 no doubt to serve the ever expanding campus here and you know I think it’s got quite a nice rustic charm we are now approaching Falmer please mind the gap between the train

And just beyond the platform at Falmer we can indeed Glimpse the curves of Brighton and HOV album’s Premier League Stadium which opened in 2011 with a capacity of over 31,000 Falmer also marks the end of what is effectively Brighton and we can strike out now across the rolling chalk Hills of the South

Downs we are now approaching Lewis Lewis is a Junction Station where there are southbound trains to the coast at New Haven and Seaford and also Northbound services that will eventually join the Brighton Mainline for London and Lewis is also the county town of East Sussex even though it is

Significantly smaller than a number of settlements within the county leaving the station the train crosses the river ooze which drains into the sea at New Haven and there’s the line for New Haven peeling off to the right too but we will stay north of those chalk Hills for our easterly

Route the town or Village of glind isn’t a well-known place but Opera lovers will have certainly heard of glind born which is just up the road from here this is certainly the nicest part of the journey as we roll through this Sussex Countryside with all these chalk downs I’m rather

Thinking that we could get to see a white horse or something like that carved in the hillside Berwick station dates from when the line opened in 1846 and is a wonderful example of a 19th century Wayside station Beyond Berwick my desire is fulfilled and in the distance I can just make out

The long man of Wilmington on Wilmington Hill although it is very indistinct on my GoPro in this poor light at polegate our train returns us to South Coast Suburban although like molam this 1960s rebuild retains the spirit of the line with its simple design hamen Park is on the spur to

Eastor and therefore trains from eastor that go both East and West will pass through the station so if you have a tight onward connection to Hastings it could be advisable to change here rather than run all the way into the Terminus just outside eastborn we get to

See the grade two listed Bedford well pumping station which provided eastborne with its water towards the end of the 19th century and we arrive past the carriage sidings into e spawn remember to take all your belongings with you when you leave the train SED and no my day save ticket will not work at these barriers either thank you why not scanning from the machine eastborn is a wonderful station but I won’t be dallying here today as I need to get back on the platform and return to London that was a nice little run from

Brighton here we are at eastor and eastborn is a beautiful station to my left on your right there is the Gatwick Express unit that actually uh ran the service from Brighton to eastborn and it’s about to do the working back so uh we’ll hang around

Here at the end of the platform and wave it goodbye and then tucked in behind it is my train for London Victoria I’m on my way back to London this evening and uh yeah I hope you enjoyed this little run from Brighton to eastborn especially a good look at Brighton station which is

Uh quite a doozy at least once once you’re inside I think maybe outside it probably needs a little lick of paint on that Port cashier but a lovely station so uh yeah I hope you enjoyed it and if you did then do give a like And

Subscribe and um yeah I do stuff like this as I’m sure you’re well aware so uh do come back and uh I’ll see you next time