Hastings Line

The Hastings Line is a railway line in Kent and East Sussex linking Hastings with the main town of Tunbridge Wells, and from there into London via Sevenoaks.

Openings
The line was opened by the South Eastern Railway (SER) in main three stages:
 * Tonbridge – Tunbridge Wells:
 * 19 September 1845: a temporary station while the intervening tunnel was completed. That temporary station later became the goods depot;
 * 25 November 1846: Tunbridge Wells Central station opened
 * Tunbridge Wells – Robertsbridge: 1 September 1851
 * Robertsbridge – Battle: 1 January 1852
 * Battle – St Leonards (Bo-peep Junction): 1 February 1853

Construction difficulties
The Hastings Line is built over difficult terrain across the Weald. As a result there are seven tunnels constructed through the Sandstone Hastings Beds. The SER was anxious to construct the line as quickly as possible, since it was in competition with the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway to obtain entry to the south coast seaside resort of Hastings; the line, in spite of its problems, was opened from Tunbridge Wells in a year. The contractors responsible for building the tunnels cheated the SER by reducing the planned six layers of bricks through the tunnels to four.

It was only when the Wadhurst tunnel collapsed in 1862 that this was discovered. It was too expensive to re-bore the tunnels, so the SER added the two missing layers. This obviously reduced the width, and from then on, until 1986, it was necessary to work the line with Restriction 0 rolling stock.

Traction and rolling stock
The first most successful locomotives built to cope with the necessary weight and loading gauge restrictions taken into account were the "Schools" class built in the 1930s; the cab roofs in particular were narrower than main line locomotives. They worked the line until 1957 when steam gave way to diesel-electric multiple units of what became British Rail Class 201, 202 and 203 (the "Hastings Diesels") took over working the route. These units were constructed of narrow rolling stock. They were delivered in six-car formations (the Class 203 including a buffet car) and two units were often operated in multiple to form twelve-car trains. In latter years some of the units were reduced to five and (later still) to four cars. Twelve Class 33/2 diesel locomotives, nicknamed "Slim Jims", were also built with narrow bodies for the Hastings line.

The final solution on the line was to convert the most restricted of the tunnels to single-line working. This was achieved in 1986, and at the same time the line was electrified using 750 V DC third rail.

Tunnels
There are nine tunnels between Tonbridge and Ore. In order from north to south they are:

There have always been problems connected with the Tonbridge -St Leonards section of the Charing Cross line. It was built in a hurry by the SER in an attempt to compete with the passenger traffic to Hastings of the LBSCR; and as a result corners were cut in its construction. Most of the section runs through the hilly Weald, necessitating seven tunnels. The contractors on the line, in an attempt to keep up with a strict timetable, saved time by putting in fewer layers of bricks than were required through the tunnels: in 1862 the Wadhurst tunnel collapsed, revealing the truth. Instead of reboring the tunnels, the extra layers were laid on the inner surfaces of all seven tunnels, narrowing the bore, and thereby ensuring that specially-constructed rolling stock was required from then on; electrification of the line was also delayed for many years. Special narrow bodied diesel multiple units were introduced from 1957 to replace steam traction. Electrification was finally completed in 1986, using standard rolling stock, and the expedient of singling the track through the narrow tunnels. A preview service of electric trains ran on 27 April 1986 and the full timetable service commenced on 12 May 1986

The Wadhurst and Mountfield tunnels were those causing the major problems before the changes.

Stations
All of the stations south of Tunbridge Wells (except Crowhurst) were built to the designs of William Tress in Italianate and Gothic styles. The station at Battle is Grade II listed.

Services today
Train services on the line are provided by Southeastern, and mostly operated by Class 375 Electrostar or occasionally Class 465/466 Networker units.

The line still sees a freight service to and from the gypsum sidings at Mountfield.

Bopeep junction
This junction was named after a local pub in Bulverhythe called The Bo Peep, which in turn came from the activities of smugglers and excise men.

Driver's view of the line
A DVD produced by Video 125 called 1066 DC provides a driver's eye view of a journey from Hastings to Charing Cross.