Eastbourne's railway station is one of the busiest on the south coast, handling over 3.2 million passengers a year.
The present station is the third on the site, and was designed by F D Bannister and completed in 1886. The first station opened in 1849, followed by the second in 1866, but was expanded to handle the increasing traffic as Eastbourne developed as a resort. It is a grade II listed building.
It is a handsome and well-preserved Italianate building in red and yellow brick, with a central clock tower, although the façade is not symmetrical: on the left is a large French pavilion-style roof with fish-scale tiles and iron cresting, and on the right a rectangular hall. Unfortunately, the street view is marred by an appalling clutter of traffic lights and pedestrian barriers.
The concourse is triangular and has an attractive glazed roof, with the ticket office, cafes, newsagents and toilets opening from it.
The station was built with four platforms, although it now has only three. These are adequate to handle the standard off-peak service of half hourly trains to Brighton and London Victoria and three trains an hour to Hastings, one of which continues to Ashford via Rye. read more