(Pics 19.8.1986 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)
Back in 1986 I managed to spend 2 or 3 weeks each year travelling on rover tickets. One used to go west to Weymouth, Yeovil, Warminster and up to Reading, the other east towards Kent and East Sussex.
A favourite line was the Hastings-Ashford which unusually had diesel traction, and had narrowly missed closure in the 70s - in fact the closure notices had been put up at some of the stations!
It would have been a deeply regretted closure though I suspect it would have been reversed as much of the route would have had to remain in place for the Dungeness nuclear flask trains. But of course it didn't happen and the line has gradually flourished since, given a new importance by the Channel Tunnel.
Back in 1986 it was still quite a sleepy backwater, and had plenty of charm. I took these pics on 10 August 1986.
Rye railway station serves Rye in East Sussex, England. It is on the Marshlink Line 111⁄4 miles (18.1 km) east of Hastings providing a passing place between two single track sections. Train services are provided by Southern. The staggered platforms are linked by footbridge. Owing to a prolonged threat by British Rail to close the line, the station remained unmodernised and gaslit well into the 1970s.
History
The station opened on 13 February 1851, six weeks before the 1851 census. The census lists the station master as 23-year-old James Broderick from London. In each of the four successive censuses, William Hunt from Devon is names as station master, indicating at least a 40-year spell in charge. In 1901 it shows Richard Hunnisett as station master and in 1911 it is George Geer.
Services
The typical off-peak service is one train per hour to Hastings and Brighton and one train per hour to Ashford International.
At peak times an Ashford to Rye shuttle also operates meaning that between 0600 and 0900 six trains operate towards Ashford International and the wider network of services available there. In the reverse direction in the evening some six trains operate between 1730 and 2000.
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winchelsea | Southern Marshlink Line | Appledore (Kent) | ||
Gallery
| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
|---|---|
| 2004/05 | 0.244 million |
| 2005/06 |  0.261 million |
| 2006/07 | 0.308 million |
| 2007/08 | 0.328 million |
| 2008/09 | 0.339 million |
| 2009/10 | 0.341 million |
| 2010/11 | 0.386 million |
| 2011/12 |  0.376 million |
| 2012/13 | 0.393 million |
| 2013/14 | 0.427 million |
I used to enjoy driving trains across this line and now use it regularly on my way to and from my depot in Hastings .
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