Three Oaks railway station


Three Oaks railway station serves the village of Three Oaks in East Sussex, England. It is on the Marshlink Line, and train services are provided by Southern. It was originally known as Three Oaks & Guestling.

History

The railway line between Ashford and was opened by the South Eastern Railway in 1851, but originally there were no stations between and Hastings. opened in 1888, and with the introduction of steam railmotor services between and Hastings, three halts were opened between Winchelsea and Ore on 1 July 1907: ; ; and Three Oaks Bridge Halt. The latter station has been renamed four times: in 1909 it became Three Oaks Halt; later on it became Three Oaks and Guestling Halt; on 5 May 1969 Three Oaks and Guestling; finally on 12 May 1980 the present name of Three Oaks was adopted.

Description

The station has a single platform from which trains depart to Ashford International and Eastbourne via Hastings. The line was singled in 1979, with all trains using the one-time westbound platform, the eastbound platform remaining in situ, albeit in a decaying state.
The platform can only accommodate a single carriage, meaning that passengers wishing to disembark must travel in the front carriage of the train.
There is a ticket issuing facility accepting card payments available here and a customer help point with on screen customer information.
Centrally located in Three Oaks village, the service from this station was limited to only three or four trains a day in each direction, at inconvenient times, for a number of years. This has been increased to a two hourly service in each direction to Ashford and Brighton from December 2010. This followed an active campaign by Three Oaks and Winchelsea Action for Rail Transport and the Marshlink Line Action Group, and it is hoped that this development will drive-up usage, which has historically been very low. Until May 2018, southbound services ran as express services to Brighton, but this was discontinued and changed to a Eastbourne stopping service, due to long journey times and lack of rolling stock, which caused overcrowding, especially between Brighton and Eastbourne.