The Hayling Seaside Railway, formerly East Hayling Light Railway, is a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railway on

Hayling Island Hayling Island is an island off the south coast of England, in the borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, east of Portsmouth. History An Iron Age shrine in the north of Hayling Island was later developed into a Roman temple in the 1st c ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is mainly a diesel operated railway, though from time to time the railway hires steam locomotives from other narrow gauge railways. It operates passenger trains between Beachlands and Eastoke Corner.

History

The Hayling Seaside Railway began life as the East Hayling Light Railway (EHLR), formed by Bob Haddock, a member of the society who in the mid-1980s attempted to reinstate the "Hayling Billy" Line. Havant Borough Council had already decided to turn the disused railway line into a cycle-way and footpath which precluded any chance of rebuilding the line as standard gauge, the option preferred by the committee of the society. Some members including Haddock decided to create their own railway elsewhere on Hayling Island and after numerous setbacks, a site was found within the Mill Rythe Holiday Camp where the EHLR was constructed and ran successfully for many years. Havant Council took the step of including a railway in their draft plan for Hayling's popular Pleasure Beach. Haddock submitted a plan for a narrow gauge railway to meet the Council's criteria, but the council refused planning permission. After a campaign lasting over 12 years, permission to build the railway was granted, but only after the Council's decision was overturned by the Department of the Environment. Following closure of the EHLR at Mill Rythe, work started in October 2001 on the building of Beachlands Station on land leased from the neighbouring Funland Amusement Park. Work continued through 2002 and into 2003 and the line finally opened to passengers on 5 July

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, re-christened as "The Hayling Seaside Railway". there was a mile of track in place and it was planned to extend it to the

ferry terminal A passenger terminal is a structure in a port which services passengers boarding and leaving water vessels such as ferries, cruise ships and ocean liners. Depending on the types of vessels serviced by the terminal, it may be named (for example) ...

connecting the island with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

so providing a useful transport link. However, in 2015 the Portsmouth to Hayling ferry was withdrawn from operation due to the owners becoming bankrupt so this extension looks doubtful. In the early part of 2015 after a lengthy period of campaigning to the local authority work started on a new depot at Eastoke Corner as the lease on the depot at Beachlands had run out. , the railway runs out of the new Eastoke Corner depot. In September 2019 the owners (Mr & Mrs Haddock) put the business up for sale by lease or outright purchase, in regard to their wishes to retire and travel.

Stock list

Locomotives

Coaches

*1 L Class coach named Lisa *3 M Class coaches named Mavis, Michelle & Marilyn

Wagons

*2 tippers *3 open sided 3-5 plank wagons *1 tanker *1 brakevan

References

External links

Hayling Seaside Railway official site including full details with route map and photographs
{{coords, 50.7815, -0.9668, display=title Heritage railways in Hampshire 2 ft gauge railways in England Railway lines opened in 2003 Hayling Island