Hassocks railway station
Hassocks 
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| Location | |
| Place | Hassocks |
| Local authority | District of Mid Sussex |
| Grid reference | TQ304155 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | HSK |
| Managed by | Southern |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
| DfT category | C2 |
| Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries |
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| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2011/12 |
 1.247 million |
| 2012/13 |
1.273 million |
| 2013/14 |
1.318 million |
| 2014/15 |
1.344 million |
| 2015/16 |
1.390 million |
| History | |
| 21 September 1841 | Opened as Hassocks Gate |
| 1 October 1881 | Renamed Hassocks |
| 1973 | Rebuilt |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Hassocks from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
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Hassocks railway station is on the Brighton Main Line in England, serving the village of Hassocks, West Sussex. It is 43 miles 42 chains (70.0 km) down-line from London Victoria and is situated between Burgess Hill and Preston Park. It is managed by Southern.
Trains calling at Hassocks are operated by Southern and Thameslink.
The station was named "Hassocks Gate" upon its opening on 21 September 1841 by the London and Brighton Railway, which became the London Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1846. It was one of the few intermediate stations on the line with four tracks, to allow express trains to overtake those stopping at the station. However, the number of tracks was later reduced to two, although the additional width is still apparent from the siting of the station buildings.
The original 1841 station building was designed by David Mocatta, the architect of the railway, in a simple cottage style, but using the same modular system that he applied to other stations on the line.
For many years Hassocks Gate station was used by excursion trains for passengers visiting the nearby South Downs and suffered as a result as it became a meeting place for prostitutes. It stands almost at the summit of the line's climb from London before passing through Clayton Tunnel, a short distance south of the station. This was the site of the Clayton Tunnel rail crash in 1861, resulting in 23 deaths and 176 injuries.
Between December 1880 and August 1881 a new station building was constructed by James Longley & Co of Crawley to the designs of Thomas Myres as the prototype for those later built in the same style on the Bluebell and Cuckoo line with a half-timbered upper storey, decorative brick eaves, stained glass windows and charming porches. The booking office was covered by a lantern-shaped roof and the platforms by wooden canopies on iron columns. The station was demolished in 1973 by British Rail and replaced with a CLASP structure which has been described as "truly awful".
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Wikipedia