Hastings line

Hastings line
The Hastings line, shown with other railway lines in Kent. Note the line's relation with the South Eastern Main Line to the north and other lines around Hastings.
Overview
Type	Suburban rail, Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Kent East Sussex South East England
Termini	Tonbridge Hastings
Stations	13
Operation
Opened	1845–52 in stages
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Southeastern Hastings area only: Southern
Rolling stock	Class 375 "Electrostar" Hastings area only: Class 171 "Turbostar" Class 313 Class 377 "Electrostar"
Technical
Line length	32 miles 71 chains (52.93 km)
Number of tracks	2 (1 in some tunnels)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Loading gauge	C1
Electrification	Third rail, 750 V DC
Operating speed	90 mph (140 km/h)

The Hastings line is a secondary railway line in Kent and East Sussex, England, linking Hastings with the main town of Tunbridge Wells, and from there into London via Tonbridge and Sevenoaks. Although primarily carrying passengers, the railway serves a gypsum mine which is a source of freight traffic. Southeastern operates passenger trains on the line.

The railway was constructed by the South Eastern Railway in the early 1850s across the difficult terrain of the High Weald. Supervision of the building of the line was lax, enabling contractors to skimp on the lining of the tunnels. These deficiencies showed up after the railway had opened. Rectifications led to a restricted loading gauge along the line, requiring the use of dedicated .

Served by steam locomotives from opening until the late 1950s, passenger services were then taken over by a fleet of diesel-electric multiple units built to the line's loading gauge. Diesel locomotives handled freight, also built to fit the loading gauge. The diesel-electric multiple units served on the line until 1986, when the line was electrified and the most severely affected tunnels were reduced from double track to single.

The South Eastern Railway (SER) completed its main line from London to Dover, Kent in 1844, branching off the rival London, Brighton and South Coast Railway's (LBSC) line at Redhill. Construction of a single line branch from Tunbridge (modern spelling "Tonbridge") to Tunbridge Wells, a fashionable town where a chalybeate spring had been discovered in 1606, began in July 1844. At the time, Parliament had not given assent for the railway. The Act of Parliament enabling the construction of the line had its first reading in the House of Commons on 28 April 1845. The bill completed its passage through the House of Commons and the House of Lords on 28 July, following which Royal Assent was granted on 31 July by Queen Victoria.