The Hayling Seaside Railway, formerly East Hayling Light Railway, is a gauge narrow gauge railway on Hayling Island

Hayling Island

-Leisure activities:Although largely residential, Hayling is also a holiday, windsurfing and sailing centre, the site where windsurfing was invented....

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is mainly a diesel operated railway, though the railway often 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.

Perhaps inspired by the success of the EHLR, 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

2003 in rail transport

-January events:* January – Electrification of the Trans-Siberian Railway, a project begun in 1929, is completed.* January 1 – E. Hunter Harrison, former president of Illinois Central Railroad , succeeds Paul Tellier as president of Canadian National Railway.* January 3 – Ghatnandur train crash: A...

, re-christened as "The Hayling Seaside Railway". there was more than a mile of track in place and it was planned to extend it to the ferry terminal connecting the island with Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

so providing a useful transport link. The extension is called the 'link'.

External links

• Hayling Seaside Railway official site including full details with route map and photographs