Chichester [CHR]
Welcome to Chichester Branch of the RCTS
We meet once a month from September through to May.
Meetings are normally held on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 19:15. However, December is normally a week earlier and held at
Bassil Shippam Centre, Tozer Way, St Pancras, Chichester. PO19 7LQ
In January and February our evening meeting is held virtually on Zoom but we hold additional afternoon meetings in these months in Chichester at the venue above
Our future meetings / events can be found further down this page as can reports of past meetings.
Meetings cover a range of illustrated railway related subjects, presented by experienced speakers.
Everybody is welcome to join us and enjoy the friendly atmosphere with the common interest of all things railway.
We also organise outdoor events for our members to places of railway interest, often visiting areas not normally open to the public, always looking for ideas to enhance our activities both indoor and outdoor.
Announcing the 2026 Photographic Competition for RCTS Chichester Branch Members
If you have not received details and an application form for this competition
and would like to enter please contact by email chichester@rcts.org.uk
Chichester Branch Members and Guests - Meeting Interval Photo Call
What's on
Venues
Click the venue name to see more
Contacts
tel: 07403885061
email: chichesterchair@rcts.org.uk
52 Knowsley Road, Cosham, Portsmouth PO6 2PF
Secretary
Treasurer
tel: 01243 528708
Committee Members
Geoff Adams, John Barrowdale, Ian McKey, Hefin Jones, John Robbins
Newsletter Editor
Graham Benzeval
Meeting Refreshments
Alan Wallbank
Addiitonal Assistance at Meetings
Chris Bryant
Branch Newsletters
Further back issues to follow
Local Chichester Members Photos
Local Branch Area Rail News
Chichester Station Platform Refurbishment
Work is well underway in refurbishing the platforms at Chichester station. The glass has been removed from the platform canopies and steel work and supports being renovated. March 2025. Work on this project has been very slow platform canopies still incomplete water gushing on to platforms in wet weather. November 2025.
Bedhampton Station Footbridge
Alan Wallbank in March 2024 says
'I think it was in November last year that the very well used footbridge at Bedhampton Railway Station was closed for refurbishment. Scaffolding was erected on each side, followed by the removal of the wooden steps , but after that nothing seemed to happen until a very cold, showery and windy day in early January, when the metal work was being cleaned with hand held electric rotary tools, after which an undercoat was being applied. I asked one of the workmen why there had been a delay in recommencing the repairs and he said ‘they were arguing about what paint to use’! Shortly afterwards work stopped again and has not restarted.
Then about two weeks residents received a card from Network Rail to say that ‘severe structural damage has been discovered and the bridge works will now have to be suspended to allow engineers to review the design work. I took photo here about 1990 which shows John Arter who worked in the ticket office for many years. He retired quite sometime ago and is often seen walking around the Havant area.
Southern Trains West Coastway - New Timetable from 02 June 2024
Following a public consultation Southern will be introducing a new timetable encompassing all services between London/Brighton and Portsmouth/Southampton. Almost all services will change details at
Southern - West Coastway timetable changes (southernrailway.com)
Southern Receive Cascaded Class 387s from Great Northern
Class 387s 128 129 172 173 & 174 were transferred from Great Northern to Southern for the start of the new timetable on 15 December 2024. 128 & 129 worked the reinstated peak hour Bognor Regis to London Bridge service on Monday 16th December before moving on to West Coastway Brighton-Southampton diagrams the following day. Further units have arrived during 2025 and are now also used on East Coastway services including those to London Victoria.
New Locomotive at the Hayling Island Railway for 2023
Hampshire’s Hayling Seaside Railway is now under new management, following the retirement of Bob Haddock, the line’s owner and creator. New operators ‘The Hayling Light Railway Trust’ are a not for profit charity set up by the volunteers of the East Hayling Light Railway Society.
Details of a new loco for the railway.
Details: Hayling Railway HLR (haylinglightrailway.wixsite.com)
Fratton Station Footbridge Refurbishment - 2025
Network rail have spent much of 2025 refurbishing the station footbridge at Fratton which was closed from February until July. Much strengthening of the structure has been completed including renewal of staircases and a full repaint.
Meeting reports
27 May 2026 Signalling Topics
Presenter: Peter Gibbons Signalling is essential to the operation of a safe and reliable railway but has often been neglected as the main topic of presentations. Chichester Branch went some…
22 April 2026 Rails to Midhurst
Presenter: Bill Gage On 22April Bill Gage presented the talk to us ‘Rails to Midhurst’ to a very large audience of over 60 attendees. In his inimitable style Bill outlined…
25 March 2026 Chasing Steam in Western Europe 1970-1974
Presenter: John Barrowdale John has a long history of being a train enthusiast and has a strong affinity for steam. In the 1970’s he and a some of his friends…
25 February 2026 Stratford Upon Avon to Cheltenham 1904-1979
Presenter: Tony Bowles The Chichester Branch’s February Zoom meeting saw Tony Bowles return, and he showed a further selection of historic photographs from the Restoration & Archiving Trust. Tony’s subject…
19 February 2026 Lance King in Ulster 1957-1970, The Northern Counties Committee
Presenter: Leslie McAllister A significant number enjoyed a presentation by Leslie McAllister, the railways of Northern Ireland during the last years of steam and transition to DMU operation. The source…
28 January 2026 Railways Remembered: Lake District and North Lancashire
Charles Roberts, Chairman of the Online Transport Archive (OTA), was the presenter at Chichester Branch January Zoom meeting. His subject was “Railways Remembered: Lake District and North Lancashire”. Charles, who…
15 January 2026 A Dawlish Adventure
Presenter: Phil Haines Our speaker Phil Haines provided a four part presentation covering the route around Dawlish. Initially a short cab ride film to demonstrate the areas infrastructure. The early…
17 December 2025 Local Heroes – Members Photos
Presenters: Roger Sandford & Ian McKey Chichester Branch has long been convinced of the need to combine the AGM with a less formal presentation and in 2025 this traditional path…
26 November 2025 Rail Freight Trains Around The UK
Presenter: Stephen Bigley Our November talk was ‘Rail Freight Trains around the UK given by Steve Bigley, a regular speaker at the branch who never disappoints. Steve gave us a…
22 October 2025 The Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway
Presenter: Richard Coghlan Richard Coughlan delivered an excellent presentation tracing the history and geographical route of the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway (DN&S), from its inception to the cessation of…
24 September 2025 1125 & DEMU’s over the alps
Presenter: Richard Bentley Chichester Branch welcomed our guest speaker Richard Bentley the Mid Hants Railway (MHR) operations manager for his talk ‘1125 and DEMUs over the Alps’ on September 24.…
28 May 2025 Russian and Ukraine Steam
Presenter: Ian Wright Our speaker presented some of his many slides taken on two rail charters, to Russia and Belarus in 1992 and Ukraine in 2003. Whilst the principal purpose…
23 April 2025 History The of the North London Line
Presenter Adrian Wright came to us from Chelmsford giving a very comprehensive talk on the North London Railway, not to be confused with the North London Line which is a…
26 March 2025 Trains That I Loved
Presenter: Geoff May An audience of 35 received an illustrated presentation from Geoff, a local member, on “Trains that I love”. Geoff was born in Wembley and was brought up…
26 February 2025 Railways Remembered in North East England
Presenter: Charles Roberts Not for the first time this season, Chichester Branch were treated to a wonderful collection of images that owed much to the work of photographers no longer…
20 February 2025 The effect of World War 2 on Britain’s Railways
Presenter Richard Marks: We were treated to an absolutely fascinating talk by Richard Marks on the effect of World War 2 on Britain’s railways. This attracted an audience of 50,…
22 January 2025 Metropolitan Lancashire & The West Riding Late Gerald Dixon Collection
Presenter: Tony Bowles via Zoom The presentation covered areas of Lancashire from Preston southwards and much of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Additionally it encompassed a brief incursion into North…
16 January 2025 The Dick Sansbury Collection
Presenter: John Barrowdale The survival of the photograph collection of Dick Sansbury, a former Geography teacher, is a classic example of how easily images can be lost to future generations…
18 December 2024 The Seaton Tramway
Presenter Clement Fellows: Our speaker was Clement Fellows with a talk on the Seaton Tramway, where he has been a member for many years and a volunteer tram driver. The…
27 November 2024 A Railway Roundabout Miscellany
Presenter Brian Arman: With an audience of 32 , following the Branch AGM our guest speaker Brian Arman, RCTS President, gave a short presentation of current matters. The Society is…
23 October 2024 The Railways of Iran
Presenter: Tim Morton Unusual subject matter for our October meeting, with much anticipation, as nobody in the audience had ever visited Iran. This was to be no conventional holiday snap…
25 September 2024 Watercress Line Film Unit
Presenter: Will Stratford The Chichester Branch’s 2024/25 Indoor Meeting Programme got off to an excellent start with a highly interesting and entertaining presentation by Will Stratford, who heads up the…
22 May 2024 With Lance King in Ulster: The Great Northern Lines: 1957-65
Presenter: Leslie McAllister On 22 May we were treated to an excellent presentation about the Railways of Ulster by Leslie McAllister Before the presentation the only thing I knew about…
24 April 2024 The 1968 Hixon Level Crossing Disaster
Presenter Malcolm Garner Perhaps it is because railways are such a relatively safe form of transport that the subject of railway accidents is a topic of much interest and indeed…
27 March 2024 Eastleigh from Railway Junction to Railway Centre
Presenter: Gordon Adams Eastleigh has been very much a focal point in the South of England for those interested in railways. However, this presentation focused on the history of the…
28 February 2024 That Was the Year That Was – 1962
Presenter Geoff Plumb: The branch was entertained by well known RCTS member Geoff Plumb who regularly presents both face-to-face and zoom shows for our Branches, this time with ‘That was…
08 February 2024 109 Years of Southern Electric
Presenter: Stuart Hicks On the afternoon of 8th February an audience of 40 heard Stuart Hicks give an illustrated talk about the 109 years of Southern Electric. Prior to 1923…
24 January 2024 Steam in the British Isles
Presenter: Tony Bowles 2024 for Chichester Branch started with an enjoyable Zoom presentation from Tony Bowles, entitled “Steam in the British Isles”. We were entertained with Tony’s photos from all…
13 December 2023 The Railways of Colonel Holman Stephens
Presenter: Chris Jackson Chris Jackson travelled from London to give an eagerly anticipated talk on The Railways of Colonel Holman F Stephens, the well known pioneer of Light Railways, built…
22 November 2023 The Coming of the Railway to Southampton
Presenter: David Brace The title of the talk gave our speaker the opportunity to give a wide ranging and well researched presentation on the building of one of the principal…
25 October 2023 The Welshpool & LLanfair Light Railway
Presenter: Simon Bowden Our speaker joined the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway as a volunteer as a teenager in 1966. He later completed 50 years as a driver and for…
27 September 2023 – An American Rail Rover
Presenter : John Day Chichester welcomed John Day’s long awaited ‘American Rail Rover’ talk which was first mooted back in 2019 and the wait was well worth it. John has…
24 May 2023 – The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway
Presenter: Mike Pearce On 24th May Mike Pearce gave a talk on the Lynton and Barnstable Railway to some 40 attendees. The line was the ambition of the publisher George…
26 April 2023 – An LMR Journey from London to Carlisle between 1958 and 1968
Presenter: David Cross David Cross travelled from his home in Essex, to present a collection of his father’s, Derek, railway slides. The subject covered was the West Coast Main Line…
The Bluebell Railway 'Giants of Steam' Gala 17-19 October 2025
The Southern Class 313 - The Pride of Coastway!
Built in 1977/78 nineteen of the class 313 EMUs operated on the Coastway services from 2010 between Brighton and Seaford & Portsmouth and also between Littlehampton and Bognor Regis & Portsmouth. The end came when the final units operated on Friday 19th May 2023, with the very last service being from Seaford to Brighton just after midnight. In March three of the class had already been taken to Eastleigh for storage. During May, June and July the remaining 16 units travelled in pairs under their own power to Eastleigh, where scrap work began quite quickly. The picture immediately below shows 313 210 & 313 203 crossing the River Wallington at Fareham on their final working from Hove Yard to Eastleigh on Tuesday 04 July 2023. An image of each of the Class in service with Southern follows
