Branch Line Society have organised a charity railtour PEPs on Tour: Sussex Rambler which will take place on Saturday the 29th of April, starting and finishing at Brighton.
The railtour will be operated by Southern and will celebrate the impressive work of Class 313's especially as British Rail Engineering Limited York PEP stock is shortly to reach the end of service. The PEP units which are derived from prototype electric multiple units offered a new kind of commuter train and were developed in the 1970s, coming into service in 1976/77 and used on British Rail‘s Southern and Scottish Regions into the early 1980s.
The special ‘Coastway' tour will follow the usual lines which are always popular. The tour will include an off-train lunch break of around one hour at Littlehampton and will feature no catering on board however, attendees are welcome to bring their own food and drink on board.
During the railtour, a charity raffle will be held with all proceeds raised given to Railway Children and Chestnut Tree House Children's Hospice. A well-stocked sales stand for the Network SouthEast Society will also be onboard including a number of special souvenirs to buy.
It is expected that the charter will sell out very quickly!
The expected route and timing are as follows:
Brighton P3 (PU 08.59) – Carriage Road – Preston Park P1 (RM) – Hove – Worthing – Havant – Fratton – Portsmouth Harbour P1 (RM) – Fratton P2 – Havant – Barnham P1 (RM) – Bognor Regis Middle Siding (RM) – Barnham P3 – Littlehampton P3 (break / RM) – Arundel Jn – Worthing P1 – Hove P2 – Up Cliftonville Spur – Preston Park P1 – Haywards Heath P4 – Three Bridges P3 (RM) – Haywards Heath P2 – Lewes – Eastbourne P1 (RM) – Hastings P3 – Ore Up Siding (RM) – Hastings P1 (RM) – Hastings Signal 70 (RM) – Bexhill – Eastbourne P2 (RM) – Lewes Up Siding (RM) – Newhaven Marine (RM) – Lewes – Haywards Heath P1 – Haywards Heath Dn Siding North (RM) – Keymer Jn – Brighton P3 (SD 18.32)
The standard fare for the railtour is £62.60 and accompanied under 18s fare is £31.30.
There will be no surcharge for those who are not Branch Line Society members for this fixture.
The Class 313 used on Southern will be missed entirely just as much as the Class 313 are already missed since Great Northern replaced them with the Class 717.