I hope this review will be able to Brighton your day a little bit…read more Brighton understandably has a massive railway station that dates back to 1840, and it's been increased many times in terms of volume and capacity, partly because 17 million passengers a year makes Brighton number 7 on the list of the most busy stations in the country - not including the many many busy ones in London itself. It's huge and has a big old Victorian roof that will remind you of a London Station. It's one of only 70 grade two listed buildings, partly because people absolutely love it. It's a massive modern hub, but also part of History. It's hard not to love the station and I really do. It's also the southern terminus of many national trains, although trains don't really stop here without having to then turn back on themselves, which is interesting. It's been made to look mostly white and blue - kind of like the Pavilion - so it does have a little local Seaside feel, and The Concourse has been completely redesigned so now it looks totally modern, and honestly you would think you were in London sometimes. The blue motif pushes it over the edge, and it's easily five stars - in fact if I could give six stars the station would get six.

This station is inevitable. You take the train from London to Brighton and end up here. It's not…read morethe greatest station but it's a necessity. The surrounding areas of this station aren't they great either. Occasionally you're welcomed by some druggies sitting outside on the benches. An upgrade is overdue but alas.

Not to be confused with HOV which is Jay Z for some bizarre reason, or Hoover, which is basically…read morewhat they call me when I'm pleasuring men. This is a little station that is the polar opposite of Brighton, because it has just a little dark red brick building in front with a nice little overhang, and it does look pretty, but it's much smaller than Brighton, and sort of like a miniature version. And although it does have a nice little look to it, it is also very different from the main station, including its futuristic-looking roof and whatnot. It's right in the middle of the neighbourhood, so you'll be almost in someone's backyard when you stop here. It's only 50 miles away from London, and it's a nice station to come to, and has been since 1840 when it opened in the same year as the Brighton station did.

Hove's railway station is the smaller and quieter counterpart of that in Brighton, but still has a…read moreregular and reasonably frequent train service to London (direct), to Brighton and along the Sussex coast to Southampton, Eastbourne, Portsmouth and (less frequently) Bristol and South Wales. It's a busy commuter station in its own right, used by over 2 million passengers a year. Opened in 1865, the original station on the site was named West Brighton and Cliftonville. This building still survives, adjacent to the present station: painted in Southern's colours of white and mint green, it was designed in a pleasant, almost domestic, Victorian villa style. The forecourt is now used by a car-washing business. In 1893 a new and larger station building was provided slightly to the West, and this more utilitarian red-brick affair is the main station today. This was called 'Hove and West Brighton' until 1895, and then just 'Hove'. It's main feature is a generous porte-cochere, which is great when it is raining! It also shelters a florist stall Monday to Friday. The station has a small buffet on the London/Brighton platform, a newsagents in the concourse, and a small ticket office. There's only usually a single ticket window open, so if your journey is starting here, get there with a few extra minutes to spare. The three platforms are long and have generous canopies, and while you are waiting you can look across the sidings to the old 'Dubarry' soap and perfume factory - an attractive art nouveau building, now used as offices. I sometimes use the services to and from Hove rather than Brighton, as it is almost as convenient for me and, while it has a less frequent service, the trains tend to be a little less packed. As well as a taxi rank outside, and buses on the frequent 7 route (Hove-Brighton Marina) stop here too. The bus will take you to Hove's main shopping area (or it's a 10 minute walk), but is nowhere near the sea!

I love my little neighbourhood train station! Just a few days ago I was on my way to the Open…read moreHouse with some friends from out of town and one of them was like "Oooh this station is really sweet, but you never use it, right?" WRONG! I use this station nearly every day, as it is a crucial part of my blissful 10 minute commute to work. At 9.13 my train rolls up, I step in to an uncrowded, air conditioned carriage, take a seat and thank my god damn lucky stars that I don't live in London! Seriously, how wonderful is it to have a fully-functioning train station around the corner that services Falmer, Lewes, Ore, and Seaford, among other countless South coast towns? I happen to think it's pretty great! (As you may have guessed!). It's a pretty little station and although there are currently endless construction works taking place, it is usually a really peaceful place to wait for your ride, wherever you're going. The station is also home to a 'wildlife corridor', with lots of birds and other animals making it their home.

This is a cute little traditional station. It hardly seems it worth exisiting in some ways - it's…read moreso near central Brighton station, and to walk between the two would barely take ten minutes. However, it's nice that it's here. Its existence takes some of the presure of the main line station, and its a nice example of Victorian station architecture. The ticket office isn't always open, but there are machines on both platforms that take cards, and the inspectors on the East Coastway line tend to be fine about selling you tickets on the train.

I was told to stop writing reviews, but I Preston with my reviews anyway…read more This is a tiny little station for Preston Village which is a suburban area of Brighton, and it's about 49 miles from London Bridge station, which is the main station in the East End of the centre of London where you get trains to Brighton. You can also get to Gatwick easily from here. It's a tiny little station, and a little bit windswept and tumbleweedy, and remote despite being in the suburbs, with a big building one side of the station. I like it though and the front is reddish-brown brick and pretty gorgeous.

This is a small suburban station just over a mile north of Brighton station, and is also served by…read moresome of the rush-hour trains which run to and from the West Coastway line via Hove. It is quiet during most of the day, but busy during the rush hour. Although the line to Brighton was opened in 1841, the station was opened (as simply 'Preston') in 1869 as the suburbs in the area developed around the nucleus of a small village of the same name. It was renamed Preston Park in 1879. The station has two long island platforms, although there are only 3 platform faces now in use. There is a ticket office on the main London-bound platform, which also has a ticket machine for when the ticket office is closed. The toilets are open when the ticket office is open. There are steps from the rather dingy subway to all platforms and no level access. There are exits to both Woodside Avenue on the west and Station Road/Clermont Road to the east. The typical off-peak service includes 3 trains an hour to Brighton, 2 to Bedford via London Blackfriars and an hourly service to Watford Junction via Clapham Junction. On Sundays this reduces to an hourly Brighton and London service.

Not to be confused with Farmer Station, which is a bunch of country bumpkins…read more Falmer is a lovely little station in East Sussex that seems in the middle of nowhere, and has what looks like a big house with big chimney sticking out of it, which is pretty gorgeous. It is basically the stadium for the Brighton soccer team (football rather - Brighton And Hove Albion who just got an undeserved point against us thanks to corrupt CIty-sponsored refs using VAR to rig things), which is weird because it's such a little station and yet it serves the massive stadium that is literally overshadowing it, if you look from a certain angle. The stadium is enormous and dwarfs the station, which on a match day will get masses of traffic, and the rest of the time it's just pretty dead. So you want to be a farmer? Here's a couple of acres (kicks you in the testicles).

Falmer Station is a traditional English railway station one would find out of town, or perhaps in a…read moresmall town or village, this, of course, serves the Falmer area of Brighton, which also happens to be right next to The Falmer Stadium, known as The Amex for sponsorship reasons which is home to Brighton and Hove Albion FC. On a match-day, fans can travel from here into Brighton centre for free as long as they have a match-ticket, which is an incredible and cool gesture from the club to arrange, and they even include away fans, I was for sure glad of it as a Manchester City supporter. The inclusion of this station in such a key location serving the stadium built in 2011, makes it a really easy stadium to get to and possibly in line with the likes of the Etihad Stadium and Wembley in a way, which both have stations either built in to the stadium or just a stone's throw away. The trains aren't regular serving here on any other day, which is a flaw, but the main flow of people using the station would be on a match-day heading to a game when they run extra trains every 10 minutes in both directions to and from Brighton (direct service) anyway. It is located on the East Coastway line, the main cities served on that line being Eastbourne and of course Brighton. A regular service on a non-match-day, or if you don't catch a special direct train can take anywhere between 15 and 20 minutes. On a match-day the queuing system after the game is handled incredibly well and deserved credit, I didn't have to wait too long and there were so many staff on hand to help and answer any questions if needed, to the point I'd say it was probably better than the Metrolink station serving the Etihad Campus in that regard. No facilities at the station, however, it is step-free, so if you were planning to get a drink before heading back into Brighton from here, you're out of luck. A great station on a match-day, if allowing plenty of time before the match, and coming back not too late after, but pretty much below average at any other time, other than having a perfect location for the football stadium (Again not as good for away fans, who are located at the other end of the ground) 3*

Pros: Frequent trains to London, Brighton and Southampton, Free Cycle Parking with CCTV, Manned…read moreTicket Office, Quickticket Machine, always seats on London trains, Victoria in just over an hour (1:11), reliable services, bus connections, friendly staff, clean Cons: Annoying selective door opening (front seven coaches only open), level crossing clogs up roads.

Top tip - if you get off the train at Brighton Station and there is a long queue for the taxis run…read moredown the road for 30 seconds and order one in this rank ! They usually can get you one really quickly ! In fact, they often have cabs outside waiting. The 'rank' actually consists of a waiting room with an intercom where you can talk with someone in an office. Have always thought it a bit strange that you never actually speak to anyone face to face (I assume they are actually in the same building and not answering from somewhere else !) If there isn't a taxi available there are a couple of seats so you can wait indoors. A bonus if it's late and and/or cold. Fares are predictably expensive - but no more than any other Brighton taxi company (in fact, there are none in the area that I know of that are notably cheaper !)

Rang up, booked a 6 seater cab ( a family meal including two elderly grandparents )for an hour…read morelater. Cab never turned up. After 5 calls (phone was not answered) to enquire where it was. Told that there weren't any 6 seaters available. Didn't have the curtsey to let us know before. Will definitely not use again.

This is where they filmed the movie Aldrington The President's Men…read more The main station of Hove is pretty nice, but this one is in the middle of nowhere in a suburb of Hove which is only one mile from Brighton, and that means it still feels a little bit remote and somehow both suburban and like the countryside at the same time. So nobody really works here most of the time and it feels a little secluded and remote. It has a little station platform house that really looks more like a bus. LOL.

Aldrington station is a small unstaffed halt half a mile west of Hove railway station (as the crow…read moreflies - it's closer to a mile on foot). That there's a station here at all is something of a surprise: it was opened in 1905 as 'Dyke Junction Halt', at the point where the short-lived branch line up to Devil's Dyke left the Brighton-Worthing main line. This branch was opened in 1887 to enable day-trippers to reach the local beauty spot, and survived until January 1939. It was intended to serve the growing suburbs of Hove, a function it still performs today. The original halt had short wooden platforms, which were replaced by the present concrete ones in the 1930s. It was renamed 'Aldrington Halt' in 1932. Even as halts go, it's pretty basic: two short platforms, the smallest of concrete bus-style shelters, and no staff. There's a small 'permit to travel' machine and a train indicator, CCTV and some noticeboards. And that's your lot. It can get pretty bleak in winter. To be fair, it has long approach ramps, from Aldrington Avenue and Amherst Crescent on the north side, and the corner of Mortimer Road and Tamworth Road on the south: a short pedestrian tunnel connects the two and also provides the only interchange between the platforms - not that there's any reason to change here. But it does mean there's step-free access to both platforms. The service is appropriately basic: from Monday to Saturday it is served by the half-hour Brighton to West Worthing all-stations stopping service. Somewhat remarkably, the hourly Sunday services from Brighton to Littlehampton and Portsmouth Harbour also stop here, providing a half hourly service. It is used by just over 100,000 passengers a year - mostly commuters and school-children. NB Access to both platforms via step-free subway and ramps. Platforms are only 2 metres wide: mobility scooter users may be unable to use platform to train ramps due to limited clearance.

Southwick is a small suburban station on the West Coastway Line between Portslade and…read moreShoreham-by-Sea. It was opened in 1840 on the original line between Brighton and Shoreham, but of the original station, only the walls and platform canopies survive: the ticket office is housed in a small modern brick bulding just by the entrance. Facilities are minimal: there are no toilets, just sheltered seating on either platform, although thanks to the provision of ramps they are both accessible by step-free access. There is a ticket machine for when the ticket office is closed. There is also a small cycle rack, and a set-down area for cars, but no parking. Off-peak, Southwick is served by the half-hourly all stations service between Brighton and West Worthing, and the hourly Semi-fast services from Brighton to Portsmouth and Southampton respectively, giving 4 trains per hour. All trains go to Brighton in the other direction (4 per hour).