As reported earlier this year, 2023 marks the 140th anniversary of the Volk’s Electric Railway and Brighton & Hove Council and the Volk’s Electric Railway Association have teamed up to run a special event to celebrate the occasion over the weekend of Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th August.
The railway first opened on 4th August 1883, the brainchild of Magnus Volk, and although over the years it has been regauged, extended, shortened and modernised it remains quintessentially the same line as it was 140 years ago with the oldest cars in the fleet dating back to 1892. The weekend of 12th and 13th August will allow this history to be celebrated with line-ups of all the trains, a procession (including recently returned ex-Southend car 9), after hours service and tours of the workshops.
The complete timetable for the weekend is as follows:
Saturday 12th August
1115 – All trains line up near Aquarium Station
1145 – Speeches of welcome by Cllr Jackie O’Quinn (Mayor of Brighton & Hove), Nicholas Owen (broadcaster and Volk’s volunteer) and Tim Dunn (TV presenter of Yesterday shows Architecture of the Railways and Secrets of the London Underground) near the Steve Ovett statue on Madeira Drive
1200 – Procession of trains including ex-Southend car 9
1300 – 140th Anniversary Special Train departs Aquarium
1330 – Public Service starts
1800 – Twilight Special illuminated Train operates between Aquarium and Halfway stations until dusk
Sunday 13th August
1015- Normal public service starts
1200 – Afternoon tours of Workshop, Offices and Sheds (including scale model of Volk’s Railway)
1845 – Line-up of Volk’s Railway cars for photography
- For regular updates on the Volk’s Electric Railway visit the Volk’s Electric Railway Association Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VolksElectricRailwayAssociation