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Brighton Main Line
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===Grouping (1923{{endash}}1948)=== [[File:4-lav_emu.jpg|thumb|right|A [[SR Class 4Lav|4-LAV]] electric multiple unit approaching {{rws|Coulsdon North}}: These trains were used on the Brighton Main Line between 1933 and 1969.{{sfn|Glover|2001|pp=42-43}}]] Under the [[Railways Act 1921]], the Brighton Main Line became part of the [[Southern Railway (UK)|Southern Railway]] in 1923.{{sfn|White|1992|p=179}} The overhead electrification of the line as far south as Coulsdon North was completed in April 1925,<ref>{{cite news |title= More electric trains : New SR sections open |date= 1 April 1925 |work= Daily Telegraph |issue= 21819 |page= 14 }}</ref> but in August the following year, the company decided that all future electrification projects would use the DC third-rail system and that the existing overhead wire system would be replaced.<ref>{{cite news |title= Β£3,000,000 scheme of Southern Railway : 'Overhead' to disappear |date= 10 August 1926 |work= Daily Telegraph |issue= 22233 |page= 9 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Southern Railway's Β£3,750,000 scheme : Overhead system to disappear |date= 10 August 1926 |work= Manchester Guardian |issue= 24947 |page= 12 }}</ref> The conversion of the existing electrified sections was completed in September 1929<ref name=Clarke_2020/> and third-rail electrification reached Three Bridges in July 1932.{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1986|loc= Fig. 9}}<ref>{{cite news |title= Wiping out the steam trains : First stage of a great electrification scheme |date= 5 July 1932 |work= Evening Standard |issue= 33659 |page= 18 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Electric trains further extensions : Coulsdon to Reigate and Three Bridges |date= 7 July 1932 |work= Sutton and Cheam Advertiser |page= 3 }}</ref> The electrification of the entire line was completed on 1 January 1933, when the section between Three Bridges and Brighton was commissioned.<ref name=Clarke_2020/>{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1986|loc=Fig. 113}}{{sfn|Bonavia|1987|pp=87-89}} A major resignalling project on the southern part of the Brighton Main Line was undertaken in 1932. Colour light signalling was commissioned between Coulsdon North and Balcombe Tunnel Junction on 4 June 1932. Six signal boxes were closed and control of this section of line was transferred to Three Bridges.{{sfn|Glover|2001|pp=42-43}} In October 1932, colour light signalling was commissioned between Balcombe Tunnel Junction and Brighton. Haywards Heath station was rebuilt with two island platforms, each with two platform faces able to accommodate 12-car trains. Platforms 3 to 6 at Brighton were also lengthened as part of the same project.{{sfn|Glover|2001|pp=42-43}}<ref name=ES_July_1932>{{cite news |title= Southern Railway : Stations under reconstruction |date= 29 July 1932 |work= Evening Standard |issue= 33680 |page= 20 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Railway light signals |date= 21 October 1932 |work= Surrey Mirror and County Post |issue= 2855 |page= 9 }}</ref> Redhill station was substantially rebuilt in 1932 as part of the electrification programme. A new [[sorting office]] was opened in the town in 1933,<ref name=ES_July_1932/>{{sfn|Jackson|1999|p=18}}<ref>{{cite news |title= Postal development |date= 22 September 1933 |work= Surrey Mirror and County Post |issue= 2903 |page= 6 }}</ref> replacing the previous facility which had been built in 1884.{{sfn|Jackson|1999|pp=24-25}} Further upgrades to enable larger volumes of mail to be handled at the station were undertaken in 1935 and 1938.{{sfn|Jackson|1999|p=18}} Rail transport of Post Office mail ceased following the opening of the [[Willesden]] postal rail hub in 1996.{{sfn|Jackson|1999|p=100}} [[File:BB_at_Purley_Oaks_1964_cropped.jpg|thumb|right|A [[British Rail Class 403|Class 403 (5-BEL)]] unit in Pullman livery at {{rws|Purley Oaks}} in 1964]] A [[Pullman train (UK)|Pullman]] dining service between London and Brighton, nicknamed the ''[[Brighton Belle]]'', was launched on 29 June 1934. It used five-car {{cvt|75|mph|adj=on}} capable [[British Rail Class 403|Class 403 (5-BEL)]] units, the first all-electric Pullman trains in the world.{{sfn|Glover|2001|pp=107-108}}{{sfn|Glover|2001|p=45}}<ref>{{cite news |last= Pring |first= Martyn |date= 13 February 2020 |title= The iconic Brighton Belle is returning after 50 years (with wider seats to handle expanding girths) |work= The Telegraph |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/articles/dawn-of-a-new-brighton-belle-epoch/ |access-date= 26 March 2024 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Initially, three return trips ran each day, but the service was increased to four in 1963. The Class 403 sets were withdrawn on 30 April 1972.{{sfn|Glover|2001|pp=107-108}}{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1986|loc= Fig. 116}} The [[Beehive, Gatwick Airport|Beehive]], the original terminal building at [[Gatwick Airport]], opened in mid-1936. It was served by Tinsley Green station, which had opened in September the previous year and which was renamed Gatwick Airport on 1 June 1936.{{sfn|Oppitz|1987|pp=73-74}}<ref>{{cite news |last= Robertson |first= F. |date= 8 June 1936 |title= London's second airport : Opening ceremony at Gatwick |work= Manchester Guardian |issue= 27996|page= 10 }}</ref> The station was relocated northwards to its current site at the South Terminal on 27 May 1958.{{sfn|Oppitz|1987|pp=73-74}}<ref>{{cite news |title= The Queen's plane makes a trial run into Gatwick |date= 29 May 1958 |work= Evening Standard |issue= 41666 |page= 8 }}</ref> During the Second World War, the Brighton Main Line was a target for enemy bombing. Bombs caused damage to the tracks at Norbury on 19 October 1940{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1987|loc=Fig. 81}} and outside Victoria station on 21 December that year.{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1987|loc=Fig. 21}} Both London termini were damaged in a raid on 11 May 1941 and a [[V-1 flying bomb]] caused extensive damage to the station offices at Victoria on 12 June 1944.{{sfn|Baker|1989|p=175}} Further bomb damage occurred at Forest Hill on 23 June 1944.{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1988a|loc=Fig. 70}}
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