South East - Sussex

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BLUEBELL RAILWAY

Sheffield Park Station,
Sheffield Park, East Sussex
TN22 3QL
t: 01825 720800
e: info@bluebell-railway.co.uk
w: www.bluebell-railway.com

The Bluebell Railway was Britain’s first standard gauge heritage railway and began running services in May 1960 from Sheffield Park station, near Haywards Heath in West Sussex, to just outside Horsted Keynes. The line was later extended to Kingscote and work continued on a further extension to take the railway to a new station at East Grinstead. The Bluebell Railway welcomes groups of all sizes. We offer discounted group rates, with reserved seating and free places for coach drivers and visit organisers. Dining and combined visit options to local attractions are also available. To qualify for group deals, group must consist of 15+ passengers.


There is a restaurant, cafes, shop, a museum, a new interactive steam exhibition called ‘SteamWorks!, and a locomotive shed where many steam locomotives are on display. The Bluebell has a huge range of locomotives from small ones such as Stepney (made famous in the Rev W.V. Awdry’s Thomas the Tank Engine books), to larger engines such as BR Standard Class 5MT ‘Camelot’. There is coach parking available at two stations.

The journey from Sheffield Park is a pleasant run through woods and fields, and in spring you’ll see the bluebells that give the line its name. It passes through Horsted Keynes, Kingscote and on to East Grinstead where a short walk takes you to the mainline station. The return journey takes 1¾ hours. There are two dining options on board the trains, ‘Ploughman’s Plus’ on the lunchtime train, and ‘Steam & Cream’ on the tea-time train. There is also the opportunity to take advantage of joint tickets to the National Trust’s Sheffield Park & Gardens (approx.. 1 mile away) or Borde Hill Gardens (approx. 10 miles away).

The Bluebell Railway is a popular location for film makers and has appeared in Downton Abbey, Christopher Robin, The Railway Children, The Woman in Black, Miss Potter, Poirot and many other period productions.