Rye station to close from 3pm on Saturday 9 November for bonfire celebrations

• Closure comes four days after similar closure at Lewes and four surrounding stations on Tuesday 5 November (previously announced)

For reasons of public safety, Rye railway station will be closed from 3pm on the day of the Rye Bonfire (Saturday, 9 November) until the start of service the next day, Sunday.

The change once again has the backing of the Bonfire Society, which says it will prevent anti-social behaviour from youths travelling in from out of town.

Southern’s train service cannot accommodate the number of people expected to visit the town. As well as long queues at neighbouring stations, there would be a very real risk that visitors would be stranded trying to get home because they would not be able to board the last train home.

As with many other bonfire activities across the region, the advice is for people to attend their local events rather than travelling far afield.

Head of Stations for Southern Rail, Stephen MacCallaugh, said: “For reasons of public safety, Southern trains will, as usual, not be stopping trains at Rye station from 3pm on Saturday, 9 November, the day of the town bonfire celebrations.

“We’ve worked closely with community organisers and members of the local multi-agency Safety Advisory Group to help us come to this decision.

“Trains will run through Rye without stopping and online journey planners such as nationalrail.co.uk have been updated with this revised timetable. Please do consider your alternatives if you’re planning to travel that day.”

James Foster, Chair of Rye Bonfire Society, said: “We want to keep our event safe, family friendly and enjoyable which is why we fully support the closure of Rye station, as we have in previous years.”

The closure of Rye station will come four days after a similar closure from 5pm on Tuesday 5 November of Lewes, Glynde, Southease, Falmer and Cooksbridge stations, along with road closures, to keep Lewes Bonfire Night safe. This was decided by members of a multi-agency group that includes the emergency services and district council as previously announced in this press release: https://www.sussex.police.uk/news/sussex/news/news/travel-alert-lewes-bonfire-night-less-than-three-weeks-away/.

Southern’s Customer Services Director, Jenny Saunders, said: “The multi-agency group, which includes all the emergency services, has examined closely the very real risks of overcrowding and safety in the narrow streets of Lewes.

“In the interests of public safety, we have once again been asked not to stop our trains at Lewes and the four surrounding stations from 5pm on the day of Lewes Bonfire.

“This is a Tuesday, a regular working day, and the last train back to Lewes from London Victoria will be as early as 3.54pm. We're sorry for this and urge customers who use those five stations to consider working from home or to carefully plan ahead using our online journey planner at southernrailway.com.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

The Rye multi-agency Safety Advisory Group is formed of representatives of Rother District Council, the emergency services and emergency planning.

The Lewes multi-agency includes the British Transport Police, Sussex Police, the South East Coast Ambulance Service, East Sussex Highways, East Sussex County Council, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes District Council and Southern Railway.