THWART – Three Oaks and Winchelsea Action for Rail Transport
THWART was founded in 2005 by local volunteers seeking reinstatement of rail services throughout the day at Three Oaks and Winchelsea stations. Their campaign was successful and these two stations were given a two hourly service.
A further successful campaign led to the introduction of an hourly service in May 2023.
There is a group of volunteers that look after Winchelsea station. If you would be interested in volunteering to look after Three Oaks station, contact David Harris (harrismanuell@outlook.com) who is the THWART representative for Three Oaks with the Southeast Communities Rail partnership for the Marshlink line.
THWART also persuaded Southern Rail to agree that rail replacement bus services should stop outside the Three Oaks pub instead of at the junction of Butchers Lane and the A259
Volunteers could paint the remaining concrete panels on the station platform, organise planters and keep them tidy and refresh the display board.
Timetables
Here is a link to the current timetable for the Marshlink line: https://timetables.southernrailway.com/SN/#/timetables/4137/Table%20U
Replacement Buses
When the line is closed for planned engineering work, there is a replacement bus service which stops outside the Three Oaks pub at the junction with Maxfield Lane. Bus times can be accessed on the following website:
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/ Enter Three Oaks – Maxfield Lane as the location.
Each day of the period that the line is closed, bus departure times will also appear on the National Rail website live departure page, which for Three Oaks can be found here:https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/live-trains/departures/three-oaks/
The History of the Marshlink Line
In his book about Three Oaks and Guestling, local author Keith Swallow, provides a useful summary of the development of the line. https://keithswallowauthor.co.uk/a-different-kind-of-brotherhood-guestling-and-three-oaks-then-and-now/.
The Marshlink line opened in 1851 and this year we are celebrating it’s 175 anniversary. The display board at the station has a series of photographs of the early days of the station.
The station was originally named Three Oaks Bridge and later renamed Three Oaks Halt, then Three Oaks and Guestling before becoming Three Oaks. In the early days, the service comprises a single carriage behind a steam locomotive.
Following the Beeching Report in 1963, the Marshlink line was recommended for closure but following a campaign in the early 1970s, services continued until being drastically cutback in 2005. Then the THWART campaign began.
Top and bottom photographs © Richard Williams – MarshLink Action Group