The West Sussex seaside resort of Bognor gained its "Regis" title by royal decree after King George V recovered from an illness whilst staying there in 1928. It is also said that the royal personage made an alliterative disparaging remark about the town which we cannot print here! Anyway the town's railway history started 64 years earlier with the building of a branch line into the town leaving the main Brighton to Portsmouth line at Barnham Junction. This line was the result of an 1861 Act, and prior to this Bognor (at the time more of a seaside village) was served by a remote station on the main line near the village at Woodgate. Opened 1 June 1864, Bognor station was originally a small wooden single storey building which was severely damaged by the winds of a storm in March 1897. It subsequently suffered a fire and was destroyed on 29 March 1899.

The current grand - if somewhat ostentatious - red brick station buildings were built between 1900 and 1902 by Messers W. Johnson & Co., of Wandsworth, at a cost of £68,000, which figure included the purchase of additional land for extensive sidings and a goods yard. The station layout as featured in the following photographs taken by Ian Morgan in 1993/4 consists of 4 platforms with a loco release road between platforms 3 and 2 allowing loco hauled services readily to use platform 3, though regular services are by EMU. There are also carriage sidings on the up side of the station allowing stock to be stabled there.

The photographs are in sequence, approaching the station from the Barnham Junction direction.

photograph by Ian Morgan

photograph by Ian Morgan

photograph by Ian Morgan

A reverse view of the station throat looking "up" line from the end of platform 3/4.  Note the use of semaphore signals!

photograph by Ian Morgan