The How section of the website introduces the societal, historical and construction developments of the Cab Road.
The Cab Road was principally constructed to serve the new railway lines to Brighton and the developing Brighton Railway Station, with the Shoreham line opening 11th May 1840, with goods from Shoreham Harbour to Brighton. The lines served initial routes to and from Shoreham, London, Lewes, and Newhaven Harbour.
The Cab Road was initially an open road which ran up the east side of the station, allowing horse-drawn cabs to avoid the steep incline at the top of Trafalgar Street. It was later covered during an extension of the station, creating a tunnel.
This cavernous underworld is unknown to many passengers and Brighton residents. Today, it is largely dormant except for storage and the eerie rumble of trains approaching and departing on the busy platforms and station above.
Throughout the Victorian reign the Cab Road was a bustling, busy thoroughfare used mainly for horse-drawn ‘flys’ (cabs), ferrying passengers to the mainline station above.
The inclined road connected Trafalgar Street to the station concourse, emerging at Platform 8, in a two directional return under the station tracks. Allowing cab drivers to drive up from Trafalgar Street and enter the station to collect passengers.
The structure of the Grade II* listed terminus station above is supported by 80 bold cast-iron columns. These support the original vast roof spans above the platforms. Columns were later added as part of the eastward extension in 1882-83, which hold up the east side of walls of the Cab Road.
The early 19th century was a period of empirical growth and the Industrial Revolution heralded huge societal transformation and infrastructure expansion.
Along with the rest of the nation at the time there was competing demand for resources as the population, industry, transport and housing expanded into former agricultural areas.
Impressively, such developments occurred with basic tools and equipment, construction being mainly reliant on itinerant labour, raw materials and horses.
However, working conditions and safety were not priorities and workers would have endured long hours for low wages. In 1840, life expectancy in England was 42 years and it is unlikely that railway labourers would have lived as long as this.
By 1850, 50 trains a day were arriving in Brighton. The station was enlarged to the east and the open road enclosed with platforms and offices above.
The old Goods Tunnel runs diagonally (west-east) beneath the railway station, which was used to transport goods from Shoreham Harbour to Brighton Railway Station’s goods yard. The Goods Tunnel was transformed in the 1940s, becoming the War Rooms which were possibly used by the Home Guard during World War II. Many stations having their own Home Guard at this time. The Rifle Range was possibly added to the Goods Tunnel at the same time, where the Brighton Railway Rifle Club still shoots today.
