Volks Electric Railway Today

The railway is open from Easter to September each year.

For further information call 01273 292718 .

Here we see car No. 5 being used by a film crew between the depot and Aquarium Station .Photos courtesy of Stuart Strong

Manager Stuart Strong with one of his charges

 The railway runs from the Aquarium Station , just east of Palace Pier , for a distance of just over one mile to Marina Station at Black Rock , a short walk from the Brighton Marina . There is a car park at Black Rock which makes the railway a convenient park and ride facility for the centre of Brighton . The one intermediate station and depot is at 'Peter Pan's Playground' , at the approximate half way point . The railway is run by a small permanent staff , augmented by seasonal employees and volunteers .
In 1999 the railway received a certificate from the 'Guinness Book of Records' acknowledging it's position as ' The Earliest Public Electric Railway still in operation'. The certificate is seen here held by Bernard Volk , Grandson of Magnus Volk . For more information click here.

For the first time in it's history the railway now has a diesel locomotive . The 'Simplex' loco will be used for shunting cars in the depot and permanent way trains when the power is switched off . For a picture and more details click here.

Three cars outside the depot . On the left is one of the two Southend cars purchased by the VER in 1949 .

 For many years the railway's own cars were augmented by two open toastrack cars from the Southend Pier Railway .They were both built in 1899 so are of similar vintage to the Volks Cars . Number 8 has now returned to Southend to be housed in a new pier museum , while No.9 awaits restoration at Brighton . For more pictures click here.

Cars Nos. 3,4,7 & 8 have received new control gear in the last few years . The previous controllers date from the early 1960's and were in turn built from parts salvaged from Magnus Volk's original ceiling mounted open controllers . The Volk originals were a spectacular sight as any arcing of the contacts produced a stunning show of sparks . They certainly , however , would not have met modern safety standards .

The line has a supporting group . The 'Volk's Electric Railway Association' They can be contacted by snail mail ;

The Membership Secretary , 13 Rudyard Rd , Woodingdean , Brighton , BN2 6UB