Volk’s Electric Railway and Magnus Volk: the back story

About Volk’s Electric Railway and Magnus Volk: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Brighton Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Volk’s Electric Railway opened on 4 August 1883 along the seashore at Brighton, built by the Brighton-born inventor Magnus Volk. Its supporters’ association calls it the world’s oldest operating electric railway. Today it runs in season between Aquarium, near the Palace Pier, and Black Rock, with Halfway station in between.

Long before the i360, Brighton had a taste for wonderful machines. Volk’s little electric railway has been rattling along the beach since 1883, and it is still running.

Magnus Volk

Magnus Volk was a Brighton-born inventor. On 4 August 1883 he opened a short narrow-gauge electric railway along the seashore between the Aquarium and the Chain Pier. In 1884 it was extended to Paston Place, still known as Halfway, and the gauge was later widened from 2 feet to 2 feet 8½ inches. The line was eventually carried across the Banjo Groyne to Black Rock. Volk died in 1937, thirteen days after driving the first train out of the new Black Rock station.

Ride it in season from Aquarium station, then walk back along Madeira Drive.

Daddy Long Legs: a railway through the sea

Volk’s boldest idea was a railway through the sea itself: the Brighton and Rottingdean Seashore Electric Railway, laid on the foreshore between Paston Place and Rottingdean. Its single car, aptly named Pioneer and nicknamed Daddy Long Legs, stood on four legs 23 feet long, so it could run even at high tide. It opened in November 1896, was wrecked by a great storm a few days later, on 4 December, and reopened on 20 July 1897. New sea defences ended it: operations stopped in January 1901, and the remains were sold for scrap in 1910.

Over 140 years

The town, then Brighton Corporation, took over the railway in 1938. It closed during the Second World War and reopened on 15 May 1948. Its supporters’ association, VERA, was formed in 1995, and after a Heritage Lottery award of £1.65 million in 2015 a new station and visitor centre were built at Aquarium; the restored cars returned to full service in 2018.

Riding it today

The railway runs in season along Madeira Drive between Aquarium and Black Rock, with a stop at Halfway; it is closed in winter, though engineering trains may still run, so keep off the track. Check the season and timetable on the railway’s site before you go.

Our advice: combine a ride with a walk along Madeira Drive and a swim or a coffee at Black Rock.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Volk’s Electric Railway and Magnus Volk: the back story before you go.