Tens of thousands are expected in Lewes on Thursday for Lewes Bonfire Night, and the town’s roads and rail links will tighten from late afternoon. Residents have been told to get vehicles home before 16:00 GMT, while visitors are being urged to stay away and not bring cars into Lewes.
The event will see effigies paraded through the town centre before a huge bonfire and firework display. A number of road closures will begin at 16:45, and Southern Railway says trains will not stop at Lewes or the surrounding stations of Falmer, Cooksbridge, Glynde and Southease from 17:00 until the start of the following day.
Lewes and the 16:45 closures
Southern Railway says the rail change was requested by emergency services and other agencies because of the risks of overcrowding and safety in the narrow streets of Lewes. The operator said: “We've been asked to do this by the emergency services and other agencies who are concerned about the very real risks of overcrowding and safety in the narrow streets of Lewes.”
That same traffic plan extends to drivers. On-street parking will be suspended on certain streets, and drivers are being asked to use two official car parks rather than leave vehicles elsewhere in the town.
Victoria services to Lewes
The last trains back from Victoria to those stations will leave at 15.24 and 15.54. After 17:00, passengers heading to Lewes and nearby stops will need to make other arrangements until services resume the following day.
The advice to stay away sits alongside the scale of the event itself: tens of thousands are still expected in Lewes, and the town centre will fill for the procession, bonfire and fireworks. For anyone planning to travel, the practical answer is to move early, avoid driving in, and treat the evening as one with no normal rail option into Lewes or the nearby stations named in the notice.
