Volk family

On 3 August 1883 Magnus Volk opened a 2 ft (610 mm) electric railway running for 1⁄4 mile (402 m) between Swimming Arch (opposite the main entrance to Brighton Aquarium, and adjacent to the site of the future Palace Pier) and Chain Pier. Electrical power at 50 V DC was supplied to the small car using the two running rails. On 4 April 1884 the line was extended a further 1⁄2 mile (0.8 km) beyond the Chain Pier to Paston Place (now known as Halfway), and regauged to 2 ft 8+1⁄2 in (825 mm). The electrical supply was increased to 160 V DC and the power plant was installed in the arch built into the cliff face at Paston Place. In 1886 an off-set third rail was added to minimise current leakage.

In 1896 the unusual Brighton and Rottingdean Seashore Electric Railway was built by Volk. Due to problems concerning the construction of lengthened groynes to the east of Paston Place this closed in 1901, although it was not finally dismantled until 1910. Following the closure Volk's original electric railway was extended from Paston Place (today's Halfway) to Black Rock on 21 February 1901. Paston Place was also the home of Volk's Seaplane Station, which was used by Volk's son George Herbert Volk. In 1930 the line was cut back 200 yards (183 m) from Palace Pier to its present terminus, still known as Aquarium. In 1935 a lido was built at Black Rock, and the line was shortened by around 200 yards (183 m) to accommodate it. In 1937 a new Black Rock station was opened at the end of the shortened line.

Brighton Corporation

In April 1940, Brighton Corporation took control of the line. On 2 July 1940, World War II defensive preparations resulted in the line closing. After the war, starting in 1947, the corporation rebuilt the line using 50 lb/yd (24.80 kg/m) rail for the running line and 25 lb/yd (12.40 kg/m) mounted on insulators for the third rail. At Black Rock a new station was built to replace the 1937 building which had suffered badly during the war. The line reopened for passengers in 1948.

Winter operation ceased from 1954, although the line did reopen temporarily in the winter of 1980 to cash in on the large numbers of sightseers who had come to look at the Athina B, a freighter that had beached near the Palace Pier. Two-car multiple operation was introduced in 1964. In recent years there has been a decline in visitor numbers due to package holidays abroad. In 1995 the Volk's Electric Railway Association was formed to help the operator of the line (Brighton & Hove City Council) promote and operate the line. In 2003 the Volks Railway Institute of Science and Technology was formed to promote the educational and science side of the Victorian railway to schools and special interest groups.

In the late 1990s the Black Rock end of the line was shortened by 211 feet to permit a storm water storage scheme to be built in the marina area. The 1948 station was demolished and replaced by a new single platform station, which opened in 1998 and shares a building with a new Southern Water pumping station.

Lottery funding

In 2014 it was announced that the railway had been awarded a grant of £1.6 million by the Heritage Lottery Fund, a sum which had to be spent by March 2017. The work funded included: the provision of a new visitor centre and ticket office at the Aquarium station; a new five-road depot (4 stock roads and one through running line) with engineering facilities, inspection pit, and public viewing gallery at Halfway; the restoration of cars 4, 6, and 10 from a semi-derelict state to full working order; and the provision of new educational materials about the railway.