Coordinates: 51°07′02″N 0°09′40″W / 51.117101°N 0.161000°W / 51.117101; -0.161000

Three Bridges is a neighbourhood within the town of Crawley, in the county of West Sussex in England.

History

Three Bridges was a tiny hamlet, which first began to grow with the coming of the London and Brighton Railway in 1841. Despite beliefs to the contrary, the village was not named after rail bridges, but three much older crossings over streams in the area (River Mole tributaries).

The hamlet became the site of an important railway junction in 1848 with the opening of the branch line to Horsham and thence to Portsmouth. The railway established a motive power depot and marshalling yards to the south of the village. A further branch line to East Grinstead was opened in 1855. The village changed radically with the coming of the New town development in the Crawley area in the late 1940s. Three Bridges was one of the first group of neighbourhoods to be built. There are currently 13 neighbourhoods.

Three Bridges may refer to:

The Triple Bridge (Slovene: Tromostovje, in older sources also Tromostje) is a group of three bridges across the Ljubljanica River. It connects the Ljubljana's historical, medieval, town on one bank, and the modern city of Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia, on the other.

Design

The central bridge is partly built from Glinica limestone. Other parts are built from concrete. The balustrades with 642 balusters are made of artificial concrete. The platform is covered with granite blocks laid in 2010. Previously, it was covered with asphalt.

History

There is mention of a wooden bridge in this location from 1280. It was at first called the Old Bridge (Stari most) and later the Lower Bridge (Spodnji most), in contrast to the Upper Bridge that was built in the location of the nowadays Cobblers' Bridge in the same century. It was also named the Špital Bridge (Špitalski most) after the nearby poorhouse, which was established in the early 14th century. It was built anew in 1657 after a fire.

In 1842, the Lower Bridge was replaced by a new bridge designed by Giovanni Picco, an Italian architect from Villach, and named Franz's Bridge, (Frančev most) in honor of Archduke Franz Karl of Austria. It also became known as the Franciscan Bridge (Frančiškanski most). This bridge, opened on 25 September 1842, had two arches and a metal fence. The essentials of the bridge have been preserved until today, which is evidenced by the inscribed dedication to the archduke above its central pier, reading in Latin "ARCHIDVCI. FRANCISCO. CAROLO. MDCCCXLII. CIVITAS.", which means "To Archduke Franz Karl in 1842 by the Town."

Three Bridges railway station is located in and named after the village of Three Bridges, which is now a district of Crawley, West Sussex, England. It is at the point where the Arun Valley Line diverges from the Brighton Main Line and Thameslink 29 ¹⁄₂ miles (47.5 km) south of both London Victoria and London Bridge.

History

The original Italianate style railway station on the East side of the line at Three Bridges was opened in July 1841 by the London and Brighton Railway at a point next to their proposed branch to Horsham. It was designed by the architect David Mocatta, and was one of a series of standardised modular buildings used by the railway. This building was demolished 5 May 1985. Mocatta's plans for the station indicate that it was originally going to be known as "Crawley" but according to The London and Brighton railway guide, of 1841 and the 1846 timetable it was named "Three Bridges" from the time it was opened.

Enlargement

The London and Brighton Railway merged with others to become the London Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1846, and the branch to Horsham was opened two years later. Three Bridges was enlarged in July 1855 with the construction of a branch line to East Grinstead and again enlarged in 1906/9 at the time of the quadrupling of the main line. The present ticket office was then built on the west side of the line and new platforms and station buildings for the new lines.

A train station, railway station, railroad station, or depot (see below) is a railway facility where trains regularly stop to load or unload passengers or freight.

It generally consists of at least one track-side platform and a station building (depot) providing such ancillary services as ticket sales and waiting rooms. If a station is on a single-track line, it often has a passing loop to facilitate traffic movements. The smallest stations are most often referred to as "stops" or, in some parts of the world, as "halts" (flag stops).

Stations may be at ground level, underground, or elevated. Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other transport modes such as buses, trams or other rapid transit systems.

Terminology

In the United States, the most common term in contemporary usage is train station. Railway station and railroad station are less frequent; also, American usage makes a distinction between the terms railroad and railway.

In Britain and other Commonwealth countries, traditional usage favours railway station or simply station, even though train station, which is often perceived as an Americanism, is now about as common as railway station in writing; railroad station is not used, railroad being obsolete there. In British usage, the word station is commonly understood to mean a railway station unless otherwise qualified.