Road Halt proved to be unsuccessful and was closed on 1 June 1911. From 1914 During the First World War the line was closed from 1 January 1917 as an economy measure. It was reopened to passenger trains on 1 September 1919, but goods train operation was not restored until 2 Jan 1922. The passenger closure period proved disastrous to the branch, as the public had transferred to trams and become accustomed to the convenience of that travel mode over the short distance involved. Although the passenger train service was increased to 36 journeys daily, the decline in carryings continued. In 1923 the LBSCR was made a constituent of the new Southern Railway following the Railways Act 1921. The Southern Railway decided to withdraw the passenger service on the line and the last passenger trains ran on 31 December 1932. After passenger closure The signal boxes at Kemp Town and Lewes Road were decommissioned and "one engine in steam" working was instituted on the line for the one or two daily goods trains; this arrangement started on 29 July 1933. There was an occasional Sunday School special excursion on the line after passenger closure. During the Second World War the tunnel on the branch was used for overnight storage of main-line electric multiple unit trains, as a protection during air raids; the branch was not electrified and the trains were positioned by steam engines. This practice was adopted between October 1941 and May 1944, except that it was suspended during the period that London Road viaduct was unusable following air raid damage, during May and June 1943. A bomb badly damaged the track on the Brighton side of the tunnel in the early hours of 22 October 1943, and the trains in the tunnel were marooned there until the track was restored later that day. The railways of Great Britain were taken into public ownership on 1 January 1948, under the control of British Railways. The branch continued in use for goods purposes, and British Railways found it convenient to use Kemp Town goods station as a relief to the congested main goods depot of Brighton. However the line finally closed on 26 June 1971. A special gala passenger service was operated on the last day, with hourly trains provided by British Rail Class 206 diesel-electric multiple unit 1205. Accidents and incidents On 9 July 1902 the 7:30 pm train