 By 1948 , the service was sixteen trains , of which seven were fast . An additional three trains ran as far as Wadhurst . In 1957 , the service was eighteen trains daily , of which nine were fast . There were nine trains on Sundays . The Schools Class locomotives worked the line until 1957 when steam was withdrawn on the Hastings Line . Diesel @-@ electric multiple units of what became British Rail Class 201 , 202 and 203 ( the " Hastings Diesels " ) took over working the route . 
