Lewes to Uckfield railway, feasibility study..

bigc · Jul 30, 2008

BBC NEWS | England | Sussex | Railway line defeat 'just a blip'

Apparently again it has been deemed uneconomical. It seems ridiculous to me, especially the section in which the report states the Brighton Main Line is shut too rarely for a divisionary route to be worthwhile, it seems like its buses between Three Bridges and Brighton every other week during the winter months!

Surely there is a huge amount of sense in closing one of the most stupid gaps on the rail map.

Herr Tubthumper · Jul 30, 2008

bigc said:
BBC NEWS | England | Sussex | Railway line defeat 'just a blip'

Apparently again it has been deemed uneconomical. It seems ridiculous to me, especially the section in which the report states the Brighton Main Line is shut too rarely for a divisionary route to be worthwhile, it seems like its buses between Three Bridges and Brighton every other week during the winter months!

Surely there is a huge amount of sense in closing one of the most stupid gaps on the rail map.

I thought train usage was going through the roof?

bigc · Jul 30, 2008

Herr Tubthumper said:
I thought train usage was going through the roof?

Exactly! And allowing the sane journey option of travelling down to the coast by train from Uckfield instead of having to go ALL the way up to East Croydon would be a good thing.

Even Brighton's Tory council said that weekend rail closures were hurting the local tourism trade, why don't they pitch in with support for Uckfield-Lewes? It may be a slightly slower route but it's infinitely preferable to the nightmare of the rail replacement bus.

Motogull · Jul 30, 2008

I thought it would be turned down for being impossible in practical terms. They built an industrial estate and the bypass the other side of the station. I'm sure it would attract more fans to Falmer from that region too. Hope it comes off.

dougdeep · Jul 30, 2008

They can reroot the Lewes end through Hamsey. Even the old platform is still there at Lewes station.

bigc · Jul 30, 2008

Motogull said:
I thought it would be turned down for being impossible in practical terms. They built an industrial estate and the bypass the other side of the station. I'm sure it would attract more fans to Falmer from that region too. Hope it comes off.

Apparently they said it's fine from a technical perspective but not from the financial side.

I agree, would be good to get fans down to Lewes. But generally, I'm sure people in Uckfield would have reason to visit Lewes which would become so much easier with the train link and it would make Brighton closer too.

Superseagull · Jul 30, 2008

For this to work it needs funding from either the government or from Europe. If it were funded privately no-one would be interested as the payback would be 30years+. If this line was in some other 'developing' countries in Europe it would be banked rolled by EU money whether it was needed or not.

bigc · Jul 30, 2008

Superseagull said:
For this to work it needs funding from either the government or from Europe. If it were funded privately no-one would be interested as the payback would be 30years+. If this line was in some other 'developing' countries in Europe it would be banked rolled by EU money whether it was needed or not.

Surely can't they drum some old rich benefactors up, I mean, it's Mid Sussex for christs sake.

To have it single tracked would cost just over £7million pounds, doesn't seem that much to me considering how much councils spunk on consultants. Double tracked was about £36mil but it still seems like value for money to me in terms of the benefits it could bring.

We are crying out for a secondary route to London and will continue to do so if the population continues to grow or even stays as it is.

steward 433 · Jul 30, 2008

bigc said:
Surely can't they drum some old rich benefactors up, I mean, it's Mid Sussex for christs sake.

To have it single tracked would cost just over £7million pounds, doesn't seem that much to me considering how much councils spunk on consultants. Double tracked was about £36mil but it still seems like value for money to me in terms of the benefits it could bring.

We are crying out for a secondary route to London and will continue to do so if the population continues to grow or even stays as it is.

Too right it needs double tracking

With all the new houses being built over the next 7 years in Sussex combined with the high price of fuel the line will make it's money back in no time

bigc · Jul 30, 2008

steward 433 said:
Too right it needs double tracking

With all the new houses being built over the next 7 years in Sussex combined with the high price of fuel the line will make it's money back in no time

Exactly! A secondary route into London is needed and a route which would improve the public transport infrastructure within Sussex.

steward 433 · Jul 30, 2008

bigc said:
Exactly! A secondary route into London is needed and a route which would improve the public transport infrastructure within Sussex.

Like you said earlier in the thread every weekend during the winter the London to Brighton is shut for repairs.

Would save them a fortune in not having to hire buses

bigc · Jul 30, 2008

steward 433 said:
Like you said earlier in the thread every weekend during the winter the London to Brighton is shut for repairs.

Would save them a fortune in not having to hire buses

But apparently in the report it says that the closures of the Brighton line are minimal...

Which is TOTAL b.s.

steward 433 · Jul 30, 2008

bigc said:
But apparently in the report it says that the closures of the Brighton line are minimal...

Which is TOTAL b.s.

oh yeah right minimal my hairy arse :lolol:

Would be such a good move

bigc · Jul 30, 2008

steward 433 said:
oh yeah right minimal my hairy arse

Would be such a good move

I mean, it just makes sense in so many different ways.

I admit it is a bit of a deterrent having to change at Lewes for Brighton but that's hardly rocket science! I'm sure it would also appeal to Seaford branch stations to have a direct train service to London too.

steward 433 · Jul 30, 2008

bigc said:
I mean, it just makes sense in so many different ways.

I admit it is a bit of a deterrent having to change at Lewes for Brighton but that's hardly rocket science! I'm sure it would also appeal to Seaford branch stations to have a direct train service to London too.

Yep Beeching was very short sighted when he closed all the lines he did.

The closure of the Shoreham line was bad at the time according to my dad

bigc · Jul 30, 2008

steward 433 said:
Yep Beeching was very short sighted when he closed all the lines he did.

The closure of the Shoreham line was bad at the time according to my dad

You should see the extent of what he wanted to cut in his second report, but luckily he was fired before that happened or we would be in a real mess.

Thing is, Lewes-Uckfield wasn't Beeching as I'm sure Lord B will testify, it was actually to do with a new road construction. Beeching actually spared the line from his cull.

The thing is, the closures made rational journeys completely irrational. Why would anyone in Uckfield use the train as a mode of transport if the only way they can head down to the coast is heading all the way up to East Croydon and changing.

steward 433 · Jul 30, 2008

bigc said:
You should see the extent of what he wanted to cut in his second report, but luckily he was fired before that happened or we would be in a real mess.

Thing is, Lewes-Uckfield wasn't Beeching as I'm sure Lord B will testify, it was actually to do with a new road construction. Beeching actually spared the line from his cull.

That i didn't know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The thing is, the closures made rational journeys completely irrational. Why would anyone in Uckfield use the train as a mode of transport if the only way they can head down to the coast is heading all the way up to East Croydon and changing.

I wouldn't if it was work purely because of the time factor. Far quicker to drive to Brighton or Lewes

bigc · Jul 30, 2008

steward 433 said:
I wouldn't if it was work purely because of the time factor. Far quicker to drive to Brighton or Lewes

True but right now it isn't even a viable alternative. I don't think the journey time between Uckfield and Lewes would be more than 5-10mins surely, as there were only 1-2 intermediate stops planned and so I assume it would be similiar distance as Brighton to Lewes.

steward 433 · Jul 30, 2008

bigc said:
True but right now it isn't even a viable alternative. I don't think the journey time between Uckfield and Lewes would be more than 5-10mins surely, as there were only 1-2 intermediate stops planned and so I assume it would be similiar distance as Brighton to Lewes.

Well then there is the economic viability they were talking about. Build it with 1 inter stop to save money and it will still get used loads.

You could build it as a single track and shuttle a train if it's only a 25 min turnaround Uckfield to Lewes and back

newhaven seagull 85 · Jul 30, 2008

one of the reasons its uneconomical is that the stations at isfield and barcombe mills will not be used, therefore all the people who live in these areas will continue to use cars to get to brighton lewes and uckfield and beyond.

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