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The AMEX and BML2
- Thread starter 8ace
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TheBigUnit
Active member
But Im guessing there would be more, longer trains...think of the area of East Sussex and Kent it also opens up, to further BHA 
colonisation! 
Lankyseagull
One Step Beyond
This is the same Tesco roundabout that is gridlocked even when it's not rush hour. Much of the road infrastructure of Uckfield will need to be altered to enable the proposals to go ahead. It will cost too much.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love it to happen as I now live in Uckfield. It will make my journey to the Amex so much easier (not to mention allow me to have a few beers), but I don't believe it will happen for many years.
TheBigUnit
Active member
portslade seagull
Well-known member
Who are BML ?
TheBigUnit
Active member
Brighton Main Line, Brighton Main Line 2...etc
But whether the new road will work or not is irrelevant. It's going ahead along with the whole redesign of the town centre. The town council have already submitted and Environmental Impact Assessment. Therefore the railway crossing will no longer be an issue.
Lankyseagull
One Step Beyond
But you do support it ? then
As I said in my last post, I'd love to see it happen. I'm just taking a step back and thinking about the impact on Uckfield and the cost of re-working the road infrastructure of the town. There is only one road through the town allowing you to travel from one end to the other. There will be so many people with different opinions as to what is the right approach that it will be tied up by beaurocracy for years.
TheBigUnit
Active member
Lankyseagull
One Step Beyond
Why is it irrelevant that the road will work or not? Surely the road network needs to work for local transport. That attitude smacks of "stuff the locals, let's have our railway so that us Brighton based London commuters have an alternative way of getting to work". As I have just said, uckfield only has one road running from one end of the town to the other, which much of the day is gridlocked irrespective of peak times.
If the road network doesn't work, how will commuters get to the station in time for their train?
Lord Bracknell
On fire
There is no chance of the line being built due to cost - and, even if the funds were available, BML2 would be a long way down the queue for them.
Because they're changing the road layout to reduce congestion, it's nothing to do with the railway.
Lankyseagull
One Step Beyond
No. They are TALKING about what to do. As far as I am aware, a final solution has not been decided yet. There was a public exhibition of proposals back in May. The preferred option of Uckfield residents was Option B more car parking in Uckfield Uckfield traffic improvements East Sussex County Council
.
In one paragraph they manage to contradict themselves in terms of solving congestion:
"Most parking in Uckfield is at the northern end of the town, which means travelling through the town centre in order to park.
There is an opportunity to build a new car park with 130 spaces at the southern end of the town, on land near the station. This would reduce congestion in the town centre, and:
reduce traffic at the junction of Bell Farm Lane and the High Street
provide parking near the railway station
reduce on-street parking.
A new car park on this site would not solve congestion issues alone. It would also have an impact upon the flood plain and may attract more traffic to the town. The cost of this option would be about £1 million to £2 million."
From the proposal map there is no road to the Tesco roundabout with bridge over the railway. It doesn't do anything to improve the situation in my opinion, it will not change it.
Granted, option D shows a new road system you talk about, But it was the least supported of the options at the consultation. Remember, these views were expressed by the people of Uckfield, the people who will be directly affected.
So, I stick by my reckoning that the road infrastructure of Uckfield is relevant to the debate.
34064 Fighter Command
New member
With BML2 some trains won't even go through Lewes
So it'll be like after the Gillingham game, when a lot of the away fans who wanted to change at Lewes to go to London Bridge, ended up at Polegate because they were in the part of the train that extended beyond the end of the Lewes platform.
What will happen is that no-one heading East of Lewes or wanting BML1 heading NW from Lewes towards Haywards Heath will board a BML2 train at Falmer because, without somewhere to change trains, it WON'T get them to their CORRECT destination - that's assuming they even stop in the first place. If you want to go to Three Bridges, Eastbourne, Hastings etc, catching a train that only takes you to Uckfield, Oxted and East Croydon is pretty stupid.
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Screaming J
He'll put a spell on you
Uckfield IS a problem; but if you look at some of BML2's proposals in more detail - http://www.bml2.co.uk/images/PDF's/A%20Strategy%20for%20Growth.pdf - you'll see that that is probably small beer compared to the congestion problems it would encounter nearer London. Trying to avoid the East Croydon bottleneck by using the existing tramway route and demolishing quite a bit of housing means I shared Lord B's view about this being a pipedream.
Birdie Boy
Well-known member
- Jun 17, 2011
- 4,387
According to the tour of the Amex the other week, they are going to use 12 coach trains, with front 6 coaches being allowed to exit then the train moves forward and the rear 6 got out.
It was also mentioned that there is no signal between Falmer and Brighton, hence the delay on trains leaving. They are putting an additional signal in around London Rd so that trains can stop half way..
34064 Fighter Command
New member
Why does the risk assessor in me think that's just an accident waiting to happen - all it would take is for the driver to open the wrong set of doors and you end up with people at the back of the train walking straight into thin air and a fall of 5 feet or more onto a very hard landing.
It relies on a human making the correct decision as to which buttons to press, and as we all know, humans are simply just too prone to making mistakes.
The risk averse culture in Network Rail will never allow it to happen - they'll insist on there being a platform the full length of the train, whether it's 1, 12, or even 100 coaches long.
I think it's all done by satellite now isn't it?
Daffy Duck
Stop bloody moaning!
Surely the key to all this lies in re-opening the Uckfield to Lewes line and we've been told by a certain Minister of Transport that won't happen.
HawkTheSeagull
New member
BML2 is just a fancy, expensive vanity plan just to get Uckfield - Lewes reopened - the person in charge of the campaign is the same person who wanted to reopen said line previously.
BML2 won't ever happen - its incredibly expensive and isn't worth it. Would be better off spending the money upgrading the current line, making it more reliable etc - would probably be cheaper too.
If a diversion route is needed without a reversal - then maybe build a curve at Arundel - linking the West Coast line to the line to Horsham - would save the need to reverse at Littlehampton and there could then be direct trains between Brighton and Horsham/Sutton.
BML2 won't ever happen - its incredibly expensive and isn't worth it. Would be better off spending the money upgrading the current line, making it more reliable etc - would probably be cheaper too.
If a diversion route is needed without a reversal - then maybe build a curve at Arundel - linking the West Coast line to the line to Horsham - would save the need to reverse at Littlehampton and there could then be direct trains between Brighton and Horsham/Sutton.