Uckfield Lewes line to re-open?

[British Bulldog]

Hmmmmm... BB

I detect a sense of I don't like train drivers

Well i would'nt say I dislike them but I do get frustrated that the puppet gets paid more than the puppeteer.

 

[smudge]

I'm training for the Gt South Run & upping the old mileage, so drove over to Lewes on Saturday to do an old run from donkeys years ago, Lewes-Offham-Hamsey-Barcome Mills then back to Lewes along the old railway line. Well I hadn't done it for what must be about 12 years & f*** me had there been changes. First of all, the old Barcome Mills station is all fenced of without so much as a footpath through to the old line. There was a very posh lady who when confronted by a knackered sweaty runner asking about a footpath said, "this is private land" (By the way, the Anglers Rest is a house now too).
The biggest change though was what the farmers have done to the old rail line. It has been totally ploughed up in places & you can't actually even see where it used to run anymore. I had a nightmare finding a route through cornfields where the line used to be.

So, I can't see that route re-opening.

Back to jogging along Shoreham Beach for me!

 

[jmsc]

Well i would'nt say I dislike them but I do get frustrated that the puppet gets paid more than the puppeteer.

You tosser! I was actually agreeing with you until posted that! As an (ex) train driver, I can assure you that after the lever frame boxes shut on the main line in the 80's, the art of signalling has been lost to button pushers up to 30 miles away!

If I had a pound for every time that I had to explain to a button pusher at 3 bridges power box how to get out of the crap, I could have retired 5 years earlier than I did!

 

[British Bulldog]

You tosser! I was actually agreeing with you until posted that! As an (ex) train driver, I can assure you that after the lever frame boxes shut on the main line in the 80's, the art of signalling has been lost to button pushers up to 30 miles away!

If I had a pound for every time that I had to explain to a button pusher at 3 bridges power box how to get out of the crap, I could have retired 5 years earlier than I did!

Glad to see one of the old wind up's still works If you look back at my previous posts on railway matters you'll find I've got a pretty good respect for drivers but then again I come from the old school where as much as we used to wind the shit out of each other we still worked together and helped each other when the chips were down, It's fair to say that in the 30+ years i've been signalling trains I've helped as many drivers get out of the shit as they have me. Your right about the art of signalling being lost though and in reality the same applies to driving trains as well, The days of using common sense and experience have gone and all they want is little robot's doing the job now with the decision making being left to some faceless wonder sat in an office miles away. Out of the 2 of us I'd say your the lucky one being retired and I shall be following suit at the first opportunity, The only thing that holds me to the job now is the fact I've got no other qualifications and no other job is going to pay me what the railway does.

 

[drew]

Like you said in another thread, surely isn't the rail infrastructure really going to struggle getting all the fans to Falmer? Only four trains an hour from Brighton/Lewes.

Probably put on some extra trains. Didn't they used to do that from Hove station in the days we packed out the Goldstone?

That was my thinking, I think we need to be as radical as the Victorians were when they first built the railways back in the 1830s-50s.

The Victorians obviously weren't radical enough as they didn't build stations long enough and tunnels deep enough (for double deckers).

no what we really need to do is reduce the amount of commuting necessary, espacially in the peak hours. people traveling 50miles to work is a dumb idea in the first place, but thats where the work is. my company doesnt need to be in central london, in fact it only moved there from Harrow a few years ago. no idea why, prestige i suppose. too many people living too far from their place of work for various reasons. no idea how you solve this, but it wont be addressed untill it is recognised.

not radical so much as no nimbys, you wanted a railway you built it, its progress.

Technology should allow far more people to work from home rather than in London. Trouble is changing people's attitude. It would be far better if people worked from home and only went into London for required meetings (rather than superfluous ones). If you take into account video conferencing there is in effect little need to get into London anyway. Unfortunately, a lot of people who work in London like the kudos of being 'in the City' and so it won't change soon.

If it did, there would be a lot of lost business for the likes of Pret/Costa etc and not forgetting the millions lost to the railways.

 

[Ernest]

Probably put on some extra trains. Didn't they used to do that from Hove station in the days we packed out the Goldstone?
.

Unless they update the signalling it will be impossible to run any extra trains on matchdays as the line between Lewes and Brighton already runs at full capacity as well as there being no spare rolling stock to cover any additional movements.

 

[drew]

Unless they update the signalling it will be impossible to run any extra trains on matchdays as the line between Lewes and Brighton already runs at full capacity as well as there being no spare rolling stock to cover any additional movements.

Does it run at full capacity on a Saturday though, I'd be surprised. You are only talking about a shuttle service between Brighton and Falmer.

 

[Ernest]

Does it run at full capacity on a Saturday though, I'd be surprised. You are only talking about a shuttle service between Brighton and Falmer.

It is running at full capacity now, there are no pathways to add any additional trains between Brighton/Falmer/Brighton. A train cannot leave Falmer until the previous train has entered Brighton station so it will be impossible to add any football specials to the service unless the signalling is upgraded, platforms lengthened and extra stock obtained and the chance of that happening is absolutely zero.

 

[KNC]

Glad to see one of the old wind up's still works If you look back at my previous posts on railway matters you'll find I've got a pretty good respect for drivers but then again I come from the old school where as much as we used to wind the shit out of each other we still worked together and helped each other when the chips were down, It's fair to say that in the 30+ years i've been signalling trains I've helped as many drivers get out of the shit as they have me. Your right about the art of signalling being lost though and in reality the same applies to driving trains as well, The days of using common sense and experience have gone and all they want is little robot's doing the job now with the decision making being left to some faceless wonder sat in an office miles away. Out of the 2 of us I'd say your the lucky one being retired and I shall be following suit at the first opportunity, The only thing that holds me to the job now is the fact I've got no other qualifications and no other job is going to pay me what the railway does.

Note to any passengers passing Three Bridges signal box, or in fact any large power box.
If you look closely, you can see the tyres hanging on ropes from the ceilings, and the daily deliveries of bananas. ;-)

 

[KNC]

It is running at full capacity now, there are no pathways to add any additional trains between Brighton/Falmer/Brighton. A train cannot leave Falmer until the previous train has entered Brighton station so it will be impossible to add any football specials to the service unless the signalling is upgraded, platforms lengthened and extra stock obtained and the chance of that happening is absolutely zero.

I told them that last month, you muppet.

 

[Ernest]

I told them that last month, you muppet.

I told them that last year when clowns were claiming that they would clear a 20000 crowd from Falmer in an hour after a game.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I nearly told them that when the planning application was first submitted in 2001. Fortunately, I didn't have to say anything because Connex said they would be able to cope with the projected numbers.

 

[bigc]

I guess capacity could be increased by one train an hour each way if the Ashford service called at Falmer, bringing it up to 5.

Incidentially, the ATOC put out their list of lines/stations to be considered for reopening and on a sizeable list, no Lewes/Uck. None really in our area, closest is Crainleigh in Surrey.

I guess the Express heard about the upcoming report and just guessed Lewes/Uckfield would be on it.

I'm at an event with Lord Adonis tomorrow night, so in the unlikely event he mentions Lewes to Uckfield, I shall let you know!

 

[Ernest]

I guess capacity could be increased by one train an hour each way if the Ashford service called at Falmer, bringing it up to 5.

Incidentially, the ATOC put out their list of lines/stations to be considered for reopening and on a sizeable list, no Lewes/Uck. None really in our area, closest is Crainleigh in Surrey.

I guess the Express heard about the upcoming report and just guessed Lewes/Uckfield would be on it.

I'm at an event with Lord Adonis tomorrow night, so in the unlikely event he mentions Lewes to Uckfield, I shall let you know!

Are you being serious ? How many punters will you SQUEEZE on a 2 car diesel ?
It's a wonder no one has brought this up because there is no way the train will be able to take the strain of transporting the hordes to Falmer each match day.
There is meltdown on that line every November 5th for Bonfire Night at Lewes so how will the railway cope with the projected number of fans each matchday ?

 

[bigc]

Are you being serious ? How many punters will you SQUEEZE on a 2 car diesel ?
It's a wonder no one has brought this up because there is no way the train will be able to take the strain of transporting the hordes to Falmer each match day.
There is meltdown on that line every November 5th for Bonfire Night at Lewes so how will the railway cope with the projected number of fans each matchday ?

I wasn't denying it wouldn't be chaos!

To be honest, I think the solution would be not to run the diesel train say for 1/2/5pm time schedule and just whack in a Brighton to Lewes service. I know that wouldn't be much help but it would be 4 carriages more than there would be otherwise.

 

[Ernest]

I wasn't denying it wouldn't be chaos!

To be honest, I think the solution would be not to run the diesel train say for 1/2/5pm time schedule and just whack in a Brighton to Lewes service. I know that wouldn't be much help but it would be 4 carriages more than there would be otherwise.

At times of heavy loading such as the Eastbourne Airshow they do substitute the diesel between Eastbourne and Brighton with a 4 car electric but still won't make much difference.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I wasn't denying it wouldn't be chaos!

To be honest, I think the solution would be not to run the diesel train say for 1/2/5pm time schedule and just whack in a Brighton to Lewes service. I know that wouldn't be much help but it would be 4 carriages more than there would be otherwise.

Don't forget the other passengers who are travelling on the trains - the folk who are nothing to do with the football crowds. Trains are quite busy on the Lewes - Brighton line, especially on Saturday afternoons. It's why they run five trains an hour.

 

[bigc]

Don't forget the other passengers who are travelling on the trains - the folk who are nothing to do with the football crowds. Trains are quite busy on the Lewes - Brighton line, especially on Saturday afternoons. It's why they run five trains an hour.

We're DOOMED then?

As Frazer might have put it..

 

[Ernest]

Don't forget the other passengers who are travelling on the trains - the folk who are nothing to do with the football crowds. Trains are quite busy on the Lewes - Brighton line, especially on Saturday afternoons. It's why they run five trains an hour.

It's a wonder why the opponents of Falmer didn't latch onto this as they would have been onto something and would have been able to cause a problem.

 

[bigc]

It's a wonder why the opponents of Falmer didn't latch onto this as they would have been onto something and would have been able to cause a problem.

I guess the NIMBY's all drove cars and knew little of the rail line on their doorstep.

Funny Norman Baker missed it too, seeing as he seems to think he is an authority on transport matters.

It's about 10tph at South Bermondsey isn't it, in comparison.