Wealden Line Campaign

The Brighton Line is over-full, but there is no sense in building more trains if there isn’t any more track capacity on routes between the south coast and London. Reinstating 7½ miles between Lewes and Uckfield provides this, giving us not only a valuable addition, but an alternative route when the Brighton Line is out of action.

The 61-mile route via Oxted also serves a busy and highly-populated corridor - second only to the Brighton Line.

Better still, reinstating 4½ miles between Crowborough and Tunbridge Wells introduces yet another strategic
link to London via Tonbridge. This is another highly-populated corridor and reconnects major towns all along
the way. At just 64 miles, it is a practical and sensible means of relieving pressure on the Brighton Line.

Because major rail hubs and large towns are all re-joined with these short connections, it opens up new revenue markets for the train operators and provides many more destinations and travelling choices for the public.

Network Rail takes on only 12 additional miles to maintain, but this marginal cost is vastly outweighed by a
significant increase in valuable track access charges. The company also gains greater operational flexibility with
fewer penalties caused by unavoidable engineering occupations.