 LEWES - UCKFIELD
~ LOST TO A ROAD SCHEME
1964 - Transport Minister Ernest Marples approved Stage 1 of Lewes Relief Road with a 75% grant being given towards the £350,000 scheme. A conflict then developed between the new road (Phoenix Causeway) and bridging the railway.
1965 - British Railways applied to Parliament to retain Uckfield line as a through route to the Sussex Coast by re-opening original alternative link (facing direct to Newhaven and Eastbourne). This would save the road scheme £135,000 by not having to build a bridge over the railway and this stretch of line could be abandoned.
1966 - Act to re-open alternative link granted by Parliament
1967 - £95,000 for alternative rail link refused, whereby Uckfield line’s strategic purpose was lost. Consequently BR applied for abandonment of all railways between Lewes and Tunbridge Wells and Oxted (Hurst Green). Huge protests followed and Government’s Transport Users’ Consultative Committee urged retention of lines, but Transport Minister Barbara Castle deferred a decision. Meanwhile, the road construction continued unabated.
1968 - The new Transport Minister Richard Marsh finally permitted closure only between Lewes-Uckfield to allow the pressing completion of Stage 1 of the road scheme.
1969 - February: Lewes-Uckfield train service withdrawn.
March: Track removed and embankment cut through.
July: Stage 1 (Phoenix Causeway) opened.
September: County Council’s consultants recommended against continuing with Lewes Relief Road, whereby stages 2 & 3 were abandoned after the Minister gave an assurance to fund a southern bypass for Lewes by the mid-1970s. Railway ended up being lost for 400 yards of local road.
Within days of closure the embankment was cut through. The Relief Road was supposed to solve traffic congestion. Paradoxically, by breaching the railway, it ended all train services between Brighton-Tonbridge and Brighton-London via Uckfield.
ERIDGE - TUNBRIDGE WELLS
1985: Birchden Junction leading to London via Oxted (left) and London via Tonbridge (right).
On such an overcrowded network there cannot be a more graphic example of wasting capacity and opportunity. Only one track (far left) is operational today for Southern’s Uckfield line services. The remainder is either lifted, left derelict, or periodically used for preserved railway purposes.
British Rail based its justification for the withdrawal of passenger services between Tunbridge Wells Central and Eridge entirely on the revenue between Groombridge and Tunbridge Wells West stations. In fact this involved the loss of the Tonbridge-Eridge service which, although greatly devalued over the years, still provided a useful connection between routes. Worse still, the line’s potential role in the south’s housing expansion was ignored.
British Rail chose to dispense with 4½ miles of this former main line connecting Surrey, Sussex and Kent rather than spend £¾m on a backlog of deferred track maintenance. BR also anticipated saving £½m rather than renewing Grove Junction as part of its £26m 1986 Hastings Line electrification scheme.
BR’s preoccupation was to sell for redevelopment a large area of land worth £4m which included all of the spacious Tunbridge Wells West station. This regrettable decision was heavily influenced by pressure to off-set the annual support to the railways through the Government’s Public Sector Obligation Grant.
Despite a High Court action, public protests, and TUCC recommendations that the line should be retained and upgraded, Transport Minister Nicholas Ridley still sanctioned its closure.
HURST GREEN - UCKFIELD
 1988: Minimal maintenance by BR on the Uckfield branch in he 1980s led to severe speed restrictions, some as low as 20mph on safety grounds. Commuters deserted in roves to other lines and housing growth continued.
1990: BR threatened to close the Uckfield Line if track rationalization didn’t go ahead. Despite fears over safety and reliability, the route was partially singled.
1991: Uckfield’s station was closed and replaced by one platform and single line east of the High Street.
2001: Electrification of Hurst Green - Uckfield was shelved with decision to renew 40 year-old diesel stock.
2003: New class 171 Turbostar fleet gradually introduced. All-day direct services to London Bridge proved extremely popular. Patronage rose sharply and exceeded all expectation.
2007: Network Rail Business Plan recognized need for redoubling single-line sections, extending station platforms, longer trains and ‘possible extension of services to South Coast’.
2008: Network Rail entered contract with local authorities to undertake a £130,000 study into reopening Lewes - Uckfield as an extension of services to Newhaven.
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