Lewes Rail responds to Transport for the South East Consultation
Report by Victor S Ient MSc.,
In March 2025 Lewes Rail responded to the public consultation from Transport for the South East’s (TfSE) on its draft Transport Strategy.
In summary, we have asked for the Lewes to Uckfield link to be restored and for the rail line to be reconnected near Eridge Station so that trains can travel from the South Coast via Lewes and Uckfield to London and also to/from Tunbridge Wells. (See diagram at the bottom of this page.)
This is what we said:
Dear TfSE,
Submitted on 6th March 2025
On behalf of the Lewes Rail Users Group I submit our comments as follows:
London & South Coast rail link to Brighton/Eastbourne/Hastings
Connections via Uckfield/Lewes and connections to Tunbridge Wells and Newhaven (and Ferry) and Seaford
Thank you for supporting the reopening of the line in your Strategic Infrastructure Plan (SIP). Also, thank you for including a statement in the Draft Transport Strategy: “Developing secondary corridors, such as the Uckfield – Lewes line, to offer alternative routes and ensure continuous connectivity”.
TfSE say the next stage is a feasibility study. Please carry this out ASAP.
Summary
Reopening the Uckfield–Lewes line would add resilience to the key commuter route from the south coast towards London. Commuters, travellers and tourists would be attracted to rail with a modal shift away from car transport.
New rail routes should be looked upon with equal merit to road construction. Rail provides low CO2 emission sustainable transport, and this route provides a second route between London and the south coast improving capacity and relieving traffic on the Brighton main line and on the A22/A26A27 road network.
There are significant benefits in opening this link together with connections into the already existing track leading to Tunbridge Wells. Additionally, and with the right incentives, car users can be attracted onto the railway thus relieving the congestion on the A26 especially through Lewes and the Cuilfail Tunnel in lewes and the junction with the A27 at Southerham.
Other locations in the UK lines have been opened
In other parts of the country lines have been reopened by the community showing their support. Here are a few examples:
- 6 miles (9 km) of track reopened in South Wales following 40 years of campaigning. The Crosskeys to Newport service restarted in 2021 which was closed in 1962. It links with the Ebbw Vale line.
- 30-mile (48 km) section of the former Waverley Route in the Scottish Borders reopened in 2015, connecting Edinburgh and Tweedbank after a gap of almost 50 years. Passenger numbers have exceeded all expectations and now a feasibility study is underway to explore extending the line from Tweedbank to Carlisle.
- Dartmoor Line reopened in 2021. This was the first line to reopen through the Restoring Your Railway Fund.
If other communities can benefit from sustainable rail infrastructure, why can’t we benefit here in Sussex? After all, we are only talking about seven miles of track between Lewes and Uckfield and connecting to an existing railway track near Eridge to allow for a connection into Tunbridge Wells.
A catalyst for economic development in East Sussex
Providing a Tunbridge Wells – Uckfield – Lewes – south coast railway link will be a catalyst for economic development in East Sussex.
TfSE say the “package could deliver a very significant 20% increase in rail patronage compared to ‘business as usual’ forecasts – at least 20,000 fewer car trips each weekday, more than 85,000 additional trips by rail each weekday.”
TfSE also supports the Hurst Green to Uckfield electrification.
Strong local support for reopening the line
There is wide ranging support for the reopening of the line.
East Sussex County Council acknowledge that the subject of restoration of this link “continues to be of interest”. My earlier article in Sussex Bylines received over 15,000 hits shortly after its publication, which suggests public interest in the link is high.
Lewes District Council has been supportive of the reinstatement of the Lewes–Uckfield line, but they are not the transport authority. Campaign groups like Railfuture and the Wealden Line Campaign, who have been campaigning for many decades to get the line reopened, will no doubt continue with their respective campaigns.
Recently on BBC Politics South East, both Mims Davies, the Conservative MP for East Grinstead and Uckfield, and James MacCleary, the Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, said they support the reopening of the link. Even more recently, the Sussex Express had a double page spread on the history and possibilities for the future of the Lewes to Uckfield link.
With the reopening of seven miles of track and the reconnection of an existing track to the main line near Eridge, linking to Tunbridge Wells, we could be looking at a rail project serving a population of over 750,000 people…and that’s without the wider commuter and tourist traffic that would be able to use the line.
Brighton Main Line (BML) – ‘All eggs in one basket’!
Since the closure of the Lewes–Uckfield route, known as the Wealden Line, the Government and Network Rail have invested heavily in the Brighton main line (BML). Because of this concentration on a single route south from London (with just two tracks), there is always a possibility of disruption. Anything happening on the BML can cause severe delays throughout the whole of the Southern Railway network.
The case for the [Lewes–Uckfield] line is obvious. Channelling all rail traffic from three major coastal areas from Haywards Heath northwards via the Balcombe viaduct and Balcombe tunnel is a high-risk strategy. It’s like three motorways merging with a smaller road.
The viaduct and the tunnel are great pieces of Victorian engineering, but what happens when they need repair? Also, a collapse in the tunnel or of the viaduct would result in chaos. In such cases, passengers would have to be diverted westward via Arundel or east via the Hastings/Tunbridge Wells line, causing enormous travel delays.
TfSE have the link in their SIP
In the Transport for the South East (TfSE), the regional transport body, already have the rail link in their Strategic Investment Plan. Under London-Sussex Coast Rail (section 3.1 of the Plan) they say:
“This package addresses key bottlenecks on the Brighton Main Line, enabling faster, more reliable services and increases in decarbonised capacity across rail operations in the region. Additionally, there are aspirations to reinstate the railways between Uckfield – Lewes and, potentially, Tunbridge Wells West – Tunbridge Wells to increase resilience of rail connectivity between the South Coast and London whilst creating a new east – west passenger rail service. These results should give investors confidence in the level of growth that could be realised through investing in the Brighton Main Line corridor”.
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By Vic Ient, Organiser of the Lewes Rail User Group ( https://lewesrail.org.uk/ )
It will never happen. Too much has changed the land the old line is gone. Residents iccupy trackbed. Tory farmers will never agree. Why did they close Tunbridge wells line in 1985?
Hi Richard, thank you for your interest. I only publised this today! As I understand it the route of the line is protected under local council planning conditions. The fact that the regional transport authority, Transport for the South East (TfSE) have included it in their Strategic Plan is a positive move. It was very sad that the line from Eridge to Tunbridge Wells was ‘closed’ but it’s good to know that it’s still operating as a heritage railway. See https://www.spavalleyrailway.co.uk/
As much as I am positive this will happen in the next 10 years, considering the overwhelming support it has, it does raise questions for me:
1) Presumably, there would need to be a change to the actual route the service would take as there has since been development on the land the line used to pass through, plus the destruction of vital infrastructure such as the viaduct that used to pass through Lewes High St. and the bridge that crossed the Ouse, I could even further mention that part of the original line went through what is now a community rec field… what considerations have been made here if there is any knowledge on this right now?
2) The article does mention a reconnection back up to Tunbridge Wells, now I wonder would this involve bringing the Spa Valley Railway back onto the mainline, and going through Tunbridge Wells West (at least what’s left of it) or an alternative route that reroutes the line directly to Tunbridge Wells Central? That being said, would the same be done with the Lavendar Line?
This was a great read and has given me a lot of hope for the railways around here, I’m 21 and have been something of a rail enthusiast for years and one of my biggest passions has been seeing the Wealden Line become mainline once again.
A final quick note, is there any way I can further support this development? As I might understand there was a group who did a lot of campaign work to reopen the Wealden Line, but I’m not 100% sure how I can get involved.
Sorry for the essay and thank you for this article!!
Thank you for your questions. I welcome them.
A restored line will not have to go through the community recreation field at Malling. A restored line will join the existing line at Hamsey. See this video: https://youtu.be/wtOS2HXluNY
I believe very little engineering is required to reconnect services from Eridge Station to the heritage rail line which uses the original British Rail track bed to get to Tunbridge Wells. There would be some signalling changes. However once these are done trains can run from the South Coast to Tunbridge Wells and vice versa.
The spa valley railway heritage line would effectively be taken over by the new service but I see nothing wrong in the heritage line working alongside a public service line.
The same thing applies to the Lavender Line. Their trains could run on the newly restored line and possibly be extended to Uckfield and Lewes. The UK does have private trains running over Network Rail infrastructure. This would just be another occurrence of the same thing.
Please join LewesRail Group and help us campaign for the restoration of the Welden Line. I will send you an e-mail so we can get in touch with each other.
as i live in Seaford and most of my family are in Kent it is a chore to get a train to Kent from Seaford years ago i had a bit of a chat with the last liberal mp Norman Baker on this subject of course nothing came of it but if the line was reinstated it would be a boon
Whilst Norman Baker was MP, a direct service was introduced between Brighton and Ashford International via Lewes in 2005. Taking the train from seafood one could change at Lewes and travel direct to Ashford thus connecting with various other services in Kent. The direct train service was a very popular route, as I can attest to, but it suffered from overcrowding as it was only a two-coach diesel train due to the fact that the line east of Hastings was not electrified and there was a shortage of powerful diesel locomotives.
Sadly, in May 2018, Southern announced the direct service from Ashford International to Brighton via Eastbourne would be discontinued and cut back to Eastbourne. Eastbourne to Ashford international takes about 1hr 20mins.
LewesRail Group are campaigning for the restoration of direct service between Brighton and Ashford via Lewes as there are different types of train locomotives available including those which are partly electrically and partly battery powered.