1. History of the Lewes to Uckfield Line (as seen on Wikipedia)
Authorisation for the construction of a line from Brighton to Hastings via Lewes was first obtained by the Brighton, Uckfield & Tunbridge Wells Railway in 1844, sponsored by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR), with the passing of the Brighton, Lewes and Hastings Railway Act (7 & 8 Vict. c. xci.). However, no works were commenced and another independent company, the Lewes and Uckfield Railway Company, was incorporated and secured on 27 July 1856
the passing of an Act to construct a line covering the 7½ miles between
the two towns from a point 1½ miles north of Lewes to be known as
Uckfield Junction, on the LBSCR's East Coastway Line.[3]
Attracted by the prospect of extra patronage of the existing East Coastway Line
which with Lewes had been linked in 1846, the LBSCR supported the
company's proposals and a connection linking Lewes to Uckfield was
opened on 11 October 1858
to goods traffic, with passenger traffic following one week later. The
initial service consisted of five trains each way on weekdays and three
on Sundays. A four-horse coach service ran between Tunbridge Wells and
Uckfield.[4]
Realignment
The
LBSCR purchased the Lewes and Uckfield Railway Company in 1864 and in
the same year obtained authorisation to build a new line, 3 miles long,
running almost parallel with the East Coastway Line which enabled the
line from Uckfield to obtain independent access to Lewes and without
having to pass through the Lewes Tunnel. This new section struck out at
a right angle from the Uckfield line about a quarter of a mile east of
the village of Hamsey,
and approached Lewes from a northerly direction. It was a more heavily
engineered section requiring a number of embankments and bridges before
joining the East Coastway Line at a point east of Lewes Station. It
enabled steam trains to be positioned in the correct direction for
Brighton, and obviated the need for them to be turned. This new section
opened on 1 October 1868, part of the original connection to Uckfield Junction closing as a consequence.[5]
Extension to Tunbridge Wells West
The Lewes-Uckfield line was extended north to Eridge and Tunbridge Wells in 1868, ostensibly to counter a threat by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway which had proposed the construction of a line from Beckenham to Brighton. The rights to construct this line had been granted to the Brighton, Uckfield & Tunbridge Wells Railway in 1861, but these were subsequently purchased by the LBSCR before completion.[6]
Construction had already commenced in 1863 on a single track from
Tunbridge Wells West to the new Groombridge Junction and this was
opened on 1 October 1866. The completion of the line south to Uckfield had, however, to wait until 3 August 1868
due to the major structural work involved. Most notably, the LBSCR had
to oversee the construction of Rotherfield (later Crowborough) Tunnel
(1022 yards) beneath the ridge of the Wealden Heights, as well as the
Sleeches and Greenhurst viaducts between Crowborough and Buxted.[7]
Doubling and non-electrification
The single line link to Tunbridge Wells Central was opened to passengers in 1876. The line from Uckfield was finally double-tracked in 1894. The Withyham Spur between Ashurst and Birchden Junction was opened in 7 June 1914. The Wealden Line then completed what was called the Outer Circle line
which provided an alternative route between Brighton and London via
Oxted. The line was also the only subsidiary cross-country double line
in East Sussex and, as it did not figure in Southern Railway's electrification programme in the 1930s, it remained the last steam-operated line in the area.[9]
The
Wealden Line left Lewes from a point immediately to the east of the
station, the line curving sharply north for approximately 200 yards on
a short 1:60 gradient, crossing a girder bridge
over goods lines and then a second bridge over Cliffe High Street.
Continuing on an embankment, Lewes Viaduct carried the line over the River Ouse.
The river and its tributaries were to be crossed a further seven times
before the line reached Uckfield. The line then turned north-west at a
point east of Hamsey village and followed a course up the valley of the
river, passing the signalbox at Culver Junction (3¼ miles) where the
line to Horsted Keynes and East Grinstead (now the Bluebell Railway) branched off, and rose gently to Barcombe Mills
(3¾ miles), which had originally been known as Barcombe. This station
was once popular with anglers who descended in large numbers on the
nearby River Ouse during bank holidays.[10]
The
line then continued to Isfield (5¾ miles) before reaching Uckfield (8½
miles). The LBSCR had once planned to construct a further line passing
through Uckfield, the Ouse Valley Railway, which would have connected Balcombe with Hailsham. The plan was abandoned in 1868 due to a lack of funds.[11]
Departing
Uckfield, the line continues to Buxted (10¾ miles) and then passes over
Greenhurst Viaduct (10 brick arches, 185 yards) (11¾ miles), followed
by Sleeches Viaduct (11 brick arches, 183 yards) one mile further on.
The line then rises sharply on a 1:75 gradient and enters Crowborough
Tunnel (which took its present name on 1 May 1897.
Reaching Crowborough (previously known as Rotherfield until 1880, then
Crowborough until 1897 and then Crowborough & Jarvis Brook) (15¼
miles), the line reaches its highest point, more than 300ft above sea
level. Descending on a 1:75 gradient, the line reaches Redgate Mill
Junction (17¾ miles) and then Eridge (19¼ miles). At Birchden Junction
(20 miles), the line heads east passing Groombridge Junction (20¾
miles) and Groombridge (21¼ miles), rising gradually to Tunbridge Wells
West (25¼ miles).[12]
The line probably enjoyed its best and most popular period in the 1930s when regular services enabled passengers to travel from Brighton to Tonbridge , changing at Eridge for services from Eastbourne, with direct trains to London Bridge and London Victoria via East Croydon. There was also a daily through service linking with Brighton, Maidstone and Chatham in the east and Redhill and Reading in the west.[13]
Reduction of services was necessarily during World War II, but nevertheless many extras were run, including special non-stop "workmen's trains" which operated between London, Crowborough and Jarvis Brook and Mayfield.[14]
After
the war, passenger numbers were still rising, tempted by the frequent
services and competitive prices. Even in 1969, travelling by rail was
cheaper than going by bus: a return rail ticket from Barcombe Mills to
Brighton costing 2 shillings, whilst the equivalent bus fare was 11
pence more expensive[15].
4. Decline
In 1956, some years after the nationalisation of Southern Railway, the new operator, British Railways, Southern Region,
having inherited a complicated and inconsistent timetabling system,
moved to introduce a regular hourly service, with additional trains at
peak hours. Diesel-electric units appeared on the line in 1962, running to the steam timetable.
The 1960s brought with them the spectre of change in the form of a policy favouring the construction of motorways
to replace rail travel which was seen as outdated and inefficient. In
1964, new timetables were issued for the line which made travelling
difficult by imposing long waits for onward connections, this policy of
closure by stealth was a ploy to reduce passengers. as British Railways was by now keen to close the section from Hurst Green to Lewes.[16]
In
its last years of operation, the line saw an hourly off-peak service on
weekdays and a two-hourly one on Sundays from Oxted to Lewes. During
rush hours, the service was supplemented, additional trains being laid
on from Victoria to Brighton via Hurst Green.
On Sunday, 23 February 1969,
the last day of operation, the last trains left Lewes and Uckfield at
20.46 and 20.42 respectively. There was little public interest and no
organised demonstrations took place to mark the occasion.
5. Closure
The
seeds of the Lewes-Uckfield closure were sown in 1964 when Stage One of
the "Lewes Relief Road", a project to ease congestion in Lewes, was
approved by the Conservative Minister of Transport Ernest Marples with a 75% grant towards the £350,000 costs[17]. The works involved the construction of the Phoenix Causeway
bridge to Cliffe High Street, the proposed path of which was blocked by
an embankment carrying the Lewes to Uckfield line. Were the railway to
remain open, another road bridge or level crossing would be required at
a cost of £135,000; East Sussex County Council was also against
bridging the line on the grounds of "design and amenity".
To facilitate the road scheme, the British Railways Board
(BRB) applied to Parliament for authorisation to re-route the line to
Lewes via the alignment which had been abandoned in 1868, the so-called
"Hamsey Loop". Approval was granted by section 4 of the British Railways Act 1966 which permitted:
A
railway (1,586 yards in length) wholly in the parish of Hamsey in the
rural district of Chailey commencing by a junction with the railway
between Lewes and Cooksbridge at a point 365 yards south of Hamsey
level crossing and terminating by a junction with the railway between
Lewes and Eridge at a point 425 yards north-east of the bridge carrying
last-mentioned railway over the river Ouse.[18]
The
new route would cost £95,000 to construct, and a request for funding
was submitted to Parliament in 1966. This was turned down and the
strategic function of the Uckfield line as a link to the south coast
was effectively lost. BRB saw little further use for the line and
applied for its abandonment.[19]
In February 1966, BRB gave notice to Barbara Castle, the new Labour Minister of Transport, under Section 54 of the Transport Act 1962
of its intention to close the line from Hurst Green junction to Lewes.
Detailed memoranda were presented relating to the availability of
alternative public transport, as well as statistics as to the usage of
the line. The section proposed for closure had already figured in the
first Beeching Report as an 'unremunerative line', i.e. one earning less than £5,000 per annum in revenue.
Pursuant
to Section 56 of the 1962 Act, the Minister agreed to publication of
the Notice for Closure which was duly published in September 1966,
followed in December by a notice inviting objections. East Sussex
County Council duly responded in February 1967 with a memorandum
pointing out that closure would affect an area in which the population
was likely to almost double by 1981.
Public enquiry
The
number of objections received to the proposed closure was almost 3,000
and triggered the requirement under the Transport Act 1962 to hold a
public enquiry at which the merits of the proposal would be examined by
the South Eastern Transport Users' Consultative Committee (TUCC). This was held in April 1967.
At the enquiry objectors against closure successfully employed, for the first time, the Ministry of Transport's own cost-benefit analysis,
by which the viability of new motorways was measured by calculating the
"income" of the road (i.e. its benefit to users and the rest of the
network in terms of saved time, fuel etc) less the costs of its
construction and maintenance, to show that the closure of the line
would result in 712,000 wasted travelling hours at a cost of around
£570,000 per annum.[20] This figure was in stark contrast to the loss of £276,000 that British Railways was claiming the railway line was losing.
The
TUCC presented their report to Barbara Castle in June 1967 and
recommended against closure of the line, pointing out the "very severe
hardship" which would be suffered by those who used it to travel up to
London. According to the report, "these hardships could not be
alleviated other than by retaining the lines proposed to be
closed...This arises not from lack of alternative bus services,
existing or proposed, but from the inherent advantages of the railway
to those who use it."
Reconsideration by the Minister
The
TUCC report prompted the Minister to revisit her decision and she met
with the BRB to determine whether alternatives existed to the closure
of the entire section from Hurst Green junction to Lewes. They examined
whether the necessary savings could be made by operating on a single
track, rationalising the service or keeping the line open with the
exception of the Lewes to Uckfield connection. The conclusion was
reached that although a complete closure would involve "substantial
inconvenience" rather than "outright hardship", this was outweighed by
the high cost of retaining the service, including the reconstruction of
the Hamsey Loop.
However, following Castle's departure from office on 6 April 1968, her successor, Richard Marsh,
took the occasion to re-examine the proposed closure in the light of
the Government's new policy for the organisation and financing of
public transport in the London area. This was set out in the July 1968 White Paper on Transport for London (Cmd. 3686) which proposed that London commuter area services would be jointly-managed as a network by the BRB and the Greater London Council.
Under the proposals, no subsidy would be paid by the Minister to BRB
where a rail closure was refused: the loss would be taken into
consideration when fixing financial objectives and levels of service.
In
consultation with the BRB, Richard Marsh decided that the section from
Hurst Green junction to Uckfield, as well as Eridge to Tunbridge Wells,
was within the London commuter area and could be kept open. However,
the line north of Uckfield would close provided that five additional
bus services from Lewes and two from Uckfield were provided, together
with an extra school bus from Lewes in the afternoon.[21] As Marsh explained in a letter to BRB dated 16 August 1968,
the "hardship" caused by the closure of the line north could be
alleviated by the provision of buses. He invited the BRB to apply for
an "unremunerative railway grant" for the rest of the line, a new
subsidy which would be shortly introduced by Section 39 of the Transport Act 1968.[22]
An
unremunerative railway grant was subsequently awarded and the Minister
formally refused consent to close the section from Hurst Green junction
on 1 January 1969,
whilst authorising closure of the 10 miles between Uckfield and Lewes
as well as the section between Ashurst Junction and Groombridge
Junction.
Southdown Motors
operated three bus services at the time: no. 19 between Newick and
Lewes via Barcombe Cross, and nos. 119 and 122 between Lewes and
Uckfield via the A26
with a stop at Barcombe Lane. As a condition of the Minister's consent
to closure, additional bus services were laid on from August 1968. No.
122 additionally called at Isfield Station and provided an hourly
service to and from Uckfield, but no. 119 departed Uckfield two minutes
before the incoming rail service arrived. Barcombe Mills and Isfield
stations remained open to sell tickets. However, as the buses were
unable to negotiate the narrow winding road to Barcombe Mills, they
stopped one mile short of the station; the BRB had laid on taxis to
ferry passengers to the bus stop, but passengers first had to walk to
the station to buy their tickets.[23]
The
bus company applied for licences to operate the extra services beyond
the closure of the line, and their applications were referred to the South East Area Traffic Commissioners whose approval for new bus services was required under the Road Traffic Act 1930.
In the meantime, the BRB announced that the last day of services between Uckfield and Lewes would be 6 January 1969 and issued a revised timetable showing the service to Lewes as withdrawn subject to the approval for the bus services. On 11 November 1968, it informed the Ministry that the new timetable would be introduced regardless of the Commissioners' decision.
A
public enquiry was held on 27-28 November 1968 and 21 January 1969 at
Lewes Town Hall and was chaired by Major General A.J.F. Emslie. The
Commissioners were presented with evidence that those currently using
the line would, instead of using the new bus services, instead switch
to cars and motorcycles, thereby adding to the congestion problems at
Uckfield.[24] It was also suggested that British Rail had drawn up a timetable which was deliberately aimed at showing a loss on the line[25]. Among the objectors to the scheme was East Sussex County Council
whose Major J.H. Pickering of the Council's Roads and Bridges
Committee, speaking on his own account, made the point that "the
Minister had ignored the undisputed and rapid growth of population in
the area affected by the proposed bus service", the population having
increased by 5,000 in three years and was expected to reach 10,000 in
the following five years. Crowborough was also expanding at a similar
rate.
The
grant of new licences was rejected by the Commissioners on the basis
of: (i) the lack of services to Barcombe Mills station - passengers
were obliged to walk one mile to the bus stop, (ii) the poor off-peak
train/bus connections at Uckfield and (iii) traffic congestion at peak
times in Tonbridge and Lewes which had a serious effect on bus timings
at Uckfield[26].
The
refusal prompted the BRB to review their closure plans. Its timetabling
announcements had been criticised by the Commissioners as giving the
impression that a decision on the line's future had been taken before
their enquiry was over. The Commissioners' concerns were nevertheless
met, and authorisation for the bus services was given on 31 March 1969. The last day of operations for the Uckfield - Lewes section would be 6 May 1969.[27]
Another
element in the closure decision was the condition of Lewes Viaduct. The
Ministry of Transport had been advised in 1964 by their Divisional Road
Engineer that the condition of Lewes Viaduct would entail high
maintenance costs in the near future. In June 1965, the Engineer
reported again that the bridges and viaduct on the line between
Barcombe Mills and Lewes were in need of expensive repairs. A speed
limit of 10mph was introduced on the viaduct in September 1967. In
March 1968, BRB informed the Ministry that unless the section of line
between Lewes and the start of the Hamsey Loop could be eliminated by
the end of the year, either by rebuilding the Hamsey Loop or by closing
the line, emergency remedial work would be required.[28]
On 13 December 1968, BRB's engineers held a meeting at the viaduct. On 16 December
BRB announced that, for safety reasons and as a short-term measure,
only the down line could be used by a shuttle service and a revised
timetable was introduced to reflect this. On 23 February 1969, this service ceased and was replaced by an emergency bus service.[29]
Post-closure
Once
the line closed, the embankment carrying the line was then demolished
and construction of the Phoenix Causeway completed in Summer 1969. The
remaining bridges from Lewes station to Cliffe High Street and the
Viaduct over the River Ouse were also demolished. Stages two and three
of the Lewes Relief Road project were later scrapped, the Council
preferring instead to link up with the town's new bypass via Cuilfail Tunnel.
In 1974, after the powers granted by the British Railways Act 1966 to
construct a line along the alternative alignment had expired, East
Sussex County Council agreed to safeguard the trackbed against
development.[17] A recent report by the Environment Agency
noted the detrimental effect the Phoenix Causeway had on the town as it
blocked the floodplain, thereby contributing greatly to the floods of
October 2000[30].
The
merits of the Uckfield-Lewes closure were debated on several occasions
in Parliament following closure. In particular, it was argued that the
line would have provided a valuable alternative route to the Brighton Main Line when that line was out of action, as was the case on 16 December 1972 when a collision between two passenger trains at Copyhold Junction closed the line for over a month. Lord Teviot referred to this incident when calling for the reinstatement of the line in the House of Lords on 20 May 1974.
It was estimated that costs of reinstatement would be in the region of
£2 million, together with an additional revenue subsidy of £170,000 per
year.[31]
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