SUPPORT for the reopening of the Lewes to Uckfield railway line - which would create a new main line between London and the South Coast, serving Surrey, Kent and Sussex - has at last come from a member of the Government.
Rail minister Tom Harris gave his backing at a meeting with Wealden Line campaigners, including the campaign director Brian Hart, according to the local newspaper, the Sussex Express.
This seven-mile reinstatement would provide a relief route for the overcrowded Brighton main line from London.
Uckfield councillors Ian Smith and Duncan Bennett told the minister about the huge rise in town populations since the rail connection closed in 1969 (Uckfield up 4,300 to 14,000 and Crowborough up 10,000 to 22,000).
The minister told the campaign group: “I would really like to see this go ahead. I think you have a very good case.”
He said the next stage must be the production of a robust business case to fully establish the costs, opportunities and delivery of the project.
It is anticipated that this can be formulated alongside Network Rail's forthcoming study into reopening, which is expected to start shortly and take about six months.
Mr Harris added: “I want this to succeed. It's a good project. We must have a business case. It would be a feather in the cap of the Department for Transport.”
The Sussex Express has been praised by the Wealden line campaign for fighting the plan for a “ruinous road gyratory system” at Uckfield.
Now the county council has given an assurance that any road scheme would not block the railway.
Earlier Tory transport spokesman Chris Grayling had called for the Uckfield-Lewes rail route to be protected.
He said: “A government without a clear strategy on rail has no chance of being credible on climate change.”
Info from Sussex Express