Uckfield Town Council campaigns for rail improvements

Uckfield Town Council is campaigning for a return to double tracks and electrification of the railway line serving the town.

It has also added support to a proposal for a second Brighton Main Line which would restore links between Uckfield, Lewes and the South Coast and between the Uckfield line and Tunbridge Wells.

The council says, in a press release, this would bring many benefits to the local economy and local residents and is calling on all concerned in local and national government to actively support BML2 and to campaign for its adoption.

The release says: "Uckfield Town Council has noted with pleasure the continuing increase in usage of the Uckfield railway line but has also noted that the service, particularly for morning commuters has become a victim of its own success, with complaints of overcrowding.

"The town council believes that the current service can be improved and expanded if the infrastructure is returned to doule-tracking throughout and the line joins the rest of the Southern Railway network (except the Marsh Line) by being switched to electric traction."

At the moment a single track is used by trains approaching and leaving Uckfield and trains are powered by diesel.

Here are previous Uckfield News stories about the BML2 scheme:

Idea for high speed rail link between Brighton and Uckfield

Rail campaigners to push harder