Wealden Link

21 December 2008 - Brighton Line woes:

The Department for Transport’s solution to providing more capacity on the Brighton Line has reportedly ended in mayhem following the introduction of the new timetable. Similarly vaunted by Network Rail as the answer to overcrowding, the extension of the Gatwick Express to Brighton has not been welcomed by commuters who complain of severe over-crowding, standing room only and fewer stops at key stations such as Haywards Heath and East Croydon. The first day of operation also saw numerous failures of signalling and trains, whilst passengers vented their wrath on Southern’s besieged staff who did their best in difficult circumstances.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as though these problems might be just a temporary glitch. The DfT knows that the Balcombe bottleneck – where the line becomes just dual track all the way to Brighton – is the weakness of the route, but it won’t face up to the problem. This is compounded by the need to accommodate many West Coastway trains, as well as all services to Lewes, Eastbourne, Seaford, Bexhill etc. There are simply too many people chasing too few seats on a line that cannot satisfy demand, let alone operate faultlessly as Network Rail imagines is possible. It shows yet again that much-maligned Connex was quite right in its ‘20:20 Vision’ to propose introducing the Wealden Main Line – which would have been operational by now.

Commenting on the news, Brian Hart said: “There is a growing consensus of opinion that we need this route as Connex envisaged eight years ago – double track throughout, electrified, upgraded and fulfilling its role once more as a major transport artery between London and the South Coast. It will cost a fraction of the sums needed to build new high-speed lines and we know this is easily achievable. This is one of the simplest schemes and its benefits go way beyond the myopic focus of this recent Study. I wish the DfT and Network Rail would get a grip”.