On her visit to the Lewes constituency Theresa Villiers, Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, visited the site of the disused railway link between Lewes and Uckfield. She came to Lewes at the invitation of Jason to discuss key transport priorities for residents of Lewes, Newhaven and the surrounding area.

A proposal to re-open the Lewes to Uckfield line is the subject of a Reinstatement Study to assess the feasibility and business case for the link and is due to report in the first six months of this year.

Theresa Villiers told a Conservative meeting later that the transport experts put Lewes-Uckfield in the top five of disused lines most likely to be brought back into operation. Speaking during her visit, Theresa said

“The increase in passenger numbers in the years since rail privatisation mean that there is now a pressing need for extra capacity on our rail network. The Government is simply not taking this issue seriously enough and the result is chronic overcrowding on many lines. With passenger numbers expected to carry on increasing, this problem is set to get worse. In these changed circumstances, the case for reinstatement of lines like Lewes-Uckfield is much stronger than it has been in past years. This is an issue that I have raised in Parliament and will continue to do so. It was good to hear directly from residents what a difference reopening the line would make to their quality of life and we are all waiting with baited breach for the results of the Reinstatement Study.”