|
Chaos over three days on the Brighton Line causing widespread despair among passengers caught up in the turmoil resulted in Lord Berkeley, chairman of the Rail Freight Group and whose interests are transport and the environment, submitting two questions to Her Majesty’s Government.
The following day, on Wednesday 15, serious delays yet again occurred during Wednesday’s busy morning peak hours when over-running engineering works between Three Bridges and Wivelsfield caused long queues for replacement buses. Unfortunately, this was followed by further pandemonium late on Friday afternoon and the evening peak when a major power failure was reported in the Horley area which paralysed services between London and the South Coast.
Only the day before, Lord Bassam of Brighton wrote a powerful full-page article for the city’s Argus newspaper in which he set out his reasons for supporting BML2. He said the case for reopening “has never been stronger” and that the project “has a great deal going for it.” Those who have to pay top season ticket prices shouldn’t be forced to stand, he said, whilst he fears Network Rail’s predicted seating shortfall of 3,000 in twenty years’ time will come a lot sooner. Others have told us this, too.
Citing the “pull factor” of jobs in Canary Wharf and the City of London, he said: “Sussex commuters need an alternative route into London”, adding that Crossrail can only heighten this need and “add massively to the argument for greater rail connectivity”. BML2 would, he said “take pressure off the mainline and reduce the number of changes passengers have to make across London’s principal destinations.”
He is right of course, whilst many of us are left wondering how much longer commuters in the south will tolerate conditions on not only the overloaded Brighton Line, but the Tonbridge Main Line too.
Appreciating how busy the railways have become throughout the day and at weekends, Lord Bassam perceptively explained how developments such as Brighton’s hugely successful AMEX stadium at Falmer have led to changing travel patterns, despite the transport system failing to keep pace. He suggests how much better it would be if on match days supporters could access the stadium via BML2. And, as we and others have pointed out, Sussex University would then be on a main line to London as well as major South East towns.
“If the Government wants to make an important environmental statement it could tell Network Rail to add the restored link into its plans and give rail the boost it needs” he said, roundly criticizing the “too narrowly cast” scope of the 2008 Study which, incidentally, lost its last shred of credibility by concluding passenger demand south of Uckfield could be satisfied with a 2-car train!
He drew attention to the enormously successful rail schemes in Scotland and Wales; the passenger estimates for which had proved “wide of the mark in seriously underestimating the popularity of new lines.”
A passionate supporter in all that BML2 has to offer, not just across Sussex, but London and the wider South East, Lord Bassam threw down the gauntlet by saying: “The Government says it wants infrastructure investment because it helps to support growth in the economy. I argue that this is a perfect project for just that.”
In a further impassioned challenge to the Government to become involved in helping explore and develop BML2 he said: “For my part as an ex-Government minister I am happy to work for the greater good. I ask the ministers responsible, Theresa Villiers and Norman Baker, and those with an interest in transport like Boris Johnson to get behind this project because it is good for Sussex, it is good for our great city by the sea in Brighton and Hove and it will be good for London.”
Project Manager Brian Hart said: “The benefits of BML2 for London and the South East are truly immense and we would welcome the opportunity at any time to present these to Boris Johnson, Theresa Villiers and rail industry chiefs.”
|
