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In a letter to the Lib Dem’s Transport Spokesman Norman Baker, signed by the Secretary of State for Transport Lord Adonis, the Department for Transport has denied there is any bias between the handling of the Cambridge guided busway and the Lewes–Uckfield project.
The busway received a grant of over £92m from the government, whilst it has been widely reported that it is not expected to cover its original capital cost of £116m. Transport analysts believe the final cost of the controversial Cambridge project, which has been plagued by delays in construction, will end up being over £150m. On the other hand, the £108m determined for the Sussex rail link was judged by the DfT as poor value for money when their projected benefits in its recent business case were judged not to exceed the capital costs of construction.
Because the Lewes–Uckfield project was looked at as a transport entity in its own, rather than a small (and very useful) link in a long chain, the outcome was predictable. Unfortunately, failure to appreciate the railway’s regional connectivity, which both the Lewes–Uckfield and Eridge–Tunbridge Wells links would deliver, will ensure the South East’s network remains in a weak position. The resultant strain is now becoming increasingly evident on the busy Brighton and Tonbridge Main Lines and will steadily worsen until inevitably there follows some kind of breaking point.
The pre-war private companies such as the Southern Railway would never have tolerated this situation, let alone allowed themselves to be pushed into this unhappy position by civil servants who largely dictate what happens on the railways, despite the mirage of a privately-run railway.
It is a pity that the regeneration of the Uckfield line is still set on a course of eventuality through crisis, rather than as part of a sensibly planned transport strategy which addresses capacity and expands the network accordingly. Life in the interim for the beleaguered commuter and all those residing in the South East would otherwise be so much better.
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