Improving The Hastings Line
In The Lewes Horeseshoe, I discussed how an idea from Railfuture might be used to improve services between London and the South Coast.
I came to the conclusion, that if various improvements were carried out, including the running of trains with Class 395 performance from Ashford to Brighton along the East Coastway Line, that this would present an opportunity to close and rebuild the Hastings Line.
The Hastings Line is only thirty-two miles long from the South Eastern Main Line to Hastings, but there are deficiencies in the tunnels, which led to four of the eight tunnels being made single-track, when the line was electrified in 1986.
Surely, the fact that the line is constantly switching from double to single track, is one of the reasons, that the line only has a pathetic one semi-fast and one stopping train per hour between London and Hastings.
But things have moved on since 1986!
Network Rail must have learned a lot of tricks with tunnels. In particular, all the lessons learned in the re-boring of Farnworth Tunnel will be invaluable.
The length of the line is also such, that services could be run using IPEMU trains, charging the on-board storage on the South Eastern Main Line and between Battle and Hastings stations.
Would running some parts of the Hastings Line without power, mean that it could be simplified by the partial removal of electrification?
I estimate that around twenty-five miles would be without electrification, which would be an easy gap to bridge for an IPEMU.
Would this simplification in the various single-track tunnels, coupled with modern tunnelling techniques, allow Network Rail to create a fully double-tracked route from the South Eastern Main Line along the full length of the Hastings Line to Hastings?
If four trains per hour could be run between London and Hastings, that would be a tremendous improvement. At the London end of the route, the Thameslink Programme should create extra capacity for trains into Charing Cross station.
In addition, it would appear that the line is already capable of handling ten-car trains. Could this be stretched to twelve?
I am certain, that in the light of developments in the last few years, that Network Rail are looking at ways of increasing the capacity on the Hastings Line.
They’re also probably looking to do other engineering work, as there was a major landslip on the line a couple of years ago.
But in truth nothing can be done, until alternative routes are provided via Ashford and/or Brighton, as the tunnel work would probably mean that the Hastings Line would need to be closed, whilst some of the work is performed.
Unless a sensible alternative is provided, I’m sure Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells will be penning another letter to the Telegraph.
The Lewes Horeshoe
A friend pointed me at the Lewes Horeshoe, which is described on this page of the Railfuture web site. They say this.
Events last year at Dawlish have shown the need for alternative routes to provide network resilience. A simple loop at Lewes, following the A27 Lewes bypass and the Cockshut, could be completed in Control Period 6 (or sooner) to provide an alternative route between Brighton and Haywards Heath without reversing, which would have enabled a service to be maintained when Patcham Tunnel was flooded recently, and would enable direct services between Falmer and London. It would also avoid reversing of the Lewes – Brighton shuttle service at Lewes, which might improve stock utilisation, and would facilitate services via a reopened Uckfield – Lewes line to Brighton. The radius of curvature is similar to that of the new curve on the East London Line Extension at Shoreditch, which operates without disturbing local residents.
They also show this map of the horseshoe.
Railfuture’s Lewes Horeshoe
This is a Google Map of the area.
Lewes Horseshoe
And for completeness, this is a Google Map of the East London Line at Shoreditch.
Shoreditch Curve
Knowing the East London Line well, I don’t think that the curve at Shoreditch is particularly tight and certainly thousands of up to five car trains have gone round the curve in safety without annoying too many of the residents. But are there that many residents?
So what do I think of the idea of the Lewes Horeshoe?
I believe that smaller rail projects like the Hitchin Flyover, Ipswich Chord, Ordsall Chord and Todmorden Curve, may not seem to offer high value before they are proposed, but once they are created, rail companies and politicians find innovative ways to use them.
I don’t know Lewes station well, but I always seem to spend some time there waiting for trains, when I visit.And would thus say that the area needs a bit of sorting out.
Now that the Uckfield Branch of the Oxted Line has been improved, as I wrote about in Future-Proofing The Uckfield Branch, I think that there could be moves to reinstate the Wealden Line and improve Seaford Branch services to Newhaven and Seaford.
Obviously, if there is any work at Lewes to sort out the services, all proposals should be examined.
There is also all of the proposals for a Second Brighton Main Line. I think that this project is so large, that I don’t think those using the trains between London and Sussex could put up with another project the size of Thameslink in the near future.
I also think, that several smaller projects along the current routes between London and Sussex should be sorted first.
- Improved longer and more frequent electric services from London to Uckfield.
- Improved longer and more frequent electric services along the West Coastway and East Coastway Lines.
- Improved links between Southeastern Highspeed services and Crossrail at Stratford International.
- The development of East Sussex services, so passengers can use Southeastern Highspeed services into Stratford and St. Pancras.
- The completion of the new interchange station at Gatwick Airport to improve connectivity.
- The sorting of the interchange between Thameslink and the East London Line.
- Improved services on the Hastings Line.
- A New one million pound car park has been built at Uckfield. Expect to see more!
- Improved layouts and extra tracks on the current Brighton Main Line.
I think that we’ll see some truly radical ideas and services implemented between London and Sussex, taking advantage of some of the new technology that is currently being developed.
For instance, if the East Coastway Line and the related Marshlink Line were to be improved, I feel that a limited stop Class 395 train could run from Stratford International to Brighton in under two hours.
I also believe that if the order of the projects is organised in an optimal order after Thameslink is completed through Gatwick to Brighton, that the important capacity between London and the South Coast can be maintained. This could be one possible order.
- Finish Thameslink, Gatwick Airport station and some Brighton Main Line improvements.
- Run twelve-car services between London and Uckfield.
- Improve the East Coastway and Marshlink Lines, so that trains with Class 395 performance can run between Brighton and Ashford.
- Add some more parking.
Finally, the bullet must be bitten and the Hastings Line can be closed and rebuilt, so that four trains per hour can be run between London and Hastings.
I discuss this in Improving The Hastings Line.
The Anonymous Widower 