Bexhill faces major rail setback

Passengers travelling to London Victoria would need to change trains at Eastbourne and await a connection, it was revealed this week.

This will add more than 30 minutes to the journey time.

Bexhill's last direct rail link to the capital would be lost and the business community has hit out at the damage this will cause.

A hastily-prepared town campaign was being put together this week to persuade the Strategic Rail Authority to change the proposals.

Angry rail-users have suffered the inconvenience for months on a "temporary" basis.

The reason, says the SRA, is that new rolling stock is not compatible with old slam-door stock which has not yet been totally replaced. As a result, mixed-unit trains cannot be run.

Now loss of the through-service from Bexhill could be made permanent.

The town's economy will suffer because the SRA seeks to improve the Brighton-London commuter line at the expense of passengers from coastway stations.

Rother District Council was not on the list of those the SRA consulted. Chamber of Commerce president Tony Mansi told the Observer: "All the studies done on Bexhill for tourism and regeneration includes the Area Investment Framework which was the SEEDA study, have recommended that we needed to IMPROVE the rail link to the town including direct links to London without going into Eastbourne and to Gatwick.

"They have even talked of a metro link between Ashford and Brighton with a 15-minute interval between trains. This is a step backwards. I can't understand it. It is literally cutting off the one direct rail link to the capital.

"The whole Eastbourne thing is a farce. Going into Eastbourne anyway adds about 25 minutes to your journey.

"Now you actually have to get off and change trains it's going to delay it even more.

"Long-term it's going to harm the regeneration and the economy of the town."

Malcolm Mitcheson, environment and tourism spokesman for Bexhill Regeneration Partnership said: "In this part of the world it now takes us LONGER to get to London by rail than it did in Victorian times. It is really depressing."

He said the move went totally contrary to current thinking about the importance of "connectivity." There is a December 3 deadline on consultation over the changes.