Train cuts worse than feared

That is the view of the newly-formed Bexhill Rail Action Group (BRAG).

Under the new timetables, which could be implemented in December, Cooden Beach and Collington stations will see their service reduced from four to two trains an hour, while Bexhill will have only four trains an hour, instead of the current six.

Group chairman Brian Hord said: "The Strategic Rail Authority's proposed withdrawal of the through London service has been well-publicised.

"However, a further blow to Bexhill is that the remaining local service will be of very poor quality.

"It's a technical point, but because the two remaining trains (in each direction) will have different stopping patterns at stations along the route, they will not run at regular intervals from Bexhill.

"In recent years, passengers at Bexhill have become used to a turn-up-and-go service during the day, with a train running both to Eastbourne and Hastings roughly every 20 minutes.

"In the future, anybody who has just missed their train at Bexhill could find themselves waiting 40 minutes for the next one.

"We disagree profoundly with the SRA's designation of the Hastings - Eastbourne line purely as a 'local market', but as these plans show, the rail authorities cannot even come up with proposals for a decent local service."

The Brighton Line Route Utilisation Strategy, published last year, proposed withdrawal of the through service from Hastings and Bexhill to London Victoria via Haywards Heath.

Under the plans, Bexhill will be left with a purely local service between Brighton and Hastings twice an hour, with one of these trains extended to Ashford International via Rye.

The service will arrive and depart at/from Brighton at half-hourly intervals, but will service Bexhill at irregular times.

BRAG believes that daytime users of Bexhill station, such as students and shoppers will be particularly inconvenienced, and say that this is likely to lead to a loss of passengers, and increased traffic on local roads.

Bexhill Rail Action Group has pledged to fight the withdrawal of the London service and to campaign for long-term improvements to train services from Bexhill.

Anybody interested in joining the group should contact Richard Tyler at [email protected] or telephone 01424 211500.