Notes of ERTA Guildford and South East Area Meeting
Saturday May 8th
2021 starting 14.00 hrs
Host: Mr Iain Sear iainsear22@hotmail.com
Present: Nick Houston, Rob Cooke, Iain Sears, Colin, East Sussex County Councillor, Richard Pill and Margaret Darvill.
1. Apologies for absence: None
2. Guildford-Horsham-Shoreham Rail Reopening/Rebuild: There was discussion with one person saying they may try to widen the corridor to accommodate a railway, a cycleway-cum-footpath and a canal. This was debated a bit, but if can be done, better than no railway accommodation.
a. Wey and Arun Canal Threat Updates:
One source said still at planning level, awaiting Environmental Agency
approval. Richard explained Simon who was working on the matter was taken ill
with a stroke and is therefore out action. ERTA can aim to facilitate Zoom and
other gatherings in due course and will aim to notify people of them. We need
people to commit to keeping in touch with us also.
b. Getting Councils on board with MP’s:
Chicken and egg, which comes first, although bids for the Railway Reopening
Fund required MP leadership from the constituency upwards. Richard said we had
contacted councils and MPs along the line but mixed responses.
c. Physical Meetings at Guildford, Horsham and
Redhill starts June (dates to be confirmed): David Ferguson was the main contact to
keep in touch with.
3. Heathrow Rail Link Progress: Richard reported that some coverage was in Rail Magazine that Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps had signalled some support and keeping the door open on it. The result could be a direct Guildford-Heathrow service possibly running onto Old Oak Common Interchange and maybe a new link/tunnel to the Chiltern Main Line for an Aylesbury-Guildford rail arc. How short sighted then not to want rail links south of Guildford to places like Horsham and Shoreham with through running to Gatwick from the south via Horsham and Crawley via Three Bridges for example and also Shoreham for Brighton and vice versa? It was also noted this could alleviate capacity issues at Guildford with trains dropping off/picking up and going onto somewhere rather than sitting on the platforms. The idea of an Arundel Curve was also raised, enabling more for less-than 500 meters and again the avoiding line reinstatement at Eastbourne would only be about 1 mile of track. Fields exist, but height clearances of the main north-south road out of Eastbourne was a concern potentially (see item 4).
4. Brighton-Ashford: Discussion was had
on the pros and cons of a direct Polegate-Stone Cross reinstated direct
avoiding line to Eastbourne to enable faster Brighton-Ashford services via
Hastings and vice versa without recourse to Eastbourne every time. A mix could
be looked at and more Capital-Gatwick-Eastbourne direct services lotted in as
well. Realignment of the avoiding line would be needed to avoid new
development. It may be too late as new development Stone Cross side is
envisaged and a new station on existing lines locking in the Eastbourne
reversing model. Cllr Colin of East Sussex County Council offered to raise the
subject at a future meeting. This was welcome news.
5. Electrification agendas in the South East pros and cons: The debate on the North Downs lines is whether to electrify and which sort, Overhead or Third Rail and why? Hydrogen powered trains remain an option as well. Electrification could enable Thameslink’s to run to Guildford via Redhill direct as they do from Three Bridges to Horsham.
6. Any Other Business: Richard to email Wealden District Council about it in due course.
7. Day, Date, Time and Place of next Zoom Meeting: July 5th 14.00 hosted by Mr Iain Sear to whom we thank for his help.
Meeting finished 14.43pm.
