Wealden Line

Wealden Line
Lewes
Lewes Viaduct
over River Ouse
(demolished 1969)
Lewes Tunnel
Hamsey Loop
Culver Junction
Barcombe Mills
Barcombe Mills
(closed 1969)
Iron River
Isfield Army Camp
Isfield Lavender Line
Little Horsted
(proposed)
Ouse Valley Railway (not completed)
Uckfield
(1st site 1858–1991)
Uckfield
Buxted
Greenhurst Viaduct (
185 yd
169 m
)
Sleeches Viaduct (
183 yd
167 m
)
Crowborough Tunnel (
1022 yd
935 m
)
Crowborough
Redgate Mill Junction
Eridge National Rail Spa Valley Railway
Birchden Junction
Groombridge Junction & Ashurst Junction
Groombridge Spa Valley Railway
High Rocks Spa Valley Railway
Tunbridge Wells West Spa Valley Railway
Grove Tunnel
Tunbridge Wells

The Wealden Line[1] is a partly abandoned double track railway line in East Sussex and Kent that connected Lewes with Tunbridge Wells, a distance of 25.25 miles (40.64 km). The line takes its name from the Weald, the hilly landscape the lies between the North and South Downs.

The line is essentially composed of three sections: in the south, from Lewes to Uckfield closed on 4 May 1969; in the north, from Eridge to Tunbridge Wells West closed on 6 July 1985; in between, from Uckfield to Eridge remains open as part of the Oxted Line.

The northern section has partly re-opened under the auspices of the Spa Valley Railway, whilst the Lavender Line has revived Isfield Station on the southern section with about one mile of track. There has been a concerted campaign since 1986 led by the Wealden Line Campaign to have the whole line re-opened to passengers, but a 2008 study concluded that it would be "economically unviable".[2]

  1. ^ Broadbent (2008), p. 48.
  2. ^ "Issued on behalf of the Central Rail Corridor Board: Rail study report concludes that reinstatement is not economically viable" (Press release). East Sussex County Council. 23 July 2008. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2017.