Taking its name from its route through the chalk hills of the North and South Downs of the Weald, England, the Wealden Line 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 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".
Read more about Wealden Line: Route of The Line, The Line's Heyday, Decline
Famous quotes containing the word line:
“A line in long array, where they wind betwixt green islands;
They take a serpentine coursetheir arms flash in the sunhark to the musical clank;”
—Walt Whitman (18191892)