Brighton-London Mainline2 Meeting
28 January 2017, 11:02 | Updated: 28 January 2017, 11:13
The consortium looking to open a second Brighton to London mainline is meeting the Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling.
The meeting on Monday afternoon has been brokered by Lewes MP Maria Caulfield and Brighton Kemptown MP Simon Kirby.
The consortium, made up of developers and investors, is looking to plough billions of pounds into providing a new rail link into the capital, which would ease pressure on the current mainline and provide an alternative route when track related problems occur.
Maria Caulfield has been lobbying Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, who makes the final decision, for many months over the issue.
The scheme will see 20km of new railway between Falmer, Lewes and Uckfield, 38km of restored rail line between Uckfield and Hever and 25KM of tunnelled railway linking the whole line to Canary Wharf and Stratford International.
Speaking ahead of the meeting Maria Caulfield said "I am grateful to the Transport Secretary for taking the time to meet with us. This is an excellent opportunity to make sure we put our case across and show just how much BML2 is needed for the South East."
"The Railways have been my top priority for many months and this is just another step to ensuring that my constituents have a rail service that works for them."
Brighton Kemptown MP, Simon Kirby, who helped arrange the meeting said: "I met with members of the BML2 Project Group last year and believe that this project could be a long-term solution to resolving some of the problems on the existing line."
