The campaign to rebuild a railway closed for almost four decades has been backed by shadow transport secretary Chris Grayling.

The Conservative politician has called on the Government to give urgent consideration to the reconstruction of the Uckfield to Lewes line. He described the project as one of the four most important in Britain.

The eight mile stretch of track was closed in 1969 to make way for a road-building scheme in Lewes.

In the past few years reopening the line has been regularly touted as a potential solution to the overcrowding of trains on the London to Brighton mainline.

The route would connect Lewes to the existing Uckfield to London Bridge line, providing an alternative route between the capital and the South Coast.

Mr Grayling said the line was in an area of the country where significant housing development was expected and where infrastructure improvements were essential.

In a letter to transport secretary Douglas Alexander he said: "We are concerned that not enough is being done to ensure that the transport network is capable of meeting this challenge."

He said he wanted to be sure towns and cities in the UK could grow in sustainable ways. He demanded that the Government protect the route of the railway from any development which could hamper a reopening.

Mr Grayling's backing is the latest in a series of positive steps for the scheme. Last month it was named by Network Rail as a project for consideration in its business plan.

Campaigners from the Wealden Line group have fought for a reopening for more than two decades. They believe the railway would provide a vital economic boost for the towns of Uckfield and Crowborough and improve congestion on roads and railways in Sussex.

Wealden Line spokesman Brian Hart said he truly welcomed the initiative by the Conservatives.

He said: "We hope that both government and opposition will heed the enormous potential offered by having a new main line between London and the South Coast.

"By comparison even relatively minor lines, which closed before Lewes to Uckfield, are being reopened in Scotland, yet they will serve far less populated areas. A fair deal for the overburdened South East is long overdue."

East Sussex County Council is currently considering tenders from companies which have applied to carry out feasibility studies of a reopening. An initial timetable produced by transport consultants Intermodality suggested the line could be up and running by 2012.

While it has been supported in Uckfield and Crowborough, residents in Hamsey, Barcombe and Isfield, along the route where the line would be rebuilt, have voiced their opposition to the scheme. Villagers in Isfield have spoken of their concern that the railway would destroy its rural character and peaceful atmosphere.

The other projects Mr Grayling outlined as priority issues were routes between Oxford and Milton Keynes, Newcastle and Washington and Sheffield and Manchester.

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