Re-Opening of the Historic Bluebell Line is an “Emotional Day”

So said Chris Saunders, one of the workers on the Bluebell Railway Project, a heritage railway line that runs for about 11 miles  (17.7 km) along the border between East and West Sussex. The event that is bringing a tear to more than one eye is the reopening of the line to East Grinstead, after an extension linking the line to the national network opened.  Before that, the nine-mile (14km) track ran from Sheffield Park to Kingscote.

The cost of the work to extend the line the extra two miles had begun in 2008 and had cost about £4.5 million. The importance of the link to East Grinstead was that there is now a connection to the main railway network. Part of the emotion is also based on the fact that it is now 55 years since British Rail closed the line in 1958.

Bluebell Railway Preservation Society chairman Roy Watts said "the great day" was culmination of the best part of almost 40 years of work; first steps to extend the line to East Grinstead were taken in 1974 with the purchase of an old station site. The major obstacle to the project was having to clear the cutting at Imberhorne which had been used as a landfill site.

The Bluebell Railway Line

 "The bringing of the line to East Grinstead has been the society's number one project for the past 40 years,"  said Mr. Watts. "We always knew the last two miles would be the most problematic. This is the end of a very long journey. And so many people have looked forward to this day for so long, although sadly some people will not be there to see it."

He added that said that two of the railway founders, Bernard Holden and Martin Eastland, died last year. Together with Alan Sturt, Chris Campbell and David Dalimore, they came up with the idea of creating the heritage line when they were students. The first meeting was chaired by Mr Holden."Out of the five founders there are now only three," Mr Watts said, but revealed that “we hope to get them together in April."

It has been decided that it is now time for a rest, but there is an unwritten promise that the society will undertake further major projects in the future . The railway has ownership of the track-bed from Horsted Keynes to Ardingly, and has proposed that extending the line westwards is a project that may come about in the years ahead.

Because there is now a connection to the national railway system, it is possible to drive a steam train anywhere on the network providing it has enough water and coal on board, Mr Watts pointed out. Passengers will also be able to buy through tickets taking them across the country and along the steam railway on one fare. Network Rail will be selling those tickets in May or June. Mr Watts was proud to point out that a number of preserved railways had been extended across the country, but so far there had been nothing on this scale.

The final piece of track marked the end of more than four years of work.  Mr Holden's family were attending the official opening, Mr Watts said, and the Society has kept Mr Holden as its named president for the opening of the railway line. After he died last year at the age of 104, suggestions to honour his memory included a bronze bust, a plaque and an obelisk at the Imberhorne Cutting. Work to preserve the railway received backing from two Sussex councils, the Heritage Lottery Fund, and hundreds of volunteers.

The three stations on the line have been restored to different eras. Sheffield Park, which is home to the museum and locomotive shed, is in the style of the Brighton era of the 1880s. Horsted Keynes is the Southern Railway period in the 1920s. Kingscote is in the style of the 1950s.  The Bluebell Railway's station at East Grinstead is new and at Platform 3 of the town's main railway station.