East Drum Line Upgrade 2018

The East Drum Line Upgrade is Drum & Colby's largest railway development scheme since 1998, when the Cinderstead line opened, which saw a better connection to Drum (Shellingham) Airport.

The new line fully reopened on April 4, 2018.

This scheme focused on the track doubling of the entire East Drum Line, as well as a new station providing faster, more efficient connections.

A number of other aims for this scheme include:

* A **brand new five-platform** station at **Westing**, replacing the old one-platform station.
* **Northing Station**, a 5-platform station in a triangular form, with connections to **Colby**, **Westing**, and **Tearingham**.
* A new **direct line** to **Linxham, Ryland** or **Ionbury**, which replaced the old line which was previously there, but was never used. This line separates from the **West Ruby Hill Line** (Westing-Northing).
	+ This also means a fast journey from **Colby** to **Ashton** (non-stop) will now take just 16 minutes.
	+ This also means extra services for **Stoneham** services via **Trapstead**, **Ryland**, **Ashton** and **Bareham**, as well as extra services for Ashton Stopping services through **Linxham** and **Bedfleet**.
* Removing both **Gatton Close** and **Darting** stations, and building one single station to serve both villages, called **Gatton by Darting**.
* Building of canopies in **Tearingham** and **Meadowmoor** stations.

### History

In the annual railway hearing of 2001, the government of the Drum & Colby council proposed a regeneration project to rebuild the whole of the East Drum Line. This was one of the oldest regularly-operating lines in the country.

The East Drum Line, which runs through Westing, Axington and Tearingham, was built in 1979. It's sole purpose was to serve the then-small settlements, which on average had no more than 160 residents (With the exception of Westing, which in the 1978 census had about 1,300 residents).

The eastern area of the city was relatively quiet until the mid 90s, where substantial growth of the city meant the towns of Forcett, Holts, and Westing sky-rocketed in population.

To fully comprehend the growth the city (or "cities") had, Drum & Colby's 1991 population was 720,000. In 2003, this increased to 995,620.

As a result, towns in the area, and surrounding counties alike, namely Rawdon, struggled to cope with the sheer expansion of the city. It is believed this fast-paced growth slowed down to manageable figures in 2001.

Of course, this also meant the East Drum Line, being only a single-tracked line, was also adversely affected. Demand for services in the area grew so much, that due to the bottleneck regarding being a single track, the train operating company at the time "simply couldn't add more services, otherwise it would negatively affect the whole city's rail network".

A proposal in 2001 in the Annual Railway Hearing saw the government announce it would support a rebuilding of the East Drum Line to cope with the higher demand. At first, residents fiercely objected, however, it was soon agreed that any announcing of a proposal like this was inevitable given the widespread population increase.

Just seventeen months later, in February 2003, the government announced the project's cancellation, due to "Unforseen circumstances regarding the Eastern Railway Company".

Tom Harrill, the Prime Minister in 2007, also announced he supported the project, and wished to bring the proposal back in 2008's hearing. Again, this also had to be cancelled due to the 2009 county reshuffle, which also saw the Eastern Railway Company become defunct, and handed over to Ricksworth Ltd., now known as "Eastway".

Shauna Rydonsby, the CEO of Eastway, announced on December 2016 that the planned rebuilding of the East Drum Line will be given the green light. Track-lifting began on March 2017.