Like others, I often have to use the Brighton to London main line and am frustrated by congestion, especially at busy times.

Those with a long enough memory will recall that, until the mid-1970s, there was a second line to London.

The service ran from Brighton through Lewes, Barcombe Mills, Isfield and Uckfield and on via a still-open section from Uckfield through to East Grinstead and on to London.

Due to a lack of demand at the time (Sussex was a much less populated county then) and a lack of investment (it was unelectrified from Lewes to Uckfield and required diesel trains) the Lewes to Uckfield section of the line was shut and, aside from the railway preservation society which operates the short Lavender Line at Isfield, it has been either torn up or built over, particularly at the Lewes end.

As a pupil at what was then the Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School, I was on a school trip that I believe was one of the last through-trips on that beautiful line.

According to the Railfuture website, the line has been recommended for reopening by 2018 with electrification as part of the investment.

The alternative, doubling up the existing Brighton to London main line, would be eye-wateringly expensive. It would require duplicating the Clayton, Haywards Heath and Balcombe tunnels, the Balcombe viaduct and the compulsory purchase of many properties to allow widening of embankments and cuttings between Preston Park and Three Bridges.

I would support diverting the money from HS2 to increasing the Brighton main line's capacity and efficiency. But would it be eye-catching enough for the Coalition?

Mike Lethby, Livesay Crescent, Worthing