rail enthusiasts. Shortly afterwards, John Morris, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Ministry of Transport, announced that the remainder of the line was under review and would not close without further advice. The decision to close was delayed several times and dragged on for the remainder of the decade. Transport minister Michael Heseltine said a condition of the line closing would be improvements to buses from Ashford to Ore. In 1969, Railway Magazine announced the remainder of the line would close at the end of the year. In 1971, the Kent Messenger stated the same, as did The Times, which also reported the railway was losing around £130,000 a year. In December 1973, the Ministry of Transport announced that the closure would require review owing to a change in transport policy. On 31 July 1974, the ministry recommended the line for closure but stated that services would run indefinitely for the foreseeable future. The line was single tracked between Appledore and Ore on 1 October 1979, leaving a passing loop at Rye, in order to reduce maintenance and operational costs. At Winchelsea, the down platform was removed; trains in both directions now stop on the former up platform. Line speed was reduced from 85 mph to 60 mph, but there are additional long term speed restrictions in place, including 40 mph between Doleham and Ore and 20 mph across a half barrier level crossing at Winchelsea. The restrictions mean that services along the Marshlink line do not make optimum use of the rolling stock, which has a top speed of . By the 1980s, British Rail had started to modernise the route, though electrification was rejected in preference to improving the South Eastern Main Line from to Ashford. After electric services from Tunbridge Wells to Hastings started running on 27 April 1986, the Marshlink line became only one of two non-electric lines in the south east. In January 1992, the Minister for Public Transport, Roger Freeman, announced plans for British Rail to start electrification by 1995. Privatisation Following the privatisation of British Rail, the line was operated by Connex South Eastern from 1996, later transferring to Connex South Central. After Eurostar services began stopping at Ashford International in 1996, direct services were introduced on the Marshlink line beyond Hastings to Eastborne and Brighton for the first time in 60 years. By 1998, traffic on the line had improved by 20%.