Proposals for South London area good
London TravelWatch has written to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) setting out its concerns with Network Rail's South London Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS).
The strategies look at the future of the railway, in terms of demand, performance and cost.
Brian Cooke, Chairman, London TravelWatch, said: London TravelWatch welcomes the improvements in line and passenger capacity which are recommended in the RUS. We hope that the regulator will approve the strategy for the South London area. However, the complexity of rail in this area will mean that some of the passenger benefits proposed may only be achievable through trade-offs which will affect other passengers adversely.
London TravelWatch believes that particular consideration must be given to some key points in the RUS.
Brian Cooke continued: Station capacity improvements are important at Waterloo East and Charing Cross. These are alluded to in the proposals, but there is currently no fully worked-up scheme, which is vital as these stations will not be able to cope with a big growth in passengers. Additionally, we consider that before South London Line trains are withdrawn from London Bridge, it is essential that the East London Line extension phase two (Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction) is completed and in operation. We also think it essential that before a decision is taken to withdraw the service between Wandsworth Road and Battersea Park, that the appropriate formal, statutory closure procedures are applied so that any passenger hardship can be properly considered.
London TravelWatch also thinks that further studies should be carried out to assess the need to operate all Greenwich line trains to Cannon St, instead of its current split of 50/50 with Charing Cross, and also to assess the need to terminate all trains which currently run on the Tulse Hill - Thameslink route at Blackfriars.
Brian Cooke concluded: We would like to see consideration of infrastructure alterations which may be affordable to enable the current arrangement with Greenwich trains to continue, and some research on how many passengers would be affected by stopping all Greenwich trains at Cannon St. We would also like to see further work on potential overcrowding issues which may occur on the Thameslink route as a result of the new service frequency which the RUS proposes.
The full letter has been published on London TravelWatch's website.
For more information, please contact Jo deBank in the London TravelWatch press office on 020 7726 9953 or out of hours on 07734 055494.
The voice of London's transport users
28 May 2008