Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Following from this thread I sent an email to Southern trains yesterday asking why there's a reduced service between 8 and 9 and if there's any plans to improve it. Here's the reply (for those who can't be bothered to read it, it says: blah, blah, blah maybe one day it'll improve)




Thank you for your web comment.


Your words regarding the fact that there are more off peak services running from East Dulwich than peak services are not lost on me. However, there are some wide-ranging planning and logistical issues to be overcome before we can arrive at a solution. You may be aware that, in September 2004, the former Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) published a Route Utilization Strategy for the Brighton Main Line (RUS) but, because train movements on Southern are so crucially inter-dependent upon one another, the RUS actually embraced the whole network.


However, although the Department for Transport (DfT) has recently endorsed some of the key recommendations made in the RUS, airline interests have been lobbying hard against them because they included scrapping the Gatwick Express, and the Secretary of State has decided to seek further views on how things should be moved forward. Moreover, the DfT has also indicated that most of the London suburban ideas need further work, particularly in view of Transport for London's proposals for development of the East London Line to include services through to Croydon and Clapham Junction. Unfortunately, all of this has huge implications for what we can, therefore, get on with and thus how quickly we can implement change and address the sorts of issues you raise. However, one thing we can say is that when the East London line service is extended to West Croydon, the service will be in addition to that which we run so there will then be some significant additional capacity.


You may find it useful to look at the DfT, Network Rail and TfL web-sites for additional background information but if I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to write to me using the link below.


Regards


David Cotterell

Southern Customer Service

Well, those are just lobbying groups - we could always form a lobby group if you wished?


We'd probably need to create a lobby website, collect names and email addresses from local commuters at rush hour, and form a community.


Local councillors tend to respond well to numbers of people.


I don't support the logic of Southern's argument. Gatwick Express goes every 15 mins between 5am and very late. There's no reason why it should have an isolated impact on morning rush hour (coming back in the evening seems to work well until after about seven.

I don't see the point in the Gatwick Express. Southern run trains to Gatwick from Victoria every 30 mins anyway. They take only two minutes longer than the GX (thanks to a stop at East Croydon) and cost 2/3 the price (approx ?9).


Losing the GX to improve suburban services would not be a great loss to air travellers. They might even save some money on their fare! Airlines should go play with themselves. Let's beat them up. And while we're there why not ask for an extension to the Bakerloo, Victoria or Jubilee lines...all running to "Lordship Lane" station!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Moving into a new place and need both a wardrobe and a chest of drawers, ideally collection Friday. Thanks!
    • Lordship Lane has two dry cleaners, three pizza places and an Italian selling pizza, two burger places, three bakeries, two hardware (ish, I'm thinking AJ Farmer here), God knows how many coffee and charity shops, two Italians, three nail salons, five wine shops... Where was the abject outrage when Dynamic Vines opened up literally next door to Cave de Bruno? But I don't see his customers decamped next door - no, those stalwarts are still out in force every night.  In Roman times all businesses were clustered by product. It's what kept prices down. Same in any market you go to abroad, they're all selling the same things next to each other.  Why is everyone being so hard on this new place? It's called healthy competition - you can't curtail the expansion of your business on the basis you that might hurt someone else's. 
    • I have a new fixation so any available, please let me know.  Thanks.
    • In restaurant terms I would say a chain manifests when the motivation is no longer “we are a couple/small group who have an idea and love food” who open a restaurant, them another and then a few more BUT THEN PIVOT to “we need capital to rollout out new restaurants so we have leveraged the help of the following investors”  that is the moment it stops being about the chef/food on the plate and becomes about the spreadsheet  so it is POSSIBLE  for a restaurant to have 50 branches and not be a chain - but I can’t think of any  I don’t know chango - by based on the number of outlets they appear to have just crossed/or are about to cross that line 
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...