Campaigners hope to save Thameslink service (From Streatham Guardian)
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Campaigners hope to save Thameslink service "vital" to Streatham, Sutton and Wimbledon
7:40am Tuesday 10th July 2012 in News By Andrew Bloss
Campaigners hope to save Thameslink service "vital" to Streatham, Sutton and Wimbledon
Campaigners hoping to save a “vital” rail link will be hitting the borough’s streets next week.
Liberal Democrat councillors will be holding a cross-borough day of action – along with fellow party members in Sutton - on July 18, to protest against plans to axe the Thameslink through service to central London and King’s Cross, with trains stopping at Blackfriars.
Thousands of commuters from Streatham, Tulse Hill, Herne Hill and Loughborough Junction use the Wimbledon loop service which stops at stations in Wimbledon, Sutton and Streatham.
Campaigners, who also want to encourage passengers to respond to a consultation on the future franchise for the line, claim the service is being sacrificed to benefit train services to places outside London such as Brighton.
The group will be lobbying passengers at Streatham Station and other stations affected.
Liberal Democrat councillor for Streatham, Wells Alex Davies, said: "This service is vital to Streatham and other parts of Lambeth.
"Losing it would sever our only direct cross-London link to the City, St Pancras, Luton Airport and the future interchange with Crossrail."
There will be a public meeting on the Thameslink changes on Thursday, July 19, in the Arena Room at Scola, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, at 7pm.
Responses to the consultation should be sent by August 23 to thameslink@dft.gsi.gov.uk
Comments(7)
Mulder
says...
11:39am Tue 10 Jul 12
Running a commuter service over such a long distance is simply asking for trouble.
GaryDG
says...
2:09pm Tue 10 Jul 12
Brianfromsutton
says...
3:25pm Tue 10 Jul 12
Re-opening the tunnel and redesigning the line did allow for the through service and I for one use it quite frequently for its convenience but if there are operational reasons why they have to terminate trains at Blackfriars and you have to change platforms in order to continue your journey then I guess it will have to be, and probably will be despite however many signatures they gather on a petition. How many petitions have really had an effect upon a Company's decision just because people don't want to be 'inconvenienced'?
If it's down to cutting staff/saving money I'm sure the company won't listen so at the end of the day the commuters will have to accept the outcome and either comply with the changes or find an alternative route - as you have to do when there are problems anyway !
Mordenman
says...
7:29am Wed 11 Jul 12
Mulder
says...
1:00pm Wed 11 Jul 12
Have you ever actually used the current service to get from South Merton to Luton Airport? Not only is the commute excessively long compared to Gatwick or Heathrow from the area, but any issues or delays, means that your next service is going to take another 30 minutes. For most of us, this would mean a missed flight, unless you actually leave the house 4 or 5 hours before your flight leaves to allow for delays (as I am writing this one service has been cancelled due to a train fault, meaning the next one is only 30 minutes away).
I prefer to fly from Gatwick, because at least if there are issues on this line (which we all know is a very common occurence), I need to just get to Wimbledon to continue my journey.
Michael Pantlin
says...
10:42am Thu 12 Jul 12
FrustratedCommuter says...
8:38am Tue 10 Jul 12
I fully appreciate many commuters will want the service to travel further in to London beyond Blackfriars, however as someone who used the train Sutton – Wimbledon each way for several years I believe South London commuter services should be exactly that, short-distance, regular shuttle style services that are more robust to delays and not reliant on on-time running as far away as Bedford.
Obviously others will disagree, but for me a reliable 10 or 15 min frequency service around the loop in peak hours is far more desirable than being able to get to Kings Cross without a change – in my opinion there are sufficient alternative ways to make that type journey. I would prefer to see Wimbledon loop services transferred to Southern and run Victoria to London Bridge (alternate directions) via the loop.