Lifeline thrown to train route campaign
Southwark News 19 November 2009 John Prendergast read article
A crunch meeting regarding the South London Line’s (SLL) future has thrown the under threat route a lifeline. Transport Minister Sadiq Khan has put forward an interim measure that will see trains continue to run on a substitute route until 2014, before being reviewed regarding its future usage at that date.
A delegation of campaigners, London Assembly Members and Mayor Boris Johnson met the Transport Minister, in order to thrash out plans for the route’s future.
The SLL, which runs on a loop between London Bridge and Victoria, was set to be partly replaced by a service running from Victoria to Bellingham. However, £24million set aside to fund this route was pulled and placed in a budget shortfall for the East London Line extension.
A spokesman for the DfT said: "The suggestion from Sadiq Khan is that there should be two trains an hour run on the Victoria to Bellingham service between 2012 and 2014. In 2014 we will make a judgement about its usage and see if we can get it into the South East Franchise."