Bellenden Residents' Group (BRG)

message to the members of the Facebook Group "Save the South London Line between Victoria & London Bridge".

Dear Friend,
In a letter dated http://www.facebook.com/l/;31.07.2009 the Office of Rail Regulation has refused to re-open the route Utilisation Strategy (South London Route Utilisation Strategy or South London RUS).  The letter is available as a PDF  under Group Images.
Valerie Shawcross, AM wrote to the ORR on behalf of the Campaign to Save the South London Line and she has indicated to me that she is very unhappy with the decision.  She says: “This is very unfair and a poor decision in my view.”
Valerie has now asked London Travelwatch to advise if there is any procedure for appealing against this decision by the Office of Rail Regulation.
 
In the meantime help the Campaign to Save the South London Line by emailing John Larkinson, Deputy Director, Railway Planning and Performance, ORR to tell him you think his decision was not reasonable. I have included a suggested text for you to cut and paste into the body of the email.

________________________________________________________________________
 Email him at:
john.larkinson@orr.http://www.facebook.com/l/;gsi.gov.uk
Dear John
I write to protest against the decision of ORR not to reopen the South London RUS (Letter to Valerie Shawcross, AM dated 31st July 2009).
Like many others, I believe that there are very strong grounds for reopening the South London RUS. In particular, I draw to your attention the terms of the ORR remit with regards to Route Utilisation namely: “To address the requirements of funders and stakeholders, a RUS seeks to balance capacity, passenger and freight demand, operational performance, infrastructure maintenance and costs.”
The interests of rail passengers have clearly been ignored and only reopening the South London RUS will enable ORR to balance, as it is required to do, the various competing interests in a manner that is open and transparent.
Given the historical context of a lack of proper consultation resulting in the demise of the Inner South London Line between London Bridge and Victoria I do not believe your decision not to reopen the South London RUS is reasonable at all.
Best wishes,