Bellenden Residents' Group (BRG)

Help us save our vital rail services  - letter from SRUG in Southwark News 18 June 2009

We must not lose our trains - letter from SRUG in South London Press 19 June 2009

Both on the theme that the services to London Bridge and Victoria are vital for the commercial success of Peckham town centre through Peckham Rye station.

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Letter published in Southwark News 18 June 2009

One of the wonderful things about living in Peckham is that Peckham Rye station is like a Tube station.  It is one of the most under-utilised assets in marketing Peckham, as a place to live, to ork and to visit.

It has enough direct trains to central London Tube stations to be like a turn up and go station to the central Tube network. Every 5 to 10 minutes a train arrives that can take the user within 9 to 15 minutes to one of 4 central London stations connecting with six different Tube Lines - Victoria, District, Circle, Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern (both loops).

SLP website: Article in South London Press 16 June 2009

Full two articles in SLP: press cutting

A CAMPAIGN is mounting to save a “vital” train service from South London into the centre of the capital. Campaigners say they will “keep fighting” a decision to chop the South London Line (SLL) rail service.

• petition for printing
• fliers for printing 
• email the Rail Minister: andrew.adonis@dft.gsi.gov.uk, Boris Johnson: Mayor@london.gov.uk 
• and cc email to your local elected representatives see list here 
• sign the on-line petition   http://tinyurl.com/SouthLondonLine

The on-line petition is here 

The paper petition can be printed from here

We need as many signatures as possible. So please print out some and carry them with you to collect signatures from other rail users you meet on your travels.  The address to return them is on the petition.

Letter to

South London Press from Mike Colvin   http://www.southlondonpress.co.uk/tn/Letters.cfm?id=21717&headline=Death

Death by 1,000 cuts    Monday, 01 June 2009

Rod Brown (Letters, May 22) acknowledges that South London is not well served by the Tube.

But he then seems surprised that residents who are thus forced to rely upon infrequent overground rail for their travel, wish to hang on to the limited services that they have.

He then perversely tries to argue that they would be better off if even more of their rail services were scrapped.

What planet is he on?

"London Bridge - Victoria cut proposal" is a front cover headline on June 2009 Modern Railways magazine.  see here: http://www.modern-railways.com/news/issues/latestissue.html

"Watchdog condemns South London service cut" is the article. Read article here

Here is a letter to the magazine in response:

From: John Stewart [mailto:jdm.stewart@virgin.net]
Sent: 04 June 2009 16:50
To: 'modern.railways@googlemail.com'
Subject: Letter for Publication

The Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee wrote, 1 june 2009, to Ian Brown, Managing Director of London Rail at TfL, to request information about the withdrawal of plans for a Victoria to Bellingham train service from 2012.  Extract:

"... The Committee would appreciate clarification of how information about the withdrawal of the service has been made available. It would be useful if you could provide details of meetings with stakeholders where the issue was discussed, copies of letters to stakeholders and any other material made available to interested parties..."

"... Members of the Transport Committee have expressed cross-party support for the extension to the East London Line. I believe public support for the scheme would be best maintained by the publication of the detail behind your decision that it was a better use of DfT funding than the anticipated Victoria to Bellingham service..."

Read letter…

http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/tn/Letters.cfm?id=18696&headline=Don't

From South london Press Letters  Monday, 11 May 2009

Don't axe trains

To transport minister Andrew Adonis, South London MPs and London Mayor Boris Johnson:

I have discovered that there has been a secret deal between Transport for London and the Department for Transport to axe the planned Victoria-Bellingham rail service (via Denmark Hill and Peckham Rye stations).

As someone affected (“‘Backroom deal’ axes rail service”, South London Press, April 28), I urge you most strongly to rescind it and prevent any axeing of the service.

In Readers Column in the South London Press, Nick Biskinis, from Clapham Transport Users' Group, says transport stratgey continually leaves inner south London short-changed. He says it was never proposed that the ELL would replace the SLL, and if it had no one would have supported it.

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