Bellenden Residents' Group (BRG)

TfL / Mayor of London Press Release 

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, will this week meet with the Transport Minister, Sadiq Khan, on behalf of Londoners living in the south of the capital in a bid to resolve their concerns over the future of rail
services in their area.  read press release

Evening Standard 9th November 2009  Dick Murray, Transport Correspondent
 
Boris Johnson is fighting proposals to close a rail route into Victoria and London Bridge stations after accusing the Government of ducking out of its responsibilities to pay for an alternative service.  read Evening Standard ...

web report:  Southwark News 29 October 2009   John Prendergast

Mayor Boris Johnson has finally agreed to meet with campaigners and talk through the future of the South London Line. 

South London Press By Jenny Clover 16 October 2009

LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson finally agreed during a City Hall question time to meet rail campaigners about plans to axe a train line. Boris said he would receive a cross-party deputation about plans to axe both the South London Line (SLL) and its proposed replacement. He also said he would head a joint meeting between campaigners and the Department for Transport (DfT), who reached a deal with the City Hall’s transport arm TfL to abandon the planned replacement service.  Read more

See & here this exchange on the City Hall webcast - 10 minutes in on Mayor's Question Time here: http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/webcasts.jsp

from ITV London Tonight 12 October   

click here for broadcast clip: http://www.itv.com/london/boristransportplans57650/

THIS IS FROM THE TRAM FACEBOOK PAGE:  INDOMIE Thursday 15 October 2009 2.50pm
Some of you may have seen this week’s announcement of the Mayors new Transport Strategy for London (not to mention today’s steep bus fare increases too!)

You can read the document at http://mts.tfl.gov.uk/default.aspx but I’m afraid there is very little in there about South East London and no mention of the Cross River Tram at all [or the South London Line]! There is now a vague mention of a possible extension of the Bakerloo Line sometime after 2020, but this is subject to further research. It’s an option that has been looked at in the past and ruled out on cost and technical grounds – hence the preference for the Tram. There is a real danger now that our needs will be pushed further down the list of priorities as any Bakerloo extension is unfunded and could well fall foul to a change of Mayor in the future. We seem to be going around in circles!

Southwark News 15 October 2009  John Prendergast

Another blow was dealt to transport users in Southwark this week when the Cross River Tram (CRT) and the South London Line (SLL) were omitted from the Mayor of London's transport strategy.

Boris Johnson's transport plans for the next 20 years did not make a single mention of either project, suggesting both are far from being on his radar. The CRT, which consisted of 16.5km of tramway commencing at Euston and making its way down to Waterloo, branching off towards Peckham and Brixton, now looks like it will be removed from his agenda altogether. This is despite a vociferous and well run campaign backing it. Those in favour of retaining the SLL are currently attempting to make their voices heard at TfL, amongst other bodies.

The minor crumb of comfort for transport users in Southwark, as reported by the 'News' in March, is that the extension to the Bakerloo Line extension will be more seriously explored, although any movement on the project will not take place until at least 2020.

A spokesman stated details of extended routes were not available at this stage. He added: "The Mayor is well aware that Londoners living in the south of the capital are crying out for more tube services and research has shown extending the Bakerloo Line south from Elephant & Castle could have serious benefits in terms of regeneration and access to jobs.   read more...

ITV London Tonight News  12th October 2009    -  http://www.itv.com/london/boristransportplans57650/
Proposals in Mayor's draft Transport Strategy to extend the Bakerloo Line from Elephant & Castle through Peckham to Lewisham. But no funding provision - is it anything real?
 

SLP 9th October 2009 - web report

Sidiq Khan to Boris Johnson 5th 0ctober 2009 - Minister's letter

London Mayor Boris Jiohnson has been slammed by a Government Minister for making "misleading and factually inaccurate" comments.. Read more ...

Southwark News 8th October 2009 carried an interview with Ian Brown The Head of London Overground at TfL about TfL plans to cut the South London Line (SLL) and the Victoria-Bellingham partial substitute.

Southwark News said: "It may come as a shock to those campaigning to Save the South London Line, but TfL claims its plans [to cut the SLL] will actually preserve the route... "  

Read interview here...  and Ian Brown's answers to SLL campaign's questions here

Southwark News 8 October 2009

Ian Brown stated that the proposed extension of tube services was part of TfL plans but that they were a long way off fruition.

He said "we are keen on those [plans] , but it would be irresponsible to say it would solve anything to the SLL time scale..."  Read more