Bellenden Residents' Group (BRG)

Southwark News 20 August 2009 by Val Shawcross

TfL have now decided that the new Surrey Canal Road station, on the new East London Line Extension pase 2, is not cost effective and are shelving the plans. They suggest it can be built at a later date. But this would cost much more, and if the station is not built now with the new line it may never materialise. Read more

ADVANCE NOTICE FOR YOUR DIARY

PUBLIC MEETING - WEDNESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2009
6.30pm refreshments & networking
7.00pm - 9.00pm meeting
Institute of Psychiatry, 16 De Crespigny Park,
Denmark Hill, Camberwell, SE5  8AF

Save Your South London Train Service
Stop cuts to Victoria and London Bridge trains
get the facts, hear the issues, join the action

The meeting hosted and facilitated by the SE5 Forum
on behalf of the Southwark Rail Users' Group

Further details, and information for publicity, will follow.
In the meantime please note the date in your diary

click to download to print: poster  &  flyers for distribution to fellow rail users. Spread the word to fellow rail users.

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.

from: Kings College Hospital Foundation Trust Members’ Newsletter  summer 2009

By lobbying your local MP, you can help save vital local rail services which bring thousands of patients, staff and visitors to the hospital each day.

Thursday, 23 July 2009   South London Press

FEUDING transport bosses are blaming each other for the scrapping of a vital train line.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said the funding of the South London Line (SLL) is “a matter for Transport for London (TfL) to consider and fund”.  Meanwhile, TfL told the South London Press the decision on whether to pay for a replacement line “is one for DfT, not TfL”.

The South London Press is calling on the Government and TfL to reverse plans to axe the SLL – a train service which runs from Victoria to London Bridge through the heartland of our boroughs.

Letters in South London Press  Monday, 20 July 2009

RESIDENTS of Camberwell who use Denmark Hill railway station to travel direct to London Bridge and Victoria are to face considerably reduced services. An improved service between these destinations, rather than a reduced one, is what is needed.
Denmark Hill is a vital link for many people travelling to King’s College Hospital, as well as for many who commute daily from Camberwell to central London. For them, bus travel is not a suitable alternative.
Journey times are terribly long due to congestion on the roads at all times of the day.

Jenny Clover South London Press  Friday, 17 July 2009

Campaigners are stepping up the battle to save a vital rail line from South London into the centre of town.  The South London Press is calling on the Government and Transport for London to back down over plans to axe the South London Line, which runs from Victoria to London Bridge through the heartland of our boroughs.  We are standing side by side with residents’ groups, MPs, politicians and King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill to demand the authorities listen to the needs of South London.
 
So far, medical bosses, residents, politicians and a chaplain have spoken passionately about the loss to the thousands of people who rely on the service.  In today's South London Press we look at the impact on small businesses.  And earlier this week our photographer joined campaigners at Peckham Rye station, talking to commuters about services. 
 

Monday, 13 July 2009   by Jenny Clover  South London Press

A CHAPLAIN has denounced plans to cut a train service which serves staff and visitors at the hospital where he works.  Rev David Rushton, 39, works at King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill.  He spoke out against plans to cut the South London Line (SLL) – the train service which runs from Victoria to London Bridge through Denmark Hill.
If the SLL is axed in 2012 as planned, Denmark Hill will lose all direct links into London Bridge and will have just two trains an hour to Victoria, which will not run past 7.30pm or on Sundays.
Mr Rushton said: “I know a lot of our patients, and particularly their families who need to get to see them, rely heavily on the SLL. Many families come to King’s from a long way out of London and we have quite a few from Northern Ireland.
“We have got used to living in London but for many people it's a daunting prospect.
“It isn't the easiest place to understand, especially if you are elderly and are going through the difficult time of a loved one being taken into hospital. 
 

 BATTLE CONTINUES TO KEEP RAIL LINE

16 July 2009  Anthony Phillips Southwark News                              

Campaigners were out in force this week, demonstrating against the planned closure of the South London Line (SLL).

Residents and politicians leafleted outside Peckham Rye Train Station and other stations on the line’s route, which connects London Bridge to Victoria, to gather support for the campaign. The ‘News’ has reported previously how a deal was struck between the Department for Transport and Transport for London, to divert £24m that was set to preserve the SLL and plug a funding gap in phase two of the extension to the East London Line.
 

Thursday, 02 July 2009

MPs, commuters and King’s Hospital staff gather to make their feelings known

By Jenny Clover [from South London Press]

THE fightback against the axing of a South London train service has begun.More than 100 commuters, residents, politicians and hospital staff gathered on Friday to rally against the planned closure of the South London Line (SLL). The threatened service runs from Victoria to London Bridge, via Wandsworth Road, Clapham High Street, Denmark Hill, Peckham Rye, Queens Road Peckham and South Bermondsey. Val Shawcross, London Assembly member for Lambeth and Southwark and deputy chairwoman of the transport committee, said: “If the SLL goes it will have a terrible effect on much of South London. We know we can win this, but we need to work really hard.”  read more...