Bellenden Residents' Group (BRG)

South London Press 2nd October 2009  Jenny Clover

tube map 2012 with South London Line  - Tube map created by SRUG

South London Press 2nd October 2009  Jenny Clover

Rail chief: I'll compensate for lost service... but I won't bring it back

 The public meeting on 30th September 2009 was a historic event. see copy of agenda. Over 200 rail users turned up to the Institute of Psychiatry, at 16 De Crespigny Park, near Denmark Hill, to hear rail user campaigners explain the devastating impact of the cuts in direct rail services to central London, planned by the rail industry, and to hear how TfL and Network Rail explained the reasoning behind these plans. Further reports on the meeting will be posted later.

Key information given to the meeting by SRUG was:

• a Tube map showing the way TfL sees our rail services - with Queens Road, Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill totally disconnected from central London, but the new East London Line Extension taking us to Canada Water and Clapham Junction;
• a Tube map showing the South London Line on the map and as a key part of the integrated Zones 1 & 2 south London transport infrastructure.
• a comparison of the two maps - showing them side by side
• summary of the impact of the planned cuts station by station;
• summary of key actions to take to support the campaign.

<http://londonreconnections.blogspot.com/2009/09/mayors-question-time-0909-overground.html> scroll down to see this exchange on 9th September Mayor's Questions:

Question to Mayor from Richard Tracey: "I believe there is cross-party support at City Hall for the Department for Transport to introduce the Victoria to Bellingham Line. Does the Mayor have any advice on how Assembly Members can play a constructive part in trying to persuade the DfT to reverse their decision and introduce this line?"

Transport Committee's letter to Managing Director of London Rail RTF - September 2009

This letter from Committee Chair Caroline Pidgeon to TfL raises concerns that current plans to increase capacity at London Bridge station do not include extending all the platforms for twelve carriages. It highlights the Committee’s recent report, The Big Squeeze: Rail overcrowding in London, which urged the Department for Transport to fully extend all platforms at London Bridge as part of the Thameslink project.

• Nightie night! It's a protest in pyjamas - railway camapigners to don bed wear  SLP 22 Sep 09 by Jenny Clover
• Sleepy protest to save rail line  Southwark News 24 Sep 09 by John Prendergast
• Railway sleepers in pyjama protest  SLP 25 Sep 09 by Jenny Clover  webpage report

Southwark News 24 September 2009

Campaigners are imploring Transport for London (TfL) to put the South London Line on the map, claiming it is effectively an extra tube line, writes John Prendergast...

The under threat route is in need of promotion rather than cutting, according to its backers, as it provides a transport lifeline into a 'black hole' in London's underground services.  The Southwark Rail Users Group (SRUG) has teamed up with Laurie Eggleston, Peckham Rye Liberal Democrat council candidate, to mock up a tube map displaying how TfL could promote the route, so people could access Camberwell and Peckham in particular.   see map  Despite the route not being run by TfL it is entirely contained in travelcard zones one and two, and Oyster Cards can be used on the stations on the line.

Eileen Conn, of SRUG, said: "I have lived in Peckham for over 30 years, and I know it is because of the black hole in the TfL map that people don't know where it is. The frustrating thing is that we know Peckham Rye is really just like part of the Tube system, as it is so quick to get to London Bridge and Victoria. It is weird to see these TfL maps showing no connections to central London from Peckham. It is why we are so passionate about saving the South London Line - it is in practice our part of the Tube."
 

MONDAY 9th NOVEMBER 7PM - 9PM
Mayor's Question time  -   Brixton Academy

London Mayor Boris Johnson will be taking questions from the public on Monday 9 November, 7pm - 9pm, Brixton Academy. He has refused to meet with South London Line Campaigners, so this is your chance to ask him why TfL are proposing that our rail services should be cut. Tickets are free, but are available on a first come, first serve basis - so don't delay! Let us have so many rail users there that he has to hear us.
TO APPLY: email -   peoplesquestions@london.gov.uk    including your name, address, postcode, daytime phone number and the number of tickets you require (max 6 per application) OR call 020 7983 4762.

South London Press 18 September 2009    Letters

One of the main tenets of TfL's big claim -that the East London Line Extension (ELLX) would be better for residents than the South London Line (SLL) has been finally exposed ... by the recently published London Travel Watch study... It proves beyond doubt that the SLL links to Victoria and London Bridge are far superior ...  Read more...

South London Press 18 September 2009 by Jenny Clover

... Mr Johnson declined to meet a cross party group of MPs, councillors, King's College hospital representatives and community groups who are battling to save the South London Line... But in his written reply, the Mayor seems confused about the complex situation saying "this decison was the DfT's alone ... Read more ...