Mayor takes rail battle to the Government

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.

Over the next seven years more than £6bn will be spent on improvements in rail services in south London, including the upgrade and extension of the East London Line to complete an orbital London Overground service in the capital. Thameslink services will increase to 24 trains an hour, connecting areas north and south of London with destinations through the capital.  And trains on routes serving London Bridge and Victoria will also be lengthened to ten carriages, vastly increasing the number of passengers able to travel to and from destinations across south London.

 However, some residents in south London have expressed concern about the impact of the improvements to Thameslink services that are being delivered by Network Rail. Due to platform works to accommodate the increased Thameslink services at London Bridge station, in 2012 it is proposed to withdraw the South London Line service between Victoria and London Bridge.

14:11, 09 Nov 2009 by Matthew Rees