Please note the above service, infrequent as it may be and outside the rush hour, albeit very useful, also appears to be under threat. The alternative seems to be a proposed change at Crystal Palace which will provide more frequent services to Victoria, and is arguably a better outcome.

Any views on this?

One slow alternative is the 185 bus to Victoria for 90 pence.

If the change at Crystal Palace is frequent then only loss is a platform change.

Looking at the longer term it means FH will probably not become part of the London orbital - the line instead passing through Peckham, Brixton, Clapham Junction, etc.

It would be a real shame if they stopped this service and marginalised FH. Does the users have a right to say in this, can we oppose this and how?

A few years ago I wrote to the train operator at the time requesting the Victoria train run later than 7 and more trains on a Sunday (the service used to be pretty poor on a Sunday). I received a standard response, though was pleasantly suprised when both points were addressed in the next timetable.

I think if people do communicate en masse there is a good chance of things being taken on board. If we want to be smart about it, we should set up a template letter and who to write to so things are made as easy as possible.

There is a frequent fast service direct to Clapham Jct/Victoria from East Croydon.
I find that the best way to get to those parts (avoiding central London).

East Croydon is an important rail interchange for us as is London Bridge as is Lewisham.
If we had frequent trains running directly to all these hubs, then we should think our rail transport needs well considered.

Despite Lewisham being the major local train station/interchange, we still have no direct link (a docklands extension up to East Croydon via HoP and Forest Hill would have been popular imo).

And of course our existing routes to London Bridge and East Croydon are due to be strangled by the ELL.

Me, I'm loving the ELX

Consultation on Network Rail's 'Rail Utilisation Strategy' for South London officially finished on 26th October. You can view the consultation document at http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browseDirec...2895&root=
and if you want a template for responding you might wish to use the FH Society response, which you can find at http://foresthillsociety.blogspot.com/20...-rail.html

Responses should be sent to: southlondon.rus@networkrail.co.uk
South London RUS Consultation Response
National RUS Consultation Manager
Network Rail
8th Floor
40 Melton Street
London
NW1 2EE

Although the official consultation period has finished, I do not think it is too late to express your concerns regarding:
1) Reduction in trains to London Bridge from Forest Hill
2) Fewer or no direct trains to Victoria from Forest Hill
3) Cancellation of the direct trains from Forest Hill to Charing Cross off peak
4) Late introduction of longer trains on the Forest Hill route

All four points apply to Forest Hill, Sydenham and Honor Oak Park, except for the first, which does not apply to Honor Oak Park.

For the last year the Forest Hill Society and the Sydenham Society have been campaigning to keep the same level of services on our line going to London Bridge and Victoria. Recently Network Rail published their Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) with proposals to reduce services on this line when we get extra trains on the East London Line. We have detailed our concerns and we believe we have a strong case for the continuation of existing services on this overcrowded line, but we now need to show that we are not just a few individuals but an entire community.

We already have over 1100 signatures on our online petition at http://fhpetition.notlong.com but we want Network Rail to understand the strength of feeling in the local community. If you agree with our campaign please take the time to cut and paste the text below and send it to Network Rail. Please feel free change the text to reflect your specific concerns or add any personal experiences to the text (but keep it polite). And don't forget to add your name, address, and local station to the bottom of the email.

Emails should be sent to: southlondon.rus@networkrail.co.uk

Many thanks for supporting us in this campaign and helping to keep the train services that we deserve.


Michael Abrahams
Chair, Forest Hill Society

Pat Trembath
Chair, Sydenham Society




Sample text for email to southlondon.rus@networkrail.co.uk:
Subject: South London RUS - Sydenham Line

Dear Sir/Madam,

South London Route Utilisation Strategy ? Sydenham Line

I am a regular user of the Sydenham Line, which runs into London Bridge via Sydenham, Forest Hill and Honor Oak Park.

I want to express my strong objection to proposals in the draft RUS that relate to the Sydenham Line.

If adopted, the draft RUS would result in a 25% cut in existing Sydenham Line peak period services to and from London Bridge, and an even greater cut in off-peak services.

It would also result in loss of the London Bridge loop-line service to Clapham Junction and Victoria via Forest Hill and Sydenham, and also the withdrawal of the Sydenham Line service that presently runs directly into and out of Charing Cross at evenings and weekends.

These proposals represent a major reduction in the present level of services available to Sydenham Line users. The forthcoming East London Line extension will not provide an adequate substitute. The ELL destination is wrong for most Sydenham Line commuters who want to travel to central London via London Bridge. Moreover the ELL will use only 4 car trains.

Whilst I do not ask for an increase in existing Sydenham Line services I do want:

- No cuts in existing services (especially peak) to London Bridge. The RUS acknowledges a high level of suppressed demand for the Sydenham Line service

- The earliest possible introduction of 10-car or even 12-car trains on the Sydenham Line to provide for that suppressed demand and to ease present overcrowding

- Retention of the loop-line service to Victoria. This is a very popular service at both peak and off-peak periods

- Retention of the current evening service from Charing Cross to Forest Hill and Sydenham. The draft RUS (page 176) refers to this as a "very well-utilised" service.

I urge you to reconsider the Sydenham Line recommendations in the draft RUS in the light of my comments.

Yours sincerely,

Name
Address
Station Used

I'm not very happy about losing the link to Victoria and if have to go via E. Croydon, that will take us outside zone 1-4 - so will allowances be made for that?

Overall it seems that even with the introduction of ELL we're not going to be much better off in real terms.

seeformiles - you wouldn't have to go via East Croydon - you'd go via crystal palace (at least that's my understanding).

When BD first came to London the Crystal Palace loop service did not exist. Then it was reintroduced, maybe 15 years ago, but did not run in rush hour, then they introduced this as well. So he could get out to Feltham to get to Heathrow, or down to the South Coast and New Forest. Without having to go into town, and cheaper fares. It would be a shame if this service did go. As he posted many a time on the who needs the ELL ext, well at least his interpretation of it.

Prior to this he used to do the out to East Croydon and back, but once got set upon by some ticket collectors who told him it wasn't allowed on a normal FH to town ticket

BD, not in the slightest bit interested in being linked to Dalston, and still enjoying the special status of not being on the tube

Good to see BD is now referring to himself in the third person. If this is imitation, is it after the manner of the queen or Mr T?

Hasn't he always? Once you get used to it, posts where he does not do not read "right".

Would it be worth putting details of this petion up around the station somewhere? The more awareness/people we can get to sign it the better. I only stumbled across it by mistake.

I think the station would object to that but we did hand out leaflets last December at Forest Hill, Sydenham and Honor Oak Park. There have also been a number of articles in the local press, SE23 Living, the Forest Hill Society Newsletter, and of course se23.com and other local forums.
http://fhpetition.notlong.com
Or write to Network Rail directly as suggested above.