Add me to the volunteer list.

Write to Jim Dowd, MP. I amsure that he wanted a better service for us.

That's what I mean though. I know we need to write letters and emails but it isn't going to help if only a handful of us are doing it. Not that many letters / emails are being written at the mo as not enough people know about the problem.

Article in the South London Press - http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/tn/Ne...%20slashed . Good to see Cllr John Russell opposing these cuts and getting it into the papers.

Nasaroc and I will be going to see Jim Dowd tomorrow to discuss this issue. I have also spoken to London Assemly Member Caroline Pidgeon (chair of the transport committee).

Over in Brockley http://brockleycentral.blogspot.com/2009...vices.html they are writing to Heidi Alexander, Lord Adonis, Darren Johnson, and Joan Ruddock.

Yes, I was thinking of a 'walking sandwich board' type of thing at Charing Cross letting people know that their train home will soon be stopping...

Not sure how to go about that though.

Perhaps we could all make a start by telling fellow commuters next time we get on a through train at Charing X, Waterloo E or London Bridge that these trains will shortly be no more?

I've already been doing this and it's generally met with shock as they had heard nothing about it.

But I do think it's time to take proper action.

Article in South London Press:

http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/tn/Ne...%20slashed

I understand the concern about trains being slashed and about the cuts from Charring Cross (which is a pain for the half dozen times a year I use it) but what I want to know is overall (including the ELLX trains) will be be gaining or losing capacity on the trains to and from Forest Hill and Central London at Peak Time?

It will be a mess during the changeover but I think over time people will adjust where they change/terminate. For those going into the centre of town ELL to Canada Water and then the Jubilee Line will be much preferable (avoids London Bridge!). For those going to the City they can stay on the ELL. So to some extent I think peoples travel plans will adjust. BUT this only works if overall there is at least the same as and preferably more capacity. On this I currently have no idea.

Out of interest I travel into London Bridge and will be affected by the changes, although I do cycle as much as I can to avoid Southern and London Bridge.

The changeover to ELL to get to town eg Charing Cross will take longer this way.

Also for me, it's a cost issue. I object to the fact that they will effectively be forcing me to get a Travelcard as opposed to a train ticket. There's a big difference in price, about a tenner a week.

I wish you luck but think they will not change. I believe these trains are the only ones on the central division that still got though to WE and CC , which is reserved for South Eastern Trains.
I personally agree that would prefer trains through to WE and CC than have the ELL , but probably they will say we cannot have both.
Am I correct in saying we will still have The Victoria service , or not ?

I think it should be pointed out that the ELL does not go into 'Central London'.

It's the only tube line that doesn't enter Zone 1, in fact - possibly the reason for it's reclassification to Overground.

ELL does now go into zone 1 at Shoreditch High Street. The new location of the station 200m from the old location meant they reclassified it as zone 1.

I believe these trains are the only ones on the central division that still got though to WE and CC , which is reserved for South Eastern Trains

Not true.....Southern operate an hourly service monday to friday to and from Reigate to Charing Cross via Redhill, most journeys involve one change.

Foresters
I meant towards the centre!

Whether the ELL is classified as overground or underground is not the main issue for me. What I think will make the difference is that the interchange at Canada Water to the Jubilee Line is so much better than London Bridge.

The arrangement of the lines/platforms above one another means that you can be on the Jubilee Line into central London via one single direct platform to platform escalator, all in a very spacious and well planned station (I lived very near to it for 5 years).

This is compared with a long walk, plus two sets of ticket barriers and three escalators at London Bridge.

I know which I will be doing.

Still no idea whether there will be more or less "northbound" train capacity from Forest Hill under the new arrangement though?

Satchers - totally agree with you that the quickest and most convenient way to access the Jubilee Line will be at Canada Water via the ELL. And of course, northbound capacity will be increased by the introduction of the ELL - running 8 trains per hour on trains with 4 carriages each, means 32 extra carriages per hour heading north throughout the day from FH.

These are truisms which I believe everyone locally would accept. But this in no way undermines the need to maintain our existing services to LB and Charing Cross.

70% of local rail travellers will still use the LB/CX line as their first preference - people who want to travel to locations at or close to LB, the southern part of The City, Soho, Covent Garden etc etc. These people don't want to access tube lines on the way to their destination - they either walk or use a bus to complete the last part of their journey from a station along the existing rail line.

I fully welcome the ELL and I'm delighted you are going to find it so useful. But that shouldn't be used as an excuse to cut the efficiency and scope of existing services. Surely keeping existing services is something that everyone locally should support, even though they may individually decide it's best for them to swap to the ELL once it arrives.

Just received my latest Forest Hill Society Update which tells me that I need not worry about the fact that daytime off peak services to London Bridge are being cut by one third from May 2010.

The update tells me that:

"This is not a disaster as it is relatively recently that these services were increased to 6 per hour, and at off peak they are not entirely full."

That's all right then - Let's cut all services that are have been "increased relatively recently" or are "not entirely full."

Don't miss tonight's meeting on future plans for rail travel -

7.30PM NABORHOOD CENTRE, SYDENHAM ROAD

Speakers From TfL, London Overground and Southern

Over the weekend, TfL will begin work on removing existing signs as a prelude to taking over running the station on Monday. Find out what else is planned by attending this vital meeting.

It should be interesting this evening as TfL have stated that they do not support cuts to services. See http://londonreconnections.blogspot.com/...plies.html

Tonight TfL told us that passenger numbers on our line would increase by 30% with the opening of the East London Line.

Southern told us that there was no room for our late evening services to run from Charing Cross as South Eastern need all our slots (and more) for their improved services.

Southern also told us that there was no capacity at London Bridge for six peak evening services at London Bridge, despite there being room for six peak morning services.

I have set up a petition opposing these cuts to our services:
We reject the cuts to services through Forest Hill and call on Southern Railways to run the same level of service as they do in September 2009.

We call on rail authorities and local politicians to support our calls to maintain 6 trains per hour in the evening peak and direct services from Charing Cross in the late evenings.

Please sign the petition at http://nototraincuts.notlong.com