South London Railway Line
Transport
Written answers and statements, 4 November 2009
Kate Hoey (Vauxhall, Labour)
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what discussions his Department has had with (a) Transport for London, (b) London Travel Watch, (c) the Mayor of London and (d) other organisations on the proposed withdrawal of passenger rail services from the South London Line.
Chris Mole (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Ipswich, Labour)
This service change was consulted upon as part of the Department for Transport's May 2008 South Central Franchise Consultation. Transport for London, London TravelWatch and a number of other interested parties responded to this consultation. The proposed replacement of the London Victoria to London Bridge service was also consulted upon by Network Rail as part of the South London Line Route Utilisation Strategy (July 2007).
The withdrawal of the planned replacement London Victoria to Bellingham service was requested by the Mayor of London and Transport for London with funds directed instead toward an extended East London line service. As a condition of this arrangement, the Department required Transport for London and the Mayor to keep stakeholders informed.