Residents and local councillors were joined by Vicky Foxcroft, Labour MP for Lewisham Deptford, to petition against the controversial Southeastern train service cuts at St Johns station.
The Department of Transport (Dft) granted Southeastern Railway permission to make timetable changes without having a public consultation first. The new timetable includes significantly reducing the number of trains that stop at St Johns station and is set to come into effect from December 11.
Councillor Ayesha Lahai-Taylor created the online petition against the timetable changes, which now has 389 signatures.
Lahai-Taylor said: “Many residents in St Johns rely on these connections to earn a living and socialise. In a time of acute anxiety about the cost-of-living crisis and the need to improve London’s air quality, accessible and reliable public transport is essential.”
Commuters on the Hayes line will no longer be able to travel directly to Cannon Street, leaving those who are headed north to Connon Street or Charing Cross to have to change trains at Lewisham station.
A spokesperson for Southeastern told Eastlondonlines that the new timetable “reduces the number of trains crossing one another at busy junctions and would improve punctuality and reliability.”
“We know that for some of our customers this will be less convenient, and that’s why we’ve ensured that there are frequent trains from London Bridge to London Charing Cross,” added the spokesperson.
Lista Breingan, chair of the St. Johns Society, said: “In no way can this be described as an improved and simpler service. Simple and straightforward journeys are transformed into difficult, complicated, and inconvenient ones in view of the requirement to change trains at either Lewisham or London Bridge or indeed both.”
The new timetable changes and train cuts do not seem to be the only inconvenience faced by the residents of St. Johns.
In addition to the inconvenience of changing trains at a busy station like London Bridge, St. Johns is already a station which is not easily accessible, lacking both elevators and ramps. Breingan spoke about parents and grandparents “struggling like hell” to get up and down steps to get to the platforms as they pick up their kids from school.
“Personally, I’ve had surgery three weeks ago and I can’t walk. I would find it hellish to get to an appointment at the hospital. Having to get to St. Johns is a long enough walk…and then to have to change platforms on my crutches, it would just make my journey…twice as difficult,” said Breingan.
She added: “We are very concerned for the future of St. Johns. If Southeastern wants to improve the operational efficiency of the service, then this should be done by consulting users and making the necessary investment, not by designing a timetable which… causes hardship and inconvenience for the travelling public.”
On December 11, the new Southeastern timetables will be implemented on several lines including the Bexleyheath and Hayes lines. Find out whether the new timetables affect your commute on their website here.
