Local Station Stats

The latest estimates of railway train stations are out from the Office of Rail Regulator.

It is fascinating to see rapid increases in passenger number for Denmark Hill and Loughborough Junction – is it ticket enforcement or more passengers?

Station Name 1314 Entries & Exits 1213 Entries & Exits Change
Brixton      942,548      896,848 5%
Denmark Hill     5,166,040     3,935,776 31%
East Dulwich     2,119,018     2,104,766 1%
Gipsy Hill     1,992,136     1,943,522 3%
Herne Hill     3,308,970     2,918,610 13%
Loughborough Junction     1,386,290     1,182,914 17%
North Dulwich      869,276      839,378 4%
Norwood Junction     3,758,122     3,544,748 6%
Sydenham Hill      643,928      585,176 10%
Tulse Hill     2,442,126     2,145,064 14%
West Dulwich     1,025,312      949,754 8%
West Norwood     2,118,260     2,073,698 2%

What do you think is the cause?

Are you using trains more?

 

 

Short changed Bakerloo Line Extension Stations

TfL are currently consulting on extending the Bakerloo line via one of two routes – Old Kent Road or via Camberwell. Please whatever you do respond to the public consultation tell TfL that both routes are required.

They propose two station on either route, Old Kent Road 1 & 2 stations on one route, and Camberwell and Peckham on the other route. That’s 2 stations over 5km on the Old Kent Road route or 6km on the Camberwell route.

South Londoners are being seriously short-changed with only two stations being proposed for each branch.

The Bakerloo line is 23km long with 25 stations. That means both proposed branches of an extended Bakerloo line should have 5 stations over the first branch and 6 over the latter proposed branch. Any less means South Londoners are being taken for ride.

Kensal Park and Kilburn Park are no more populous than Camberwell or Peckham.

Please tell TfL in the public consultation that they need to ensure we get a fair number of stations.

 

Roundabout Repeated Mistakes

Transport for London with Southwark Council are consulting about changing to the northern Elephant & Castle roundabout.

They plan to remove the SE corner. It will mean everyone has to travel a lot further to get from A to B around this area. For the life of me, and it might mean my life as the roundabout is that dangerous, I can’t see how making cyclists travel through so much more traffic to get somewhere will be safer.

Overall it looks a terrible missed opportunity. Take a look for yourself and tell me what you think CONSULTATION.

What they should do is move the Faraday electric substation dimpled structure somewhere else and turn the whole thing into a proper traffic light junction. It would create much more new public space. Traffic light cross road junctions offer the most direct route. Segregated cycle paths become much simpler to install and for people to understand.

Instead TfL are making the same mistake as the Waterloo roundabout and the south side of Westminster bridge.

It’s as if they don’t want safe cycling or is it that a nice simple totally legible junction just isn’t challenging enough for them?

 

Flight Noise Ghettos

South London has more than its fair share of aircraft flight paths – planes for Heathrow line up overhead and planes for City airport also fly over East Dulwich over a quarter of the time.

If you agree this is already a problem then you’ll want to respond to the London City Airport consultation that seeks agreement to make matters much much worse. The proposal is to deploy something similar to GPS to make aircraft very precisely follow set flight paths. This will really concentrate all those flights going into London City Airport. The deployment of this technology is a requirement of the Civil Aviation Authority. To make matters Tower Hamlets gave planning permission to increase flight paths to and from London City Airport from 80,000 to 120,000 each year. A huge increase which will be magnified if the proposals aren’t changed.

The consultation document shows that for 27% of the time East Dulwich, Dulwich, Herne Hill, Brixton will have a further concentration of flights with aircraft flying between 2,000 and 3,000 feet.

This technology could be used to vary flight paths to share the noise burden but London City Airport has no plans to do this. Shame on them.

I hope you’ll join me in responding to this consultation by emailing London City Airport lamp@londoncityairport.com and the CAA airspace.policy@caa.co.uk asking why they are allowing this secret consultation with no public meetings or leafleting or other promotion.

If aircraft noise annoys you then do consider joining HACAN East who campaign for more reasonable aircraft noise levels from London airports.

 

Labour Give Up on Bakerloo Line Extension

I was shocked to read the Southwark Council report about the Labour Councillors discretionary spending choices this year.

He plans to spend £30,000 on surveys about reopening Camberwell Station. Camberwell Station was closed along with Walworth Road and Borough Road stations during WWI. BUT they were doomed with the coming of the tram network which skimmed sufficient custom to ensure these stations were uneconomic. When the trams closed in the early 1950’s actual construction work had started to extend the Bakerloo line to Camberwell. But it soon stopped leaving a public transport void.

So choosing now, while purporting to campaign for the Bakerloo Line to be extended to Camberwell, to fund a survey for Camberwell train station to be reopened shows a lack of resolve to get the Bakerloo line extended. TfL will not support both. For over 100 years it has been an either or decision – train station or tram or tube.

I call on Southwark Labour party to use this discretionary spending to fund a study into extending the Bakerloo line to Camberwell and beyond.

IF they insist on funding this train station survey then please have the decency to state publicly you’ve given up on a branch of the Bakerloo line being extended to Camberwell so it can be debated.

East Dulwich 185 Bus passengers Boost

East Dulwich bus services are to get a further boost from this Saturday 1 November, as Transport for London (TfL) increases the frequency of the 185. Hooray.

Route 185 is operated by Go-Ahead for TfL between Lewisham and Victoria Station via East Dulwich. It will see its frequency increased from a bus every 10 minutes to one every eight minutes Monday to Saturday.

This follows feedback from local residents and councillors.This is great news.

What other bus routes need changing?

The 185 buses are also knackered so hopefully TfL will also listen to that feedback from Cllr Rosie Shimell and myself.

Greener Travel Plan Enforcement

At Southwarks Planning sub-Committee A 15 October we had to decide on a Dulwich school re organising its parking. It caters for 5-13 year old boys.

This application was designed to enable a more secure site for child safety and while doing this upgrade the playground. This was in response to Southwark Council highlighting child safety concerns.

Sadly it also requires the loss of depending how you read the plans 4 to 7 car parking spaces for staff. I read the before and after plans as reducing staff parking from 36 to 32 car parking spaces while doubling cycle parking.

Residents highlighted that a few parents while dropping kids double park or block driveways. Police officers have been subject to verbal abuse. It sounds so familiar of other schools.

We approved the planning application but will new conditions we’ve not tried before:
1. Green travel required to be reviewed within 6 months, 1 year at 18months and then annually.
2. That the green travel plan includes a protocol for working with local police where the school will take sanctions against families whose parents abuse the police or break parking rules.

I’m keen to see the final green travel plan to ensure the committees intentions that I led on are implemented as we anticipated.

Farcical Southwark Cycle Strategy

Tuesday evening Southwark Labour agreed their Southwark Cycling Strategy. It has a number of flaws. One of the most stark omissions being around ensuring cycle facilities stay open.

One of the key objectives from a cyclists perspective: “Objective 2.6 Maintain cycling infrstructure and surfaces as part of our maintenance work programmes”

While they were doing this officers under their direction were arranging the closure, announced in Southwark News on the Thursday, of the closure for 18 months starting 3 November of one of the most key pieces of existing cycle infrasdtructure in Southwark. So much for maintaining cycling infrstructure.

Churchyard Row is an integral part of the Elephant & Castle cycle bypass. It is also a key part of Cycle Superhighway no.7. An alternative via St.Mary’s Churchyard Gardens has been suggest.

Churchyard Row is one of the most cycled parts of Southwark by far. It is baffling why Churchyard Row is being closed. Southwark council states to enable building works by Mace on the adjacent site but I can not imagine they would allow a Red route or A or even B road to be totally closed for 18 months and this cycle route is the equivalent for cyclists.

Cyclists are clearly second class citizens to Southwark Labour.

Churchyard Row is an integral part of the E&C cycle bypass – the northern roundabout being the most dangerous junction in Southwark by far for cyclists and in the worst ten junctions for London. The proposed alternative will be significantly less desirable. It will deter some from cycling at all and push others away from the bypass and Cycle Superhighwat and into using the most dangerous junction in Southwark for cyclists.

On this basis I have formally objected to this Traffic Management Order. The likely changes in cyclists behaviour from the proposal and resulting risks weigh far out weigh any inconvenience for Mace building works. The alternative route is also not a road which I understand is a requirement under the 1984 Traffic Act.

I have asked Council officials to explain why they think cycling through the adjacent park is a legal alternative road?

On a personal note I am shocked that the same week Southwark’s Labour Cabinet approved its Cycling Strategy for Southwark it has agreed this closing of one of the most important cycling facilities in Southwark. Farcical at best.

Bakerloo Line Extension

For over 100 years London has talked about extending the Bakerloo line south. Extending it even started in the 1950’s but stopped after 18 months of building work.

The Mayor of London and Transport for London have released their London Infrastructure Plan 2050. It includes a Bakerloo line extension with little relationship to the past 100 years of historic proposals. Their proposal is to extend via the Old Kent Road via Lewisham to Beckenham and Bromley.

They are consulting on this extension please do respond.

Liberal Democrats have always said we want the Bakerloo line extended. For some time we’ve suggest it have two branches – one via Camberwell to Tulse Hill and terminating in Streatham and the second branch along the Old Kent Road to Lewisham and beyond. That each branch have 15 trains per hour of the maximum 32 possible in the central section of the Bakerloo line.

The Plan also shows clearly how poor public transport is in the Dulwich and West Norwood area proving the need for a Bakerloo branch. That road congestion will rocket between now and 2030 by 25% and ultimately London population increase by 2050 to something between 9.5 and 13.4 million people. Staggering growth.

Kill Puffins

Transport for London has decided to stop installing Puffin crossings. Horray!

The UK is the only western country to have such a signalled crossing design un the Puffin crossing where crossing pedestrians have no indication or display to give them confidence of their status while crossing the road. Attitudinal research over the last decade has shown that Puffin crossings are unpopular with the public. I can absolutely see why.

Puffin crossing also preclude pedestrian countdown displays being installed which the public do find helpful. To know how long you’ve got to cross after the green man has gone is really reassuring. Several times I nkow it has stopped me crossing when I was tempted to.

For East Dulwich we have several Puffin crossings – Lordship Lane outside the Coop shop, Lordship Lane close to the junction with East Dulwich Grove, Grove Vale clsoe to Goose Green School.

With TfL changing its position we just need Southwark Council to change its position on Puffin crossing so that we once and for all kill them in East Dulwich and upgrade to Pelican crossings with pedestrian countdown displays. This would help improve the walkability of the East dulwich area.

What other measures do you think we could take to make the area more attractive to walk around?