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London and South East

Click on name to go direct to section: Area / Local Divisions / Branch news / Current campaigns / Current consultations / What's on / London and South East rail user groups / Community Rail Partnerships / Heritage Railways / Train Operating Company liaison / Passenger representative groups / Other regional and sub-national authorities / Branch contacts / Neighbouring branches

Area

The regional branch covers London and most of the Home Counties:
Bedfordshire (now Luton, Bedford, and Central Bedfordshire unitary authorities), south Essex (including Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock unitary authorities), Hertfordshire, Kent (including Medway unitary authority), Surrey, East and West Sussex (other than south-west Sussex, which is overseen by Wessex branch) City of Brighton & Hove unitary authority, and Greater London.
Because of its size, the regional branch also has several local, largely county-based, divisions.

Local Divisions

Just click on the green links, here and below, for further information including details of Division meetings open to all:-
  • Eastern - south Essex and north-east & east London
  • Kent - including south-east London
  • London Metro - TfL zonal area plus Mayor's 'rail boundary'.
  • Herts and Beds - Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire
  • Surrey - including south-west London
  • Sussex and Coastway - East Sussex, Brighton & Hove, West Sussex, and South Downs National Park

Branch news

Click here to view our latest quarterly branch newsletter railse issue no.146 December 2019.
Click here to view our latest monthly branch e-newsletter inter-railse issue no.19 January 2020. Email roger.blake at railfuture.org.uk to subscribe to the monthly inter-railse.
Click here to view or download any of our quarterly branch newsletters railse since July 2010, and our monthly branch e-newsletters inter-railse since July 2018.
See too details of our local Branch Twitter feed.
See also the quick-reference dashboards of all branch quarterly newsletters since July 2010, and all monthly e-newsletters since July 2018.

Current campaigns

Our primary campaigns are for:
  • Uckfield - Lewes reinstating rail link to Bridge the gap between Uckfield and Lewes and enable residents of the Weald to travel to reach jobs and education in Brighton & Hove to support economic growth and spread prosperity in the county, create an additional route between London and the South Coast to help relieve the Brighton Main Line, and pave the way for Thameslink 2. Development of a garden village in the area served by the line would both meet the need for new homes to satisfy Brighton's growing employment market, and justify reinstating the railway between Uckfield and Lewes to serve it.
  • Marshlink improved services, with quicker connections at Ashford International station with HS1 services (secured since May and December 2018 timetable changes), new track connection with HS1 at Ashford International, and comprehensive route upgrade for two all-day/every-day services (an hourly all-stations stopping service and an hourly limited-stop service) including line-speed increases, Rye passing loop extended to create dynamic loop, and then through high-speed services between London St. Pancras International and Rye, Hastings, St. Leonards-on-Sea, Bexhill-on-Sea, and Eastbourne.
  • A new Thameslink 2 metro route between East Croydon, Docklands and North London via tunnel between East Croydon and Addiscombe, the Hayes branch, and tunnel between Lewisham, Canary Wharf and Stratford, connecting to the West Anglia and Great Eastern main lines.
Click current campaigns for other campaigns in our branch area.

Click Rail investment planning for information on Network Rail, the ORR and the DfT planning and funding a bigger better railway.

Current consultations

~ East Midlands Railway: proposals for December 2020 timetable. Closing 14 February 2020.
~ Office of Rail & Road: Accessible Travel Policy Guidance - accessibility of rail replacement services. Closing 14 February 2020.
~ Mole Valley District Council: draft Local Plan 2018-33. Closing 16 March 2020.
~ Hertfordshire County Council: County Rail Strategy. Closing 30 March 2020.
~ Homes England: proposal to develop land west of Ifield, West Sussex for new homes along with roads, schools and other community infrastructure. Closing 1 December 2020.
Comments, responding to the consultation questions asked, to Branch Vice-Chairman roger.blake at railfuture.org.uk
View or download our responses to recent and previous consultations in Consultation responses.

What's on

Railfuture and other local, regional and national events, including conferences, and some key rail dates.

We're on show! On Saturday 25th/Sunday 26th January 2020 our regional branch will have a stall at Erith Model Railway Society's annual exhibition in the Longfield Academy, Main Road (B260), Longfield, Kent, DA3 7PH.

The 2020 AGM will be held on Saturday 25th April 2020. Annual nominations for Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Hon. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer and up to six other members of the branch committee invited: nomination forms returnable by Saturday 25 January 2020 as instructed on the form, viewable here and downloadable here (420kb).

Branch Standing Orders can be viewed here, or downloaded here (626Kb).
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Our venue, as last year, will be Wesley's Chapel, 49 City Road, London, EC1Y 1AU. It's a short walk south from Old Street station, and is also well-served by bus routes.

The 2019 AGM was held after lunch on Saturday 27th April 2019. View or download the Agenda, and all reports for 2018 including Minutes of the 2018 AGM, separately viewable or downloadable. It was preceded by an open morning session on rail access to London's airports, with guest speakers Steve Costello from Heathrow Southern Railway (view presentation) and Transport for London's Aviation Strategy Lead Shamal Ratnayaka (view presentation).

The 2018 AGM was held on Saturday 28 April 2018. The open morning meeting had a Light Rail theme and included speakers on a Lower Thames Crossing KenEx Thames Transit (view the presentation here), on Cambridge Connect, and from UK Tram (view the presentation here). Now view or download the Agenda, and all reports for 2017 including the Minutes of the 2017 AGM.

The 2017 AGM was held on Saturday 29 April. View or download (908Kb) the Agenda, and all reports for 2016 including the Minutes of the 2016 AGM.
It was preceded by an open meeting for members and guests, with guest speakers from Heathrow Southern Railway (view the presentation here) and Windsor Link Railway (view the presentation here), and a presentation from Network Rail on Western Rail Access to Heathrow.
Venue: University of Westminster's Cavendish campus, 115 New Cavendish Street, Fitzrovia, London W1W 6UW.

The 2016 Branch AGM was held in central London on 23 April 2016, again at the University of London's International Hall, Lansdowne Terrace, Bloomsbury, London, WC1N 1AS, a short walk from Russell Square station.
In anticipation of elections on 5 May for a new Mayor of London, and for seats on the Greater London Assembly, we published a Rail Manifesto for London.

The 2015 AGM was held on 25 April at the University of London's International Hall, Lansdowne Terrace, Bloomsbury, London, WC1N 1AS.
Our morning session featured the Airports Commission, chaired by Sir Howard Davies and due to report on its recommendations later in summer 2015, and the three short-listed options for expanding capacity at either Heathrow (two options) or Gatwick. Our guest speakers were:
Simon Earles, Head of Surface Access Strategy for Heathrow Airport,
Steven Costello, Director for Heathrow Hub Ltd, and
Hugh Sumner, Senior Transport Advisor for Gatwick Airport.

The 2014 AGM was held on 26 April 2014. It was preceded by an open morning meeting on the themes of the value of heritage lines to their localities and developing links between heritage lines and the classic network. Speakers were Railfuture member Chris Austin OBE Secretary to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Heritage Rail which in July 2013 published a report 'the Value of Heritage Railways', and Graham Baldwin General Manager of Kent & East Sussex Railway celebrating their 40th anniversary. The Annual General Meeting followed after lunch.

The 2013 AGM was held on 20 April 2013. The morning branch members' meeting heard speakers David Blackall, Deputy Director, Thameslink Programme, DfT; Andrew Hutton, Lead Development Manager, London Bridge station, Network Rail; Councillor Mark Gettleson, Southwark Council. The Annual General Meeting followed after lunch.

L and SE rail user groups

includes the following 22 groups affiliated to Railfuture, with benefits including access to Railfuture's Fighting Fund.


All other known rail user groups in our regional branch area can be viewed here.

Community Rail Partnerships and Station Adoption Groups

in and around the London and South East region including:
under the auspices of the national Association of Community Rail Partnerships ACoRP - 'engaging communities in their railways' - with support from the Department for Transport and from Network Rail.

Heritage Railways

in and around the London and South East region, including those with mainline interchange:
See also Preserved lines as public transport

Train Operating Company liaison - Railfuture representatives

London & South East operators:
Long-distance operators serving London and the South East:

Passenger representative groups

Other regional and sub-national authorities

Branch contacts

Neighbouring branches

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