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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
  • Herts and Beds - Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire
  • Kent - including south-east London
  • London Metro - TfL zonal area plus Mayor's 'rail boundary'.
  • 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 Manifesto for Rail for the May 2021 London Mayoral and Assembly Elections. We think (1) Focus on delivery; (2) Be flexible; (3) Make best use if what we have got; and (4) Plan for the future.
  • Click here to view our latest quarterly branch newsletter railse issue no.152 June 2021.
  • Click here to view our latest monthly branch e-newsletter inter-railse issue no.38 August 2021.
  • 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.
  • Email roger.blake at railfuture.org.uk to subscribe to the monthly inter-railse.
  • 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 a 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 new garden community 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

~ Lewes District Council's consultation on Issues and Options for new Local Plan closes Friday 3 September.
~ C2E Partnership's second consultation on Improving transport links between Abbey Wood and Ebbsfleet closes Friday 3 September.
~ South Western Railway's consultation on their December 2022 timetable closes Sunday 19 September.
~ West Sussex County Council's consultation on the draft Transport Plan 2022-36 closes Friday 8 October.
~ Surrey County Council's consultation on the Surrey Transport Plan - LTP4 closes Sunday 24 October.
Comments, responding to the consultation questions asked, to Branch Vice-Chairman roger.blake at railfuture.org.uk
~ Possible move of Great Northern 'Inner' Services to TfL - An open letter from Railfuture on Passenger & Taxpayer needs (September 2020): Display or Download.
View or download our responses to recent and previous consultations in Consultation responses.

Whats on

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

There was a regional branch meeting on Saturday 17 April 2021 on the theme Re-growing our railway. We were joined by guest speakers Linda McCord from Transport Focus, Alex Hellier and Mike Smith from Network Rail, and Steve White from GTR. It was held online from 11.00, and concluded with the brief formalities of an AGM. See our advance background briefing here, and the formal AGM agenda and reports here.

Annual nominations for Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Hon. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer and up to six other members to be elected to the branch committee for 2021 closed in February; there was no ballot.
Branch Standing Orders can be viewed here, or downloaded here (626Kb).

The 2020 AGM was NOT held on Saturday 25th April 2020 as planned. Our venue, as in 2019, would have been Wesley's Chapel, 49 City Road, London, EC1Y 1AU, a short walk south from Old Street station, and is also well-served by bus routes.
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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).

L and SE rail user groups

includes the following 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 (August 2020).

Community Rail Partnerships and Station Adoption Groups

in and around the London and South East region including:
under the auspices of the national Community Rail Network (formerly Association of Community Rail Partnerships) - '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

Railfuture: Britain's leading independent voluntary organisation campaigning for a better railway for passengers and freight over a bigger rail network.


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