Go direct to our letter to the re-elected Mayor of London following our Rail Manifesto for London launched on 17 March 2024.
Click on name to go direct to section: Area / Local Divisions / Branch news / Current campaigns / Current consultations / Events / Annual General Meetings / 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 / Branch dashboard
Bedfordshire (now Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, and Luton 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.
Click Rail investment planning for information on Network Rail, the ORR and the DfT planning and funding a bigger better railway.
View or download our responses to past consultations and calls for evidence under 'Submissions', and all national responses in Consultation responses.
The previous regional branch event was on Sunday 2 June
- a return visit to Uckfield for a Bridge the gap campaign stall, led by Sussex & Coastway Division, at the annual Uckfield & District Lions Club's Family Fun Day.
The second regional branch event of the year was a return visit to north Kent for the Faversham Festival of Transport on Saturday 18 / Sunday 19 May.
We paid a return visit to Alexandra Palace for a branch campaign stall at the London Festival of Railway Modelling on Saturday 16 / Sunday 17.
The first regional Branch, and Kent Division, event of 2024 was a campaign stall at the annual Erith Model Railway Society's show on Saturday 27 / Sunday 28 January, at the Longfield Academy, featuring our Hoo Peninsula and the Kenex Tram campaigns.
The last regional branch event of 2023 was on Saturday 2 September with our Bridge the gap campaign stall at the revived Lewes Societies Fair, held in Lewes Town Hall.
The previous regional branch event was on Sunday 4 June 2023, with our Bridge the gap campaign stall at the Uckfield & District Lions Club afternoon Family Fun Day and car boot sale at Luxford Field, Civic Approach / Library Way, off High Street, Uckfield, East Sussex, TN22 1BP. More info: Uckfield Lions.
Earlier regional branch events in 2023 were on Saturday 20 / Sunday 21 May 2023 when we had a stall in Faversham's Guildhall in Market Place as we participated in the annual Faversham Festival of Transport, on Saturday 18 / Sunday 19 March when we had a stall at London's Alexandra Palace for the London Festival of Railway Modelling, and before that on Saturday 28 / Sunday 29 January we had a stall at the Longfield Academy for the Erith Model Railway Society's Exhibition.
A previous regional branch event was on Saturday/Sunday 19/20 November 2022, based around the Ashford 180 anniversary celebrations, organised by Ashford International Model Railway Education Centre: AIMREC. Railfuture London & South East regional branch has a stall in the main station foyer.
The previous event was on Saturday 9 July 2022 when we had our Bridge the gap stall at the Uckfield Festival's Big Day.
A similar previous regional branch event was on Sunday 5 June 2022 when we had our Bridge the gap stall at the Uckfield & District Lions Club's Platinum Jubilee Picnic.
The regional branch had a stall over the weekend of 14/15 May 2022 when we were in Faversham's Guildhall in Market Place as we participated in the Faversham Festival of Transport.
The regional branch had a stall at the London Festival of Railway Modelling on 19/20 March 2022 at Alexandra Palace, London N22 7AY.
Always check your London & South East regional branch local Division in Local Divisions.
Check Railfuture and other local, regional and national events, and some key rail dates.
Speakers for our open morning meeting were Andy Bagnall CEO of Rail Partners (view his presentation here) and Stephen Gasche, formerly with Kent County Council and now Public Transport Lead for Otterpool Park Garden Town (view his presentation here).
The members-only AGM followed after lunch, from 14.00. View the meeting papers here.
Branch Standing Orders can be viewed here, or downloaded here (626Kb).
The previous regional branch members' meeting and AGM was on Saturday 22 April 2023. An open morning meeting, with guest speakers Mark Valleley, Head of Strategy at Transport for the South East (view his presentation here: "Strategic Transport Investment: TfSE’s 30-year plan and the role for rail"), and Railfuture Policy Director Ian Brown CBE.
It was followed by the AGM after lunch; view meeting papers. Our venue, as in previous years, was Wesley's Chapel & Leysian Mission, 49 City Road, London, EC1Y 1AU. We provided a simple hybrid solution to support remote viewing for anyone who couldn’t make it in person.
A regional branch meeting on Thursday 21 July 2022 had an online presentation, followed by a tri-branch discussion, on the draft Strategic Investment Plan being consulted by Transport for the South East. Members from our neighbouring Thames Valley and Wessex branches joined us as TfSE's area includes important parts of their areas (Reading plus five other ex-Berkshire unitary authorities, and Hampshire plus Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton unitary authorities).
The previous regional branch meeting with AGM was on Saturday 30 April 2022. We were in person and, in the morning, were online as well (as the main topic was of national interest).
In the morning we had a speaker and a panel:
Our venue, as in 2019, was Wesley's Chapel & Leysian Mission, 49 City Road, London, EC1Y 1AU.
The 2021 regional branch meeting with AGM, on Saturday 17th April 2021, was 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.
The 2020 AGM was NOT held on Saturday 25th April 2020 as had been planned.
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).
All other known rail user groups in our regional branch area can be viewed here (August 2020).
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Click on name to go direct to section: Area / Local Divisions / Branch news / Current campaigns / Current consultations / Events / Annual General Meetings / 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 / Branch dashboard
Area
The regional branch covers London and most of the Home Counties:Bedfordshire (now Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, and Luton 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
- Visit our London Metro Division to view our letter to the re-elected Mayor of London following our Rail Manifesto for London for the May 2024 Mayoral and Assembly Elections.
- Click here to view our latest quarterly branch newsletter railse issue no.165 September 2024.
- Click here to view our latest monthly branch e-newsletter inter-railse issue no.76 for October 2024.
- 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 rail development 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.
- Hoo Peninsula Railway - upgrading the freight-only branch line to restore passenger services as far as a new station at Hoo St. Werburgh (near the former Sharnal Street station) to provide sustainable transport capacity, connectivity and choice for the incoming residents of the up to c.15,000 new homes to be built as part of Future Hoo. See September-October 2023 public consultation Setting the direction for Medway 2040 and our response. See also January 2020 article Hoo-rail victory and our presentation in Gravesend in October 2021.
- 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 Rail investment planning for information on Network Rail, the ORR and the DfT planning and funding a bigger better railway.
Current consultations
- Kent County Council consultation for Striking the Balance - draft Local Transport Plan 5 closes Tuesday 8 October 2024. See also: public drop-in events
View or download our responses to past consultations and calls for evidence under 'Submissions', and all national responses in Consultation responses.
Events
The most recent regional branch event was on Saturday 31 August 2024 when the Railfuture Bridge the gap campaign stall was at the annual Lewes Societies Fair. Venue: Lewes Town Hall (Fisher Street entrance), High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2QS. 10.00-13.00. More info: FairThe previous regional branch event was on Sunday 2 June
The second regional branch event of the year was a return visit to north Kent for the Faversham Festival of Transport on Saturday 18 / Sunday 19 May.
We paid a return visit to Alexandra Palace for a branch campaign stall at the London Festival of Railway Modelling on Saturday 16 / Sunday 17.
The first regional Branch, and Kent Division, event of 2024 was a campaign stall at the annual Erith Model Railway Society's show on Saturday 27 / Sunday 28 January, at the Longfield Academy, featuring our Hoo Peninsula and the Kenex Tram campaigns.
The last regional branch event of 2023 was on Saturday 2 September with our Bridge the gap campaign stall at the revived Lewes Societies Fair, held in Lewes Town Hall.
The previous regional branch event was on Sunday 4 June 2023, with our Bridge the gap campaign stall at the Uckfield & District Lions Club afternoon Family Fun Day and car boot sale at Luxford Field, Civic Approach / Library Way, off High Street, Uckfield, East Sussex, TN22 1BP. More info: Uckfield Lions.
Earlier regional branch events in 2023 were on Saturday 20 / Sunday 21 May 2023 when we had a stall in Faversham's Guildhall in Market Place as we participated in the annual Faversham Festival of Transport, on Saturday 18 / Sunday 19 March when we had a stall at London's Alexandra Palace for the London Festival of Railway Modelling, and before that on Saturday 28 / Sunday 29 January we had a stall at the Longfield Academy for the Erith Model Railway Society's Exhibition.
A previous regional branch event was on Saturday/Sunday 19/20 November 2022, based around the Ashford 180 anniversary celebrations, organised by Ashford International Model Railway Education Centre: AIMREC. Railfuture London & South East regional branch has a stall in the main station foyer.
The previous event was on Saturday 9 July 2022 when we had our Bridge the gap stall at the Uckfield Festival's Big Day.
A similar previous regional branch event was on Sunday 5 June 2022 when we had our Bridge the gap stall at the Uckfield & District Lions Club's Platinum Jubilee Picnic.
The regional branch had a stall over the weekend of 14/15 May 2022 when we were in Faversham's Guildhall in Market Place as we participated in the Faversham Festival of Transport.
The regional branch had a stall at the London Festival of Railway Modelling on 19/20 March 2022 at Alexandra Palace, London N22 7AY.
Always check your London & South East regional branch local Division in Local Divisions.
Check Railfuture and other local, regional and national events, and some key rail dates.
Annual General Meetings
The latest regional branch open meeting and members' AGM was held on Saturday 20 April 2024. Our venue, as in previous years, was Wesley's Chapel & Leysian Mission, 49 City Road, London, EC1Y 1AU.Speakers for our open morning meeting were Andy Bagnall CEO of Rail Partners (view his presentation here) and Stephen Gasche, formerly with Kent County Council and now Public Transport Lead for Otterpool Park Garden Town (view his presentation here).
The members-only AGM followed after lunch, from 14.00. View the meeting papers here.
Branch Standing Orders can be viewed here, or downloaded here (626Kb).
The previous regional branch members' meeting and AGM was on Saturday 22 April 2023. An open morning meeting, with guest speakers Mark Valleley, Head of Strategy at Transport for the South East (view his presentation here: "Strategic Transport Investment: TfSE’s 30-year plan and the role for rail"), and Railfuture Policy Director Ian Brown CBE.
It was followed by the AGM after lunch; view meeting papers. Our venue, as in previous years, was Wesley's Chapel & Leysian Mission, 49 City Road, London, EC1Y 1AU. We provided a simple hybrid solution to support remote viewing for anyone who couldn’t make it in person.
A regional branch meeting on Thursday 21 July 2022 had an online presentation, followed by a tri-branch discussion, on the draft Strategic Investment Plan being consulted by Transport for the South East. Members from our neighbouring Thames Valley and Wessex branches joined us as TfSE's area includes important parts of their areas (Reading plus five other ex-Berkshire unitary authorities, and Hampshire plus Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton unitary authorities).
The previous regional branch meeting with AGM was on Saturday 30 April 2022. We were in person and, in the morning, were online as well (as the main topic was of national interest).
In the morning we had a speaker and a panel:
- Bridget Eickhoff from the Rail Safety and Standards Board spoke on the subject of the 'platform-train interface' - or 'step-free journeys from street to seat.' View her presentation here, or download it here (3540Kb).
- Railfuture Directors took questions from the audience.
Our venue, as in 2019, was Wesley's Chapel & Leysian Mission, 49 City Road, London, EC1Y 1AU.
The 2021 regional branch meeting with AGM, on Saturday 17th April 2021, was 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.
The 2020 AGM was NOT held on Saturday 25th April 2020 as had been planned.
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.| London and South East | Abbey Flyer User's Group (ABFLY) |
| Association of Public Transport Users (APTU) (Thameslink North) | |
| Bedford Commuters' Association (BCA) | |
| Bishopstone Station, Friends of | |
| British Regional Transport Association (BRTA) | |
| Cambridge Heath and London Fields Rail Users’ Group (CHLFRUG) | |
| Cooksbridge Station Partnership (CSP) | |
| East Surrey Transport Committee (ESTC) - king.charles at talktalk.net | |
| Edenbridge & District Rail Travellers’ Association (EDRTA) - bob.howes271 at btinternet.com | |
| Hadley Wood Rail User Group (HWRUG) | |
| Hatfield Association of Rail Travellers (HART) - hatfield.rail at gmail.com | |
| Marsh Link Action Group (MLAG) | |
| Marylebone Travellers' Association (MTA) - MaryleboneTA at btinternet.com | |
| Ore Transport Group (OTG) - trevor.d2016 at outlook.com | |
| Plumstead Rail Users' Group (PRUG) | |
| Reigate, Redhill & District Rail Users Association (RRDRUA) | |
| Sevenoaks Rail Travellers Association (SRTA) | |
| Tonbridge Line Commuters (TLC) | |
| Watford Rail Users’ Group (WRUG) - wrug2 at hotmail.co.uk |
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:- Abbey Line CRP
- Beds & Herts CRP
- Creative Isle CRP
- Darent Valley CRP
- Essex & South Suffolk CRP - three lines in our regional branch area.
- Hounslow and Richmond CRP on Twitter
- Kent CRP
- Marston Vale CRP
- New River Line CRP (also on Twitter)
- Southeast Communities Rail Partnership - now eight lines in our regional branch area.
- Surrey Hills to South Downs CRP
- West Anglia CRP
- White Cliffs CRP
Heritage Railways
in and around the London and South East region, including those with mainline interchange:- Bluebell Railway into East Grinstead since March 2013
- Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway at Princes Risborough from 15 August 2018
- East Kent Railway at Shepherdswell
- Epping Ongar Railway at Epping
- Kent & East Sussex Railway at Tenterden and Bodiam
- Lavender Line at Isfield (on a future reopened mainline between Uckfield and Lewes!)
- Mid-Hants Railway (aka the Watercress Line) at Alton
- Rother Valley Railway at Robertsbridge - with a link under construction, granted a Transport & Works Act Order on 9 May 2023, to join Kent & East Sussex Railway at Bodiam
- Spa Valley Railway at Eridge since March 2011
Train Operating Company liaison - Railfuture representatives
London & South East operators:- c2c
- Chiltern Railways
- Docklands Light Railway
- Elizabeth Line
- Gatwick Express (see GTR)
- Govia Thameslink Railway
- Great Northern (see GTR)
- Great Western Railway
- Greater Anglia
- Heathrow Express (open access - run by GWR)
- London Northwestern Railway (run by West Midlands Trains)
- London Overground
- London Trams
- London Underground
- Southeastern
- Southern (see GTR)
- South Western Railway
- Stansted Express (run by Greater Anglia)
- Thameslink (see GTR)
- Avanti West Coast
- CrossCountry
- East Midlands Railway
- Eurostar (open access)
- Grand Central (open access)
- Hull Trains (open access)
- London North Eastern Railway
- Lumo (open access)
Passenger representative groups
- London TravelWatch 'the voice of London's transport users' whose geographical remit extends beyond the GLA boundary - see map of LTW area
- Transport Focus 'putting passengers first'
Other regional and sub-national authorities
- England's Economic Heartland (EEH)
- Transport East
- Transport for London (TfL)
- Transport for the South East (TfSE)
Branch contacts
- Branch Vice-Chairman: roger.blake at railfuture.org.uk
- Branch Membership Secretary: neil.middleton at railfuture.org.uk
- Branch Board Liaison Director: chris.page at railfuture.org.uk
- Branch newsletters - quarterly railse and monthly inter-railse - editorial group: londonandsoutheast at railfuture.org.uk
Neighbouring branches
- East Anglia (and older website at East Anglia)
- East Midlands
- Thames Valley
- Wessex
Branch dashboard
See full dashboard of all branch documents etc.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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