Storm disrupts Brockley transport services

@BBCLondonNews Tree down in Brockley. pic.twitter.com/6vvuZQE3iL
— Michelle Price (@michelleaprice) October 28, 2013

At least they're being realistic. National Rail Enquiries reports that due to this evening's anticipated storms, there will be no Overground services and possibly no Southeastern trains tomorrow morning before 9am. Southern is also expected to be operating a reduced timetable.

"After this, it is expected that a normal service will resume on all routes." Although of course, that normal service is likely to be playing catch-up for a long-time afterwards, as delayed commuters swamp the trains.

With thanks to Monkeyboy for the warning.

UPDATE (07.52): Southeastern are not currently able to run train services due to the risk of trees falling onto the railway lines, damage to equipment and localised flooding. Southeastern expect to run a reduced service later this morning, with many routes not starting until after 09:00.

UPDATE (08.13): John Higginson has tweeted this photo of a cherry tree, blown over in Manor Avenue.

UPDATE (08.18): The Old Kent Road is closed-off near Asda (reportedly due to wind blowing over a crane on a building site), which is bad news if you're trying to bus in.

UPDATE (09.25):

@themostsearched Tree down outside Old Police Station. No trains until 10.15am & even that is an estimate... pic.twitter.com/Yf3ATFnYY9
— Laura Prior (@LauraPrior) October 28, 2013

Crofton Park seeks 100 years of train upgrades

BCer William says this is a pivotal moment for Crofton Park transport and wants residents to join his campaigning group. He writes:

The Department for Transport is inviting tenders for the biggest rail franchise in Europe. This franchise will include provisions of trains from Crofton Park station. We are within sight of a world-class system but currently Crofton Park gets a terrible deal - amongst the worst in London, considerably worse than what was delivered in 1950s Britain and on par with Edwardian era provision. 

Our group is fighting for a fair deal in the new franchise specification, with the support of Lewisham Council, local MPs, local GLA members and TfL. More information on our website: www.cptug.org

The South London semi-circle

Another calligrapher has attempted to make the point that South London does have public transport - this time, with the aid of a semi-circular map. Map-maker Max Roberts tells Londonist:

In terms of user-friendliness, the railways of south London are probably among the worst in the world, up there with the Paris RER and much worse than the New York Subway... But why should the Underground get all the circles? I’ve had my sights on south London for a while now, and after four attempts have finally got something that works reasonably well. 

The inherent complexity of the system is reflected in the final design, a good map can’t fix a bad network. In fact, this is only one of two designs where I had to refer to a track plan in order to be sure that I was getting it right (New York was the other).

Campaign launched to protect Greenwich and Deptford trains to Charing X and London Bridge

A campaign has been launched by a group called the Greenwich Line Users to prevent major cuts to South Eastern train services.

As discussed on the South East London transport forum, the planned three-year disruption of services from South East London through London Bridge is due to begin in 2015:

- 2015/6 Charing Cross services will not stop at London Bridge
- 2016/8 Cannon Street services will not stop at London Bridge

These changes are the a result of Thameslink construction work to expand and modernise London Bridge station. Once work is completed in 2018, the London Bridge serviceswill resume, but Greenwich and Deptford will have lost direct services to Charing Cross or Waterloo East. The group explains:

Once the work is complete there will be no physical track connection that will enable trains to reach Charing Cross. So, after 150 years, the West End will no longer be reached by direct trains. 

The Greenwich Line Users’ Group has been formed to represent the interests of all passengers who use the Greenwich Line. Whilst we recognise that the work at London Bridge will bring about many improvements for passengers generally, it will disadvantage users of the Greenwich Line. Our objective is to remove that disadvantage. Insufficient thought has been given by the Department for Transport to the impact on the Greenwich Line and the possible ways in which direct Charing Cross services could be maintained. Cannon Street is a fine station for the City, but hopeless for getting to and from the West End. 

The Group will be lobbying the Department for Transport, Network Rail and Southeastern trains for a service that meets the needs of South East Londoners. The Users’ Group can be contacted at greenwichline@outlook.com. We will be happy to receive your comments or questions.

The cancellation of Brockley's infrequent direct connections to Charing X some years ago was a relatively minor inconvenience, but Greenwich and Deptford's West End services are much more frequent and would be a consequently greater loss.