New timetable would see South Western Railway reduce off peak arrivals
Putney Station
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The number of trains serving the Putney mainline rail station could be reduced if South Western Railway (SWR) introduce a new timetable.
From December 2022 the train operating company is proposing to reduce the number of arrivals at Putney travelling to Waterloo from the 10 that served the station before the pandemic to 8. The peak service will remain unchanged.
A consultation has been launched into the proposed changes which runs until Sunday 19 September.
SWR claims the changes are designed to increase the reliability of services into Waterloo. They are part of a broader reduction in services which the train company says are being introduced as the experience during the pandemic confirmed to it that running fewer trains increases reliability.
The company says that there is a major pinch-point at Queenstown Road where the tracks reduce from four to three lines and this has historically led to delays. It therefore plans not reinstate four of the eight previous trains calling at this station. It is hoped that improved London Underground services in the area due to the extension of the Northern line will mitigate the negative impact for local travellers.
Other stations in the borough affected include Earlsfield which to lose two trains per hour off-peak and Wandsworth Town which will lose two local stopping trains every hour. There would no longer be direct services to Shepperton, meaning that direct services to Kingston would be every half hour rather than every fifteen minutes.
Other service reductions include the slow lines from Wimbledon seeing the number of trains drop to 18 to 16.
The number of trains per hour travelling into Waterloo in the morning peak will fall from 60 to 53. Services approaching London Waterloo merge and operate over three pairs of lines: Fast Lines, Slow Lines, and Windsor Lines. South Western says this is the point on the network that is most congested and requires a complex set of interactions and crossing moves to allow trains to reach the correct platforms.
Overall the new timetable would have a capacity at 93% of pre-Covid levels with larger trains partially compensating for the loss of some services. SWR says that they are anticipating commuter travel recovering to just 60% of pre-Covid levels.
The council’s transport spokesman Cllr John Locker said, “It is of crucial importance that local people who rely on train services to and from these stations take part in this consultation and let the bosses at South Western Railway know what they think of these proposals.
“In my view they are unacceptable. Reducing services on these key lines is ill-founded and ill-considered. In my view there is no justification for proposing reducing services at the end of next year when we need to be encouraging people to use trains to avoid a car-based recovery.
"Development in Nine Elms and central Wandsworth requires a good service at Queenstown Road and Wandsworth Town.
“And at a time when councils like Wandsworth are taking steps to tackle climate change and encouraging greater use of public transport, this would be a retrograde step that could lead to greater car use, worse air quality and bigger carbon emissions.
“I would urge everyone who uses these services and also those who believe in the value of a vibrant and diverse public transport network to take part in the rail company’s consultation and make sure their voices are heard.”
The consultation document can be found be found by clicking here. If you have any questions, you can email dec22consultation@swrailway.com.
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August 20, 2021
