Three London MPs have said South Western Railway’s plans for “damaging” cuts could lead to overcrowding on trains to Waterloo station next year.
In an open letter, the Liberal Democrat politicians said the planned train cuts would hamper economic recovery in parts of the capital and increase car use.
The open letter was signed by leader of the Liberal Democrats and MP for Kingston and Surbiton, Ed Davey, along with MP for Twickenham, Munira Wilson and MP for Richmond Park, Sarah Olney.
It was sent to Chris Heaton-Harris, the minister of state at the Department for Transport.
It comes as the rail operator plans to slash morning services between Waterloo and key stations in Richmond and Kingston by up to half next year.
There could be big changes to South Western Railway services in 2022
(Image: James Mayer)
South Western Railway (SWR) says this is due to fewer travellers using services during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The open letter from MPs read: “We are concerned about proposed cuts to services which could lead to overcrowding on trains, drive up car use and damage the economic recovery in South West London and across the capital.
“We would be grateful for a meeting at your earliest convenience to discuss these far-reaching and damaging proposals, which will have a huge impact on local residents and businesses.
“London train station across zones 3-6 cannot be left with sub-par train services.”
Munira Wilson and Sarah Olney rained the issue with Mr Heaton-Harris in the House of Common last week.
John Lewis, Lidl and other firms are also calling on SWR to reconsider its plans to cut train services in 2022.
South Western Railway has been contacted for comment.
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The rail operator has previously said: “The timetable we are proposing from December 2022 will represent a significant increase on our current service levels and provide 93 per cent of our pre-Covid capacity.
“With customer journeys forecast to return to 76 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, it is appropriate that we right-size our services to match demand, improve reliability for our customers and reduce costs for the taxpayer.
“We welcome the feedback from these organisations on our consultation proposals, which provides useful insight into the communities and employees they represent and the customers we serve.
“We will carefully consider this feedback alongside other responses to the consultation as we develop the December 2022 timetable in more detail.”
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