This afternoon I met virtually with Chris Heaton-Harris MP, the Minister for Rail, to discuss some of the priority issues I'm working on for constituents across Carshalton and Wallington.
These include:
- bringing the London Overground to Sutton: this would connect Carshalton and Wallington residents up to new destinations across London, as well as having the potential for a possible further extension down to Belmont to service the new London Cancer Hub;
- extending the Tramlink to Sutton: TfL have completed their consultation on the Tramlink, and have concluded that it will seek to install a new Tramlink between Sutton and Colliers Wood, and I am pressing for the finances needed to deliver the project;
- addressing problems at Carshalton Beeches and Hackbridge stations: both have very steep steps down to the platforms, Hackbridge station needs to be extended to accommodate the increase in commuter numbers, and the southbound platform at Carshalton Beeches is still not fully accessible;
- improving existing bus and rail services: Southern and Thameslink services are not always the most reliable, and when we return from the pandemic commuters need to spend much less time stuck on delayed services, and TfL also need to give more attention to bus services in the Borough - increasing the frequency of some more popular routes and making more of them double decker to allow more capacity.
I was pleased to have the opportunity to discuss these and more with the Minister, and will be continuing conversations in the new year with him, the Department, TfL, Network Rail, and the train operating companies to push these projects forward.
