Following the introduction of the new timetable in December and the No 10 petition, BVRG has recently written to SouthEastern Trains again .... here is a copy of our letter for your information.

Dear Mr Horton and Mr Gibson,

I am writing on behalf of the Blackheath Village Residents Group regarding the train timetable change on 13 December 2009. This includes cutting trains from the Woolwich line going via Blackheath during peak hours with a 2 hour 15 minutes gap in services in the morning on this route and loss of trains returning in the evening involving a gap of 2 hours 40 minutes for trains from Lewisham or Blackheath to Woolwich Arsenal . The loss of the local route and interchange opportunities has been particularly bad for people at Blackheath wishing to catch trains from 8am to 9am where there has been a 50% reduction, of 3 trains, from Blackheath to Cannon street leading to longer waits and increased congestion from a station where trains were already very busy.

A petition to stop these changes has been handed into 10 Downing Street via their website on 06 February 2010 and I would like to draw to your attention that over 1100 local people have signed the petition such is the extent of local opposition: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/southeastern2/.

We have been reassured by various managers of Southeastern over the last few month that following the changes of the 13th of December that the services will be reviewed. I am aware a census that includes the weighing of trains to gauge passenger numbers has begun recently following a delay as a result of the snow and service alterations and cuts that happened during December and January. I hope that you will be able to confirm for us that these statistics are being looked at and I urge that you publish these figures, so passengers can see where trains are most busy, as part of openness about the public service that you provide.

I am particularly concerned about the overcrowding on this route as since the timetable change I have personally witnessed a person forced to sit on the floor due to feeling feint on one crowded train. Also just last week I was on an extremely crowded train that not all commuters at Blackheath could fit on where two heavily pregnant women were forced to stand in the doorway of a train as it was physically not possible for people to move to allow them access to seats despite wanting to help.

We are hopeful that Southeastern will take the opportunities presented during reviews of timetable changes for May and December this year to improve the service through Blackheath. Peak services should be restored to allow people from the Woolwich line to get to Blackheath and Lewisham, and train frequencies (ideally clock face) and train lengths should be increased so we do not have such a poor commuting experience.

Yours sincerely

Blackheath Village Residents Group

BVRG