Krish wants to hear your views on Swanley rail services

SWANLEY STATION needs upgrading but more trains are vital. As a local commuter Krish is telling rail firms that new City trains must stop at Swanley.

As a Swanley commuter I welcome your proposals for a new all day service from Maidstone East to London, planned from 2018, semi-fast from Maidstone East, via Otford, Swanley and Blackfriars, then on to Cambridge.

This service, which will provide both additional capacity and new transport links, is important. By linking up with Crossrail at Farringdon it will give much better access across London.

But to help regular travellers from Swanley - which is a large town in North West Kent - it really ought to a twice-hourly service.

The service as proposed in your consultation stops twice an hour at Borough Green and Otford, which are much smaller population centres than Swanley.

Swanley has a good service to Victoria, but fast trains to the City - and access to Docklands - are less good. This needs to be addressed, as many London jobs are moving east - thanks to the regeneration work in Docklands, and the deliberate policy of the GLA to enlarge the traditional employment areas of London.

People in Swanley who work in key industries in our capital need at least as good access to London as those in Sevenoaks.

Email: action@sevenoakslibdems.org.uk

Mobile: 07903240262