Our primary campaigns are for:
- Hoo Peninsula Railway - upgrading the freight-only branch line to restore passenger services as far as a new station at Hoo St. Werburgh (near the former Sharnal Street station) to provide sustainable transport capacity, connectivity and choice for the incoming residents of the up to c.15,000 new homes to be built as part of Future Hoo. See our January 2020 article Hoo-rail victory and its added Comments, plus our presentation in Gravesend in October 2021.
- Uckfield Lewes - improving economic connectivity by extending Uckfield line services to Lewes and beyond by reinstating the 7.5 miles closed in 1969 and electrification of the Uckfield line, led by Sussex and Coastway Division
- Marshlink journey-time savings through line upgrade, including line-speed increases and connection with HS1 at Ashford International for through high-speed services from London via Rye to Hastings, Bexhill-on-Sea and Eastbourne
- A new Thameslink 2 metro route to add capacity and increase connectivity between East Croydon, Docklands and North London via tunnel between East Croydon and Addiscombe, the Hayes branch, and tunnel between Lewisham, Canary Wharf and Stratford, connecting to the West Anglia, Great Eastern and possibly North London lines.
Successful campaigns
Recent successful campaigns include:- Increased service frequency and shorter journey times, especially for longer-distance / regional services, along West Coastway, based on Network Rail's West Sussex Connectivity Modular Strategic Study of Spring 2020, viewable here. New timetable introduced 2 June 2024.
- Frequency increase with improved connections for Gatwick Airport via North Downs line. Twice-hourly Reading-Gatwick Airport services from timetable change on 14 December 2023.
- Extension of London Overground services on 18 July 2022 to Barking Riverside.
- Extension of Northern line via Nine Elms to Battersea Power Station, with public services starting on 20 September 2021.
- Extension of TfL Rail services to Reading from 25 November 2019, as Elizabeth Line from 21 May 2023.
- Electrification and platform lengthening along the Gospel Oak-Barking Line (GOBLIN) from 15 January 2018.
- Reopening Lea Bridge station (closed July 1985) in May 2016, to improve Lea Valley line services for Stratford, led jointly by our affiliate Chingford Line Users' Association and Railfuture's Eastern Division.
- Development of a new interchange between Hackney Central and Hackney Downs Overground stations in July 2015. See Stations re-linked article.
- Devolution of inner suburban West Anglia services to TfL, bringing them up to the quality and frequency of service offered by London Overground, from May 2015.
We also support campaigns for:
Improved services
- Devolution of inner suburban South Eastern, Southern, South Western and Great Northern services to TfL, bringing them up to the quality and frequency of service offered by London Overground
- Increased capacity on Brighton Main Line, by grade separation eg at Selhurst Triangle / Windmill Bridge junction and additional platforms eg at East Croydon.
- Expansion of London Overground by westward extensions of electrified GOBLIN services
- Extension of the Oyster card area beyond the GLA area to provide fully integrated smart ticketing for all transport modes in and around London
- Improved facilities at unstaffed stations
- Improved connections, eg between Ascot and London services at Ash Vale
- Improved services on branch lines such as Watford Junction - St. Albans Abbey, West Ealing - Greenford and Romford - Upminster, possibly by introduction of tram-trains
- Tube modernisation to include implementation of accessibility schemes, gating of all stations in zones 1-4, and modernisation of the Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines.
- new Thameslink station in Bedfordshire at Wixams, on the Midland Main Line between Bedford and Flitwick and almost due east of Kempston Hardwick station on the nearby Marston Vale Line. Long in the making, revived in June 2022 and granted planning permission in February 2023. Under construction in 2024.
- New/reopened stations at Camberwell, Surrey Canal Road / New Bermondsey, Cassiobridge and Watford Vicarage Road on a revived and re-named Watford-Croxley Link (following the demise of the Metropolitan Line Extension), Maiden Lane, Tufnell Park/Junction Road, Beam Park, Renwick Road on the Essex Thameside route between Barking and Barking Riverside to serve Castle Green, Beaulieu Park to serve the 3600-home Beaulieu Park development (underconstruction in 2024), and Aylesbury South to serve new developments between Little Kimble and Aylesbury.
- Interchange stations where lines cross eg Brixton High Level or Loughborough Junction, Brockley, Park Royal, West Hampstead.
- Two new London Overground stations serving Old Oak Common, at Old Oak Common Lane and Hythe Road.
- New station for Elizabeth line at Old Oak Common providing interchange with Great Western, Chiltern, North London, West London, Central, and HS2 lines.
- Improved capacity, to reduce congestion, and interchange at Stratford.
- Great Western Railway proposal for services between Brentford and Southall, connecting with Elizabeth line - supported by London Borough of Hounslow with approval of part funding for study
- Extension of Greenford branch service to Gerrards Cross or High Wycombe to provide connection with Elizabeth line for Heathrow and central London, transfer then from GWR to Chiltern.
- Diversion of Watford DC Line services from Euston to Stratford via (a reopened) Primrose Hill station, to improve cross-capital connectivity.
- at Bletchley to enable Bedford - Milton Keynes East West Rail services
- a Cuxton Chord in the Medway Valley, as in our response to KCC's consultation (Q6, page 6) on their latest Rail Strategy adopted in March 2021 (para. 5.5 viii, page 27)
- link between West Coast Main Line and Crossrail at Old Oak Common to enable Crossrail services to be extended to Tring, to reduce land take required at Euston for HS2
- Hall Farm curve to improve Waltham Forest's links with Stratford interchange.
- Hoo Peninsula railway - use current freight-only line upgraded for new passenger services as sustainable transport solution to support new housing developments required by Medway Local Plan to 2035. Potential new south-facing spur for link with Medway Towns / Medway Valley Line.
- KenEx Tram, promoted by Thames Gateway Tramlink Ltd, to connect the transport hubs of Ebbsfleet International, Grays and Gravesend with Northfleet, Swanscombe Peninsular, Chafford Hundred, and Purfleet-on-Thames.
- Creation of a Herts-Bucks Connector aka a Watford-Croxley link, following the demise of the Metropolitan Line Extension, linking Watford Junction and Aylesbury via Rickmansworth and Amersham.
- West London Orbital - a new outer orbital route linking major suburban centres (eg in Barnet, Harrow, Hounslow, Ealing, and at Brent Cross, West Hampstead) around outer west and north-west London. This could also be achieved by linking existing heavy rail routes with new chords, by new tramways, or by a combination of the two - like the existing orbital Overground network, it can be made up of a number of connecting services. In April 2023 engineering design work started.
- The central section of the orbital cross-country East-West Rail route, linking the major centres of Cambridge, Bedford and Milton Keynes.
- Construction of Crossrail 2 as a regional system (option 2) linking South-Western and West Anglia inner suburban services; also explore benefits of an eastern extension, the East London Riverside Route advocated by east London and Essex councils.
- Heathrow airport rail access from the west (see also TVCCG) and from the south requires a co-ordinated solution.
- Bakerloo line extension via Old Kent Road to Lewisham. See Railfuture's responses to TfL's first and third consultations.
- Extension of Docklands Light Railway from Bank via City Thameslink and Aldwych to Charing Cross, utilising the original Jubilee Line platforms and overrun tunnels at Charing Cross - only 4km of new tunnel would be needed to close the 2km gap
- Extension of London Tramlink to Sutton, Crystal Palace and northwards into central London
- Reopening of Guildford - Cranleigh as light rail if additional development in area approved