Brighton environmental group attacks train firm’s plans

The environmental group, Brighton and Hove Friends of the Earth, has criticised plans to revise train services to and from Brighton and Hove from next year.

Brighton and Hove Friends of the Earth (BHFOE) said that the area’s main train operating company Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) should provide new and better rail services.

The environmental organisation said: “Brighton and Hove Friends of the Earth has responded to Govia Thameslink Railway consultation on evening and weekend services for next year which ends (Wednesday 20 December).

“BHFOE is concerned that the rail operators are not providing a service that serves the needs of Brighton and Hove.

“While GTR’s proposals contain a few improvements, there are far too many areas where poor services, a lack of reliability, constant engineering works and poor rolling stock are putting people off travelling by train.”

Chris Todd, from Brighton and Hove Friends of the Earth, said:  “We suffer from serious congestion and pollution in the city.

“We need the railway to be pulling its weight to get as many people out of theirs cars as possible.

“The problem is that services are slow, unreliable and uncomfortable.

“We need more Sunday services which are not constantly disrupted by engineering works.

“We need rolling stock with toilets and we need the 700 class trains that Thameslink is bringing in upgraded or replaced.

“Until the needs of the public are placed centre stage in the rail industry, we will continue to suffer from expensive and uncomfortable services.”

Brighton and Hove Friends of the Earth have submitted 13 key points. These include:

• Unreliable weekend services due to engineering works – Campaign for Better Transport and Eastbourne Borough Council highlighted the negative impact of disruptive weekend rail engineering work for coastal communities in a recent report published by the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Visitor Economy.  Network Rail should be required to carry out more works in night possessions.
• Poor Thameslink rolling stock (with) fewer seats, cramped, uncomfortable, no trays or tables for working on, no power for recharging devices, poor information on other services.
• Coastal services, particularly Coastway West services, should have a minimum of four-carriage trains with toilets for the faster services to address overcrowding and to increase capacity.
• There should be trains every 30 minutes on Sundays between Brighton and Eastbourne, double the current level of service. It would allow a doubling of the frequency of trains stopping at Glynde and Berwick, also important destinations for the National Park and the latter additionally for Drusillas Zoo Park. This would help relieve pressure on the A27.
• Brighton and Hove – At weekends the city comes under particular pressure, especially during peak periods such as bank holidays, Christmas, summer weekends, party conferences and during the festival. However, the weekend services often don’t reflect this upsurge in demand, either being too few or cancelled due to engineering works. The train service should be built around the needs of the city.

Brighton and Hove Friends of the Earth has also called for more services to be put on when Brighton and Hove Albion are playing at the Amex stadium to ease congestion of both people and cars.

By Clare Calder