Councillor demands to have Bognor added to Thameslink rail service

Senior county councillor Derek Whittington has told Network Rail he wants to see the town added to the final Thameslink network.

The cross-London rail line is being expanded by 2015. The final destinations have yet to be decided.

Cllr Whittington, the county council's cabinet member for strategic planning and transport, has said: "The county council also welcomes the consideration of providing Thameslink services to Bognor, as it is believed that they could play an important role in assisting multi-agency efforts to promote economic regeneration within the town."

Consultation on the final services for the new-look Thameslink are due to take place in four years. But Cllr Whittington said Network Rail should provide information as soon as possible to enable those interested in the railways to know what is happening.

He was responding to the track-owner's proposals for rail use across Sussex in the coming years.

Bognor was one of the final destinations when an expansion of Thameslink was first suggested in the mid-1990s. But it was then removed from maps which indicate the likely extent of the network in spite of attempts to restore it.

Any Thameslink services are likely to replace Southern trains to London, but they will have the advantage of providing a through service to stations north of the capital.

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