Worthing MP raises alarm over train service cancellations and safety concerns
An MP has written to the railway chief to highlight concerns over train services between Worthing and London.
The Member of Parliament for Worthing West, Dr Beccy Cooper, sent a letter to Angie Doll – the Chief Executive Officer of Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) – on February 23.
Dr Cooper described widespread concerns from constituents about the ‘pre-emptive cancellation’ of the only direct service to London Bridge during the week beginning February 16. The MP said many residents rely on the link to reach jobs in London, as well as further connections via the underground and Docklands Light Railway.
She wrote: “Since direct Thameslink services from the West Coastway Line to London Bridge were stopped in May 2023 this service is especially important, and I urge you to prioritise the running of it in the future.
“Secondly, constituents have been in touch expressing concerns for the safety of your staff and passengers on evening services. Whilst they are supportive of your staff, they also note they are more visible in the morning and this leads to passengers, especially ones on their own, feeling unsafe on evening services.
“It has also been pointed out that passengers feel unsafe on stations in the evening due to them being unstaffed. While I appreciate it might not be possible to staff every station on your network, is there any way security patrols could be increased?”
Taking to social media, the MP confirmed she had contacted the rail operator ‘after many of you raised concerns about their rail services to and from Worthing,” adding that she would share any response publicly’.
In response, a spokesperson for Southern Rail said: "During school holidays, we see lower demand for our peak services and more for those during the off-peak, when people are taking day trips or going into work later.
"Taking this into consideration, we have reduced some of our peak services and increased the number of off-peak trains in return. Commuters travelling from Worthing can still complete their journeys, changing onto one of our frequent Thameslink trains towards London Bridge at stations on the Brighton Mainline, such as Preston Park.
"We understand Dr Cooper’s concern for passenger safety, which is always our top priority. We have told her about our plans to increase the number of patrolling Travel Safe Officers on the network and use greater intelligence to lead their deployment, especially on the West Coastway route. We’ve invested more than £3m over the past two years to strengthen safety measures across our network."
GTR highlighted the fact that, from Worthing, rail passengers can catch the 06:32 service to London Victoria (four minutes after the usual 06:28 to London Bridge) and change at Preston Park for the 07:00 Thameslink service to London Bridge. This arrives into London Bridge ten minutes later than normal.