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Have you ever felt that there was no point in letting someone know that you were unhappy with the service that you were receiving as no-one ever listened? Let this local resident's example provide you with hope. We believe that he and Southern Customer Services can now be regarded as regular pen pals.
Letter 1: Dear Southern, I would like to pose a question as to why Southern have yet to implement the proposal suggested by the SRA in 2004 to improve services at Coulsdon South? I travel from the station every weekday and some weekends and the service provided is appalling in regards to frequency of service and timings. Why do you only provide a service to London Bridge at 0725 and the next service at 0757? I should not be forced to change at East Croydon in order to get to the major terminus for the South. The services are crammed by time they ARRIVE at Coulsdon South. Trains should not be full to bursting when they arrive at Zone 6 station. That indicates a problem further up the line. Please could you indicate your thoughts on this, as £1750 for a season ticket is getting a bit of a joke with this service.
Reply 1: Thank you for your web comment. The proposal to which you refer was actually one of a number formulated by the former Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) in connection with a review they undertook of the whole of the Southern network in the early part of 2004. The document published by their successors, the Department for Transport (DfT), aims to address the huge increase in the number of people travelling on Southern routes and to provide a new timetable that is suitable for today's commuters, rather than the current timetable which has essentially evolved over years to be the best it can be without starting again .At this stage, all that the DfT have issued is an outline document and the details are not yet decided. We are well aware of passengers concerns over the through service and we are working very closely with the DfT on this new timetable. While I don't have any specific details at the moment, we will of course keep our passengers informed of any progress, so please do look on our website or feel free to contact us again if we can help further. Regards, Vinny Bandini, Southern Customer Services
Letter 2: Dear Southern Customer Services, Thank you for the comments. I am well aware of the SRA proposal, but that was back in 2004, before the growth of passenger numbers at Coulsdon South and many others. The picture has changed since then and Coulsdon is now the fastest growing station in passenger numbers on the entire route. This coupled with the planned re-generation of Coulsdon Town centre and more importantly the Cane Hill site across the road from the station which planned to provide a vast number of NEW homes. Coulsdon South will be overrun within two years. The document in question is still years away from any implementation and even then will address issues raised in 2004! Key questions need to be answered: 1. I assume that Southern physically monitor train loads (at least by travelling on the trains). Why do Southern believe this is not an issue which needed to be addressed in the winter timetable 2007 or at very latest Summer 2008 as advised by TravelWatch. 2. Why is the focus being placed on the Gatwick Express service and solving the issues with that rather than looking at the commuter routes which provide the vast majority of your travellers?
Reply 2: Thank you for your e-mail dated 15 January about pressures on local train services. Please accept my apologies for the delay in replying. The proposals put forward by the SRA in September 2004 have been much modified since then and the current plan is to relieve pressure on the Brighton Main line by extending six Gatwick Express trains to run from and to Brighton in each peak and to have two new trains in each peak from and to Redhill. The detail has yet to be finalised but it is expected that these changes will be introduced next December. In addition to that, we hope to be in a position to provide some further relief in the longer term in the light of a recent announcement by the Secretary of State for Transport. She has just elaborated on an order placed by the government for some 1300 new carriages to be deployed nation wide. Some of these are to go to provincial networks but some 900 are to be allocated to London and the South East and preliminary indications are that 106 of those will come to Southern. They are to be delivered between 2009 and 2014 and we expect to be able to reveal more about their actual distribution in due course. In the meantime, Network Rail have made clear in their Business Plan the need for 10 if not 12 carriage trains in South London albeit that extensive infrastructure works like platform extensions will be required to support that. However, at least work can now start. I am sorry I am not able to put more flesh on the bones at this stage but it needs to be understood that because (the timetable = resources = costs = subsidy from the taxpayer), the latter has to have a voice and so it is not the train companies who call the shots. Regards Richard Lancaster, Southern Customer Services
Reply 3: Thank you for your email. I do acknowledge your comments of the problem of crowded trains on the Coulsdon South and accept that Coulsdon South is not served by trains within the geographic scope of the South London Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) and services from here are being considered as part of the Brighton Main Line RUS published by the Department for Transport. Purley is served by main line trains as well as by trains from the two branches to Caterham and Tattenham Corner. Service provision here has, therefore, been investigated both by the Brighton Main Line RUS and the South London RUS. Work continues in order to ensure that the combined effects of the two RUS's provide a satisfactory solution to the level of peak demand at Purley. It is likely that splitting and joining of Caterham/Tattenham trains at Purley will need to continue, because of the need to optimise the use of paths in the congested East Croydon area. Running separate trains from each of the branches requires two paths through Croydon, whereas joining them uses only one. I am sure that the people involved with these Route Utilisation Strategies are blatantly aware of the building works taking place in the Coulsdon area and the increase in passengers this will result in and also the general regeneration and building works taking place in the area. That said we can only plan with the resources that will be available to us and as part of this it is my understanding that as part of the provision of additional carriages from the Government some 106 carriages are being deployed to the Southern area of which some will hopefully be used to strengthen services in the Coulsdon area. Having said all that, I am unable to go into any further detail as we at Southern still await the findings of these RUS's. Regards David Cotterell, Southern Customer Services

COULSDON NURSERY SCHOOL

COULSDON NURSERY SCHOOL
Linden Avenue
Coulsdon, Surrey, CR5 3BT
A Department for Education and Science (DfES)
designated BEACON School
(1999 – 2005)

Our Vision:
“A learning community where everyone involved has high expectations and all work in partnership to enable children to achieve the highest standards of which they are capable.”

THERE IS NO CHARGE FOR EDUCATION AT
COULSDON NURSERY SCHOOL

(Please note Lunch Club & Childcare sessiare chargeable)

“Coulsdon Nursery School is a very effective school, with many strong features. High quality teaching and a very well designed curriculum ensure that children make very good progress. Standards are above the average expected for the Foundation Stage.”
Ofsted Report
(Inspection: 28 Feb-March 2001)
Telephone for more information or to book a visit to look around.
Tel: 01737 553860
Fax: 01737 558455
headteacher@coulsdon-nur.croydon.sch.uk

COULSDON WEST SAFER NEIGHBOURHOOD TEAM
EMAIL: coulsdonwest.snt@met.police.uk
TEL: 020 8721 2465
PLEASE USE 999 FOR EMERGENCIES
PS Paul Knight
PC Michael Roberts
PCSO Alison Collins
PCSO Ruth Willows-Pierce
CALL US WITH ANY COMMUNITY PROBLEMS.
WE’RE HERE TO HELP

Coulsdon Community Centre
Whilst the Centre is booked most evenings we now have availability most weekdays during the day. If you are looking to run an activity you can either call 01737 554220 or contact us via the website: www.coulsdoncommunitycentre.co.uk

Dance in the Centre - 24 May
On Saturday 24 May, Churches Together in Coulsdon have an evening of dance music (soul, R&B, blues, gospel, jazz, pop, etc) plus a brought-in meal at The Community Centre in Chipstead Valley Road for only £8 a person all-in (under 13s £4). A percentage of any profit will go to charity. Live music will be provided by singer June Burrows with Andrew Howell on keyboard plus recorded dance music by The Reconciliation DJs, Eddie McCalla and Brian Smith. There will be a licensed bar plus a raffle and auction during the evening. The function will start gently at 6.00pm, with the meal being delivered c. 7.30pm, and will run to 11.00pm. Dancing will be strongly encouraged (strictly not ballroom!). Dress casual. Tickets must be pre-paid by Monday 19 May at the latest for catering purposes (choose chicken or fish and chips). However, only 150 (seated) places are available, so be quick! Non-meal tickets may be available after 19th at only £5 (under 13s free). For further information and tickets, please contact Sheila Francis on sherden@btinternet.com or 020 8642 2033.

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