Pressure on South West Trains over Olympic weekends
10:00am Wednesday 1st August 2012 in Where I Live
Overcrowded and infrequent trains are resulting in increased pressure being brought to bear on South West Trains (SWT) to improve its weekend service.
Despite increased demand from Olympic visitors, currently only half-hourly four car trains run on Saturdays with an hourly four-car train service on Sundays.
Richmond councillor Janet Langhorne, along with Vince Cable and Liberal Democrat transport lead on the London Assembly Caroline Pidgeon, has been in talks with SWT managing director Tim Shoveller.
Coun Langhorne said: “What sort of memories will they (visitors) take away after travelling on trains where they will be standing for the duration of their journey if they can even get one?”
She wants trains increased to eight carriages over Olympic weekends with two trains an hour being provided on Sundays.
SWT has agreed to include the Shepperton branch line in a forthcoming review of services and capacity.
A spokesman said: “South West Trains has worked hard to provide the maximum capacity possible for spectators. We have worked closely with the Olympic Delivery Authority, the Department for Transport and Transport for London to deliver a train service that caters for the needs of spectators.
“We are providing considerable extra capacity on all routes including those that serve Richmond during the course of the Olympics. All trains have been strengthened to eight cars which represents a 60 per cent increase in capacity compared to a normal weekend. On Saturdays during the Olympics there are eight trains an hour between Richmond and Waterloo and six trains an hour on Sundays.
“Passengers who are travelling to the Games will have been advised when they received their Olympic tickets to plan ahead and check getaheadofthegames.com ."
