Conservatives Seek to Save Cannon Street Rail Services

Wednesday, 5 October, 2022

Local News

Local Conservative Councillors, supported by Member of Parliament for Beckenham Bob Stewart and Councillors are calling on Southeastern Railways to reverse the decision to remove services to Cannon Street from the Hayes (Mid-Kent) line from the 11th December 2022.

In September, Southeastern published their new timetable to take effect from December which included a number of changes across the area. Bob Stewart described the changes as a “mixed bag” for the area. Campaigners welcomed news that the Beckenham Junction to London Blackfriars service would be reinstated as part of the changes but were disappointed by the loss of the Cannon Street trains on the other line.

The removal of the Cannon Street services is to reduce use of a busy junction near Lewisham, so that more services can be provided elsewhere. However, local Councillors from wards along the Hayes line are frustrated that their residents are losing services with no acknowledgement of the inconvenience and no without consultation.

Councillors for Hayes & Coney Hall and Kelsey & Eden Park Ward, have been joined by Bob and Councillor Mark Brock (West Wickham) and Michael Tickner (Beckenham Town & Copers Cope) in setting up a petition calling on Southeastern to reverse the decision to remove the Cannon Street Service.

Bob said:

“These timetable changes are a real mixed bag of news. On one hand I am delighted the long-running campaign to restore the Blackfriars service has been successful but am disappointed in the removal of the Cannon Street trains. Many people have bought or rented homes to live on the line and to have that direct access to the City. Removing the link will have a ripple effect and lead to more crowded journeys on buses and other train services.”

Hayes & Coney Hall Councillor, Thomas Turrell, added:

“Removing this service will cause huge changes to people’s journeys. This is a major change to the services provided locally and Southeastern should have held a public consultation on their plans so that the views of local rail users could be taken into account. That is why we are petitioning Southeastern to reverse this change, we encourage people to sign the petition to show Southeastern the strength of feeling on this.”

Sign the petition below.

Save the Hayes Line Cannon Street Service

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Restore our Cannon Street Trains

Campaign to save the Cannon Street Services from the Hayes (Kent) Line.

Bob Stewart MP

Member of Parliament for the Beckenham Constituency

Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Beckenham & Penge

Bob Stewart has served as the MP for the Beckenham Constituency since 2010 and has been adopted as the Conservatives Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the new Beckenham & Penge constituency*.

Cllr Michael Tickner

Councillor for Beckenham Town & Copers Cope ward

Michael Tickner is an experienced and active local Councillor who has represented Copers Cope residents for a number of years. He lives off Court Downs Road and commutes to London from Beckenham Junction every day.He has wide experience of Planning and Traffic Management issues, and is currently Chairman of the Beckenham Town Centre group which has successfully led the bid to secure £4.3m funding for a major public realm improvement. New sign posts and litter bins have already appeared in the High Street.

Cllr Andrew Lee

Councillor for Hayes & Coney Hall

Andrew was previously the Campaign Manager for Bromley Conservatives for 14 years, following many years employed in the retail and advertising sector.

Cllr Alexa Michael

Councillor for Hayes & Coney Hall Ward

Alexa was born in 1969 and has lived in Bromley all her life. She was educated at a girls’ private school in Bromley and holds degrees from the University of East Anglia and University College London. A qualified librarian, Alexa works as a Business Information Executive at the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the City of London. She has represented Bromley Common & Keston Ward since 1994. She is well known locally and has a reputation for getting things done.

Cllr Thomas Turrell

Councillor for Hayes & Coney Hall ward

Thomas lives locally with his wife and their two cats. He works in the financial services sector, working on Positive Impact Investing – helping people use their investments to have a positive impact on society and the environment. Outside of work Thomas has served as School Governor, Public Governor of an NHS Foundation Trust and as a Charity Trustee – including serving as Vice-Chair of a national charity. Locally Thomas helped found a Rail Users Group to give commuters a more direct voice with rail operators.

Cllr Peter Dean

Councillor for Kelsey & Eden Park ward

Peter Dean has lived in the London Borough of Bromley for over 30 years and has represented Kelsey and Eden Park as ward Councillor since 2002. Predominantly interested in Planning Peter is currently Chairman of Bromley's Development Control Committee and also sits on 2 plans sub-committees. He has also served as a school governor for the Unicorn School and Kelsey Park Sports Academy before it became Beckenham Harris. Peter is a full time civil servant and in his limited spare time plays golf to a poor standard.

Cllr Christine Harris

Councillor for Kelsey & Eden Park ward

Christine Harris represents Kelsey and Eden Park Ward. She is married with two grown up sons. She set up her own Accountancy business at home working around family commitments. She has always been hugely involved in the local community including 17 years as a Parent Governor and Officer of various PTA committees.

Cllr. Diane Smith

Councillor, Kelsey & Eden Park Ward

Diane has lived in the Borough since 1967. A former pupil of Balgowan Primary and Langley Park Grammar School for Girls, Diane qualified as a physiotherapist from the Royal London Hospital in 1981 and worked locally in the NHS for 27 years.

Diane brings this local knowledge and skill set to her current role as the Executive Member and Portfolio Holder for Adult Care Services including
Housing and Public Health. She is also a member of the Health and Wellbeing Board and sits as the Local Authority representative on the Bromley
CCG Governing Body meetings.

Diane was first elected to serve as a Councillor for Kelsey and Eden Park Ward in 2010 and since that time has always been keen to serve residents dealing with issues as diverse as homelessness/housing, environmental issues such as missed bin collections. parking disputes and all Council functions in between.

Cllr. Mark Brock

Councillor for West Wickham ward

Mark represents West Wickham Ward. He is currently a Retail Account Manager for a multi-national company and has worked in this sector for the past decade. Before this he was the owner of a Bromley Driving School for ten years. In his spare time Mark is a member of the West Wickham Safer Neighbourhood Panel, whose job it is to advise the West Wickham ward Police team about local community crime and disorder concerns, which then enables the ward Police team to decide promises and priorities which are intended to match community concerns.