Southwark's rail safety going backwards under Labour (Southwark Liberal Democrats)

Southwark Liberal Democrats <info@southwark-libdems.org.uk>

Southwark's rail safety going backwards under Labour

February 24, 2006 1:12 PM

Simon Hughes and local Liberal Democrats are campaigning for safer stations in Southwark

Southwark Liberal Democrats have challenged Labour to answer vital questions on rail safety, after crime at South London stations rose 11% in the last year.

Latest official figures from the Government show that train operating companies South Eastern Trains (SET) and Southern, which serve almost all of Southwark's rail stations (apart from Elephant and Castle and London Bridge), are failing to meet 'Secure Station' status. The scheme was established in 1998 and aims to implement a package of security measures at all stations.

SET currently has no stations with secure status, while Southern has just two (only one per cent of those it runs), neither of which are in Southwark. SET's involvement with the scheme has now lapsed.

SET is currently under the control of the Government after it was brought under the Strategic Rail Authority in 2003 so there is little excuse for it failing even to work towards the Government's own secure stations accreditation.

Worryingly, London Underground Limited has allowed the secure status of seven of Southwark's eight tube stations to lapse, with Borough station never becoming accredited in the first place.

Last year Southwark Lib Dems highlighted major concerns over South Eastern Trains' suggestion that it would reduce staff hours at stations serving Southwark by 189 hours a week. Following intense lobbying by the Liberal Democrats and council officers, it appears that SET are set to reverse that decision.

In this year's GLA budget, the Liberal Democrats proposed matching the Mayor's funding for more police in London and proposed to increase policing at rail stations, with an extra 272 officers: 59 for Southern stations and 67 for SET stations. Unfortunately, Labour at the GLA voted against these plans.

Commenting, Cllr Nick Stanton, Lib Dem leader of Southwark Council, said: "It is deeply worrying that none of Southwark's stations currently have secure station status. Train operating companies are completely failing to put passenger safety first. Rising crime on railways and the underground frightens passengers away from using public transport and something must be done urgently to improve the situation.

"Locally, we have pledged £48,000 to provide much-needed CCTV at South Bermondsey station, but the train companies and the Government must now take responsibility for their fair share of safety improvements. If Labour is serious about this issue, the government should make it a condition of rail franchises that secure station criteria is met.

"Our Lib Dem colleagues in the GLA put pressure on the Mayor to increase police numbers at all of London's rail stations and it is a scandal that Labour voted against such an important step."