This new year Reigate and Redhill commuters were greeted by higher fares, while engineering works until 2018 have led to fewer Redhill trains going to London Bridge. The improvements at London Bridge will improve Redhill’s train service when finished. However, in the short term the service from Redhill has become slower, with trains diverted to Blackfriars and London Victoria – while other routes (such as the East Grinstead line) continue to London Bridge unchanged.

The irony is that Redhill and Reigate are already paying over the odds, (compared to comparable rail journeys into London) so this would be an ideal time to freeze prices, while commuters experience increased delays, on a daily basis. The engineering works could have been the excuse for fairer fares. Instead train fares have continued to rise even as the engineering works leave a poorer London service for the next few years.

Jonathan Essex told the local website reigate.uk that the Government had to act to ensure that commmuters are fairly treated. He said “If our train service from Redhill to London Bridge was cut like this for just one day passengers would be compensated. Now this happens every day with Southern Trains new timetable penalising Redhill over all other routes.” “The government must ensure that passengers are compensated now”, he added.

The AGM of the Reigate, Redhill and District Rail User Association is from 7.30pm on 12 March 2015 in the Harlequin Theatre in Redhill. This is our opportunity to hear from and speak directly to representatives of Network Rail, Southern and Thameslink (now both part of the Govia Thameslink Railway Ltd, the UK’s largest train franchise). You can join as a member and attend the meeting for £3 on the door.