Many constituents have raised the significant landslip north of East Grinstead with me and it is important as a local community we hold Govia Thameslink Rail and Network Rail to account on all traveller’s behalf which I am keen to do.
There have been a number of ongoing issues with our local rail network which constituents have kept me updated on since my election. I have corresponded with GTR’s team to ask which provisions have been put in place to those who start early in the morning can be sure they get to work on time, and they have come back to me to share an outline of the early morning service they are running for those who need to be in London for 7:00am. I have provided an outline of these below.
I have made suggestions to GTR that they engage a local community liaison officer, so future incidents are better publicised to the public and they are considering this, furthermore I have requested an update on the timescale for the reopening of the line and when I receive a response I will write to you again.
However, this is clearly a short-term solution and we all strongly recognise the need for a full rail service to be restored to East Grinstead as soon as possible. This situation is causing unneeded complications and stress to everyone who commutes from East Grinstead. I met with the Town Clerk today about this matter and other train local matters including better access to the station for everybody as the disabled access in unacceptable and we are working to look at this.
Network Rail report after the months’ worth of rain over last weekend, due to Storm Dennis with more heavy rain likely - this meant that the landslip site has sadly worsened and the solution for fixing it needs to be adapted. Network Rail and GTR have also assured me they will be posting regular updates on their social media channels and website and engaging with me with updates. Please do rest assured I will continue to work on your behalf to make sure that everybody continues to work solidly to make sure that service is fully restored as soon as possible and all suitable mitigations are put into place so that travellers are not continuing to be disrupted.
0530 from East Grinstead to Three Bridges arriving 0605 (35m) - Bus
0610 from Three Bridges to Gatwick Airport arriving 0614 (4m) - Train
0628 from Gatwick Airport to London Victoria arriving 0658 (30m) - Train
0542 from East Grinstead to Lingfield arriving 0605 (23m) - Bus
0611 from Lingfield to London Victoria arriving 0703 (52m) - Train