The level crossings campaign is building up in an exciting way! Dr Ben Spencer MP has thrown his support into the campaign, and we have a strong working relationship on this. Thank you to everyone who’s made reports to me and signed the petition; it’s having an impact.

Network Rail released a stakeholder letter yesterday, and while largely not what we are looking for in content, contained the vital paragraph “We recognise the level of concern locally in respect of this issue, so we’re working hard to understand whether there’s anything more we can do, particularly around the technical operation of the signalling and level crossing systems, to keep the barriers up as much as possible and avoid excessive congestion on the roads.”

Ben Spencer MP, Egham Campaigner Mark Adams and I will continue to apply pressure on Network Rail until the best possible solution is secured.

Ben Spencer MP today posted on Facebook that,

"Level crossings have also been a source of contention within our towns, especially in and around Egham and Pooley Green. However, I am aware that recently this appears to be getting worse, with many reports of huge delays and disruption to traffic. 

Reports of delays of over 20 minutes, and resulting congestion meaning some cars cannot even make the crossing before barriers come down again are simply unacceptable. I recently met with Cllr Alex Balkan - Egham Hythe, Pooley Green & the RBC side of Staines to discuss these issues and the concerns that the situation is getting worse not better. We are both campaigning for improvements, and together will work to address this problem and reduce waiting times. There are a number of ways we can achieve this. Cllr Balkan has already been in contact with Network Rail and is looking into options for technical solutions, including digital signalling, which may reduce the level crossing down times. 

I have also written to Network Rail asking them to provide the data for the level crossings, to show the extent of the recent issues. I have also requested they monitor each of the level crossings and the traffic impact, to see the full extent of the disruption being caused so that this can be tackled and resolved as a priority. 

More broadly, I have been campaigning to improve rail services across Runnymede and Weybridge. Through this work I have highlighted issues with reliability and timetabling around the branch line interchanges. The Weybridge to Egham branch line is the worst performing section of South Western Railway’s network, and each delay affects the timetabling, and therefore when level crossings are down. If the line was more reliable, timetabling could help to reduce the length of time drivers were left waiting at the barriers. By working with SWR to address this and improve performance, I hope this will have a material difference to drivers in and around Egham too. 

Please do continue to let me and Cllr Balkan know of the issues and delays you are experiencing, and we will continue to challenge Network Rail and SWR to deliver improvements as swiftly as possible."

Best wishes,

Cllr Alex Balkan

cllr.alex.balkan@runnymede.gov.uk