Dear resident and commuter,

Thank you again for signing the petition - it’s having an impact. We’re nearly at 2,000 signatures. Please share this petition with friends, family, neighbours and on social media, including resident groups. We attracted the BBC to report on the issue, but with more signers and the ways me and colleagues are working on increasing the pressure dial below, we can hopefully attract more attention from the press and the Minister of Transport.

Yesterday I met with the Network Rail team at Basingstoke alongside Mark Adams (Egham Chamber of Commerce) and Dr Ben Spencer MP.

It was very helpful to meet the team and appreciate, that following the campaign I‘ve led with the support of residents, Ben Spencer and Mark Adams, that Network Rail realise they have made significant mistakes with the level crossing down times and the “misguided” promises they have made previously about improvements following the August works. 

They have assured us that they are working hard to improve the operations to lessen the downtimes and have committed to these improvements occurring sometime in the coming months. They have already issues improved operational guidance, which they hope will see immediate benefits, and are also looking at technical solutions including identifying whether there are more optimal points to lower barriers, looking at striking point for when trains leave stations, further improvements to staff training, and detailed modelling of potential impacts of changes. Detailed and accessible data is vital for much of this work, and work is also ongoing to look at improvements that can be made to their systems to deliver this. 

Two further issues identified that have made matters worse are engineering works on the mainline which result in more trains using the Weybridge-Egham branch line, and recent faults with the new signalling equipment installed in the summer. NR are working with the equipment supplier to improve reliability, and no further engineering work is planned until February, by which time we will hopefully have a clearer idea of broader improvements, and a clear communications strategy for residents. 

These issues are made even more complicated by the number of level crossings we have in close proximity to each other and NR are very conscious that any solutions must work across the line and all level crossings, not causing additional problems elsewhere. Ben Spencer MP and I highlighted that local knowledge and information should be included in their assessments of possible solutions, and that the impact on emergency services must also be included when seeking local solutions. 

I will continue to work with Ben Spencer and the teams from both NR and SWR to address these issues. NR have agreed to provide regular updates which we will continue to share.

However, this will not stop my and the community’s campaign of continuing to increasing the pressure dial on Network Rail until we see substantial changes that we are happy with. 

I made a Freedom of Information request seeking data on the difference between downtimes before and after their works in August. Ben Spencer has also requested a traffic impact assessment from Network Rail. Even Network Rail today acknowledged that they facing serious scrutiny on this issue.

When we attain the above information we will be approaching the Minister for Transport and the Office of Rail Regulation, to apply even greater pressure on Network Rail. We will also seek more press attention. 

We are also waiting for a feasibility study, I requested from Network Rail with the support of Runnymede Borough Council, to seek out all the possible solutions to the waiting times issue. Once we have this study, I will then work with Ben Spencer and RBC to secure funding from various stakeholders to work towards making a big improvement project a reality and will update residents in the process.

Please note the objectives following the feasibility study are more long term compared to our more immediate goal to intensely pressure Network Rail to reduce their waiting times with operational and technological enhancements. With the feasibility study, we seek to find investment for an infrastructure project like a tunnel or a bridge, and this is a longer term goal as securing such large funding from various stakeholders can take a number of years. 

Of course, who knows - Network Rail may produce a change to downtimes in the coming months which residents are content with. However, the fight for me won’t stop until this is no longer dampening the lives of commuters, damaging our environment, and causing safety risks. 

If you have any feedback for Network Rail in their considerations for improvements, I’m always keen to share this with them.

Best wishes,
Cllr Alex Balkan
Cllr.Alex.Balkan@runnymede.gov.uk