Putney MP Welcomes Extra Five Trains on District Line

Extra morning rush hour trains & an enhanced late evening service following TfL review

For some time now local MP, Justine Greening, has been pressing London Underground to better match tube capacity with where it is needed as the Wimbledon branch sees nearly 30 percent of all District line traffic.

Earlier this year Transport for London reviewed demand on the District line and proposed the removal of weekday Kensington (Olympia) service to allow five additional trains on the Wimbledon branch during the morning peak.

Justine helped make the case locally for more trains leafleting commuters at East Putney and Southfields stations to encourage them to get in touch with her or Transport for London to have their say.

With almost eighty per cent of passengers in favour of proposed changes, Transport for London has now confirmed the introduction of 5 extra morning peak trains and an enhanced late evening service on the Wimbledon branch with six trains per hour until 23:30 from December this year.

The extra tubes will increase capacity for more than 4,000 extra people from Wimbledon in the morning peak and will mean more than 700,000 District line passengers have a more reliable service.

Justine said:
“Like other regular commuters, I know a better District line service is vital to residents. We have had improvements with extra tubes and more city bound trains over the past few years but the introduction of five extra trains and an enhanced evening service on our stretch of the line will really help ease overcrowding and improve reliability for passengers.

She continued:
" I am really pleased London Underground has listened to local residents and taken action to help ease the capacity issues on the line. Continuing to improve our District line service is a priority for me and I meet regularly with Mike Challis, District Line manager, so if you ever have any concerns please do get in touch with me at greeningj@parlaiment.uk”

The District line is also set to undergo major upgrade improvements which will see new wider and longer air-conditioned trains from 2013 and a new signalling system by 2018. Overall, the upgrade will deliver 24% more capacity on the line.

  October 1, 2011