Connecting Netherne-on-the-Hill to the TfL network

Dear Seb,

Connecting Netherne-on-the-Hill to the TfL network

Earlier this month I visited Netherne-on-the-Hill in Reigate and Banstead to talk to local residents and Councillor Shasha Khan.

This is an area just outside London which is directly served by no public transport services, but which is close to Coulsdon South railway station within the Transport for London (TfL) area. TfL route 405 serves the A23 between Redhill and Croydon but the nearest stop is a long and steep walk of around 900 metres from the village.

In Netherne-on-the-Hill I met with Rosalind Earp, chair of Netherne-on-the-Hill Residents Association (NOTHRA) along with Alison Johnson, the treasurer of NOTHRA and Marie Robertson from Netherne Classics, a local over 55s organisation. These residents between them represent the whole village, including both homeowners and tenants of the Guinness Trust housing association, and they spoke to me about the car dependency they suffer and asked for help from TfL to solve this.

From my visit it was clear that a simple extension to TfL’s 463 bus route that terminates at Coulsdon South station could link the nearly 2,000 people who live in Netherne to the wider network of public transport.

Please can you look into this and write back to me? Ideally, I would like to receive a promise of action and a timetable. If there are any obstacles, please could you outline in detail what these are?

I believe this case may be similar to the situation faced by many people at the fringes of London who live just beyond the ends of TfL bus routes. The Mayor’s Transport Strategy rightly defines Londoners in a broad sense, beyond just those who live inside the Greater London Authority area. I would therefore also like to ask, in the light of ULEZ expansion, what plans you are making to provide a better public transport service for people who feel forced to own a car in these areas.

Please write back to me on both of these issues as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Sian Berry

Green Party Member of the London Assembly