Data from National Rail and the Rail Delivery Group has revealed a shocking rise in the number of late trains at Balham, Earlsfield, Tooting and Wandsworth Common stations.

Trains in the morning evening peaks, to and from Central London, have all seen a worsening of their "on-time percentage" in the last six months compared to the same period of 2023. The full breakdown of delays at each station is below.

It is shocking to see that, not only are trains late at some stations late half the time, but that there has been a steady decline from an already-unacceptable level of lateness last year. Particularly concerning are the figures at Tooting station, where over half of services were late despite there being only two services per hour on that line.

Some of the worst performing services include:
8:05 from Balham (8:07 from Wandsworth Common) to Victoria - 88% late (Southern)
18:12 from Waterloo to Earlsfield - 81% late (South Western)
8:21 from Balham to Victoria - 79% late (Southern)
8:40 from Balham (8:42 from Wandsworth Common) to Victoria - 76% late (Southern)
8:13 from Tooting to London Blackfriars - 70% late (Thameslink)

Local commuters deserve better than the shoddy service they are currently receiving from Southern, South Western and Thameslink. I look forward to the Government's plans to bring our local rail services back into public control, so that our trains are always run with the interests of the people who use them at heart.

As an A&E doctor and mother, I am incredibly concerned about the impact of poor air quality in our local area. I see many people attending hospital with breathing difficulties directly linked to toxic air, which contributes to thousands of premature deaths every year. It is my belief that it is the right thing to do to adopt enforceable targets and bring in preventative measures to tackle air pollution. As such, I am supportive of the ULEZ expansion coming to Tooting.

However, I also acknowledge its impact on people’s budgets. I called on Sadiq to expand the scrappage scheme support – which he delivered on without Government support despite money being provided for similar schemes in other cities. Furthermore, I am pleased that he has further expanded the scheme, and information about the scrappage scheme can be found here. Wandsworth Council have also announced support through the Wandsworth Sustainable Travel Fund, details of which can be found here. The expansion of ULEZ was also mandated by the Government as part of the TfL bailout deal during the height of the pandemic – so they wanted the expansion to go ahead as well.

Today, I have written to the Managing Director of the Southern Region of Network Rail calling for an investigation looking into improving accessibility and step-free access at Wandsworth Common Station.

Currently, there is step free access on Platform 1, but those wishing to travel on Platform 2 must cross an elevated footbridge, which is not accessible for wheelchair users, parents with young children, and the elderly. 

I have called for a feasibility study to be conducted, given the signifcant proportion of the local community that falls around the station. 

​Read my full letter here:

After cutting services through Earlsfield station for commuters since the pandemic, South Western Railway have announced that no services will run through Earlsfield from 19 December until 2 January, ostensibly due to industrial action.

SWR is keeping 28 stations open in London through this period, of which 21 have lower passenger usage than Earlsfield. Only big hubs, such as Clapham Junction, Wimbledon and Waterloo, have higher passenger numbers than Earlsfield - this is simply not good enough!

Add your name to my open letter calling for an immediate reconsideration of the decision not to run services through Earlsfield and a full explanation of why this decision was taken in the first place.