Action to improve your trains
Our work to make your life just that bit easier
Almost every door in Worcester Park has the same message when we are out listening to residents - the train service is just not good enough.
The terrible service means children are late for school, commuters have to leave early to get to work reliably and home in time for childcare pick ups, whilst being crammed into crowded carriages.
The significant cut to late-night services are particularly concerning, forcing people who are enjoying themselves in central London to resort to costly taxi journeys.
Frequent delays and cancellations at all times of the day are making commuting increasingly unreliable.
As your Member of Parliament, and working with local activists in Worcester Park and North Cheam, we’re going to do something about the unacceptable service.
On Friday 6th March our team met with Jonny who is South Western Railways Timetable Transformation lead to find out how constituents views can be heard, and how we can finally fix our trains after years of inaction.
Worcester Park North candidates Jo Elgard and Israel Owoade, Worcester Park South candidates Luni Sabharwal and Jenna Hartley-Smith, and Rob Beck and James Appleby from Stonecot and North Cheam were all able to explain to South Western Railways directly all the issues they had raised by residents, and also the issues they have had themselves as regular users of the train service from Worcester Park.
Jonny explained how 2004 was the last time timetables were “recast”. Recast means a full review of all train services, multiple associated lines across all days and times, rather than smaller changes that happen year on year. This total rebuild of the timetable from scratch is much less frequent and this offers a huge opportunity to fix the problems with our trains.
We heard about the benefits of the new Arterio fleet which is currently replacing the older units on our line, and which will mean higher capacity, air conditioned, longer trains serving Worcester Park. The latest plans are for three quarters of the 70 total planned Arterio fleet to be in service by the end of Summer 2026. One of the extra benefits of the new fleet is that they accelerate quicker than the old trains, so can recover from minor delays more efficiently.
We heard how the new schedule consultation will happen in two stages, the first phase will be the most important for local residents to contribute to, and will start from the end of March this year. This stage will ask residents what parts of the service are working well, what isn’t working, and what particular aspects of the timetable you want to see change the most. It might be more peak time services, or later or earlier trains, or more fast services so that the journey time is reduced.
SWR will launch the consultation through online channels, on social media, with QR codes, at stations and paper feedback forms in libraries, and I will be sharing information with constituents on how they can get more involved.
The more formal timetable consultation will take place in Autumn 2026 and will allow residents to comment on proposals for the new timetable.
For context - I have previously submitted numerous written questions to the Department for Transport about the situation at Worcester Park station, trying to understand the best course of action. After pressing the Minister for Local Transport, Simon Lightwood, he was shocked by his response. It revealed a complete lack of understanding of the issues surrounding Worcester Park station and the concerns of constituents.
In November 2024, Luke submitted a written question to the Minister on whether the Department planned to reinstate a full pre-pandemic service for late-night trains. You can find that here. Mr. Lightwood responded by stating that there were no current plans to restore services at Worcester Park. Luke then followed up in January 2025 to inquire why this was the case. You can find that question here. The Minister’s response was deeply concerning again, stating that his Department had determined there was insufficient demand to reinstate services to their full capacity. As we all know, this simply isn't true.
Luke Taylor is determined to understand how this judgment was made. Specifically, we want to know who they are consulting, as it is certainly not the constituents who have written to us or spoken directly about the ongoing nightmare they experience daily due to the lack of services at the station.
It is utterly frustrating that the government increased rail fares by 4.6% in March 2025, including those for South Western Railway (SWR), at a time when service quality continues to decline. For years, fares have risen, yet trains remain late, overcrowded, and unreliable. Commuters from Worcester Park are missing trains, causing them to be late for work, family events, and other important commitments. These residents deserve much better.
In addition to written questions, Luke Taylor previously raised this issue in regards to fare prices in the Commons, first questioning the former Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Hague, regarding services at Worcester Park. You can find that exchange on YouTube here. Alongside other Liberal Democrat colleagues, whose constituents also face the same struggles with SWR, Luke Taylor raised the concerns around Worcester Park services. Please find the link to that debate on YouTube here as well.
Luke also tabled an Early Day Motion titled South Western Railway service standards and performance to express our concerns and raise awareness about the poor quality of services provided by the rail provider, both in Worcester Park and across the country.
Thankfully, the pandemic is behind us, however, it’s long overdue that we move on from the temporary emergency measures that were put in place back then. Lockdown was almost five years ago. SWR cannot keep using the excuse that we all still work from home to justify reduced services—because the reality is, we don’t.
I met with South Western Railways MD Lawrence Bowman and Matthew Evans at WP Station on 9th September 2025, and am encouraged that they are finally moving forward with plans to consult on a new timetable - but I'm concerned that this process will drag on for a long time, whilst still causing deep disruption to local peoples' lives. I'm pushing for real change to happen as fast as possible.
Luke also attends the South Western Railway All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), which was recently set up by Liberal Democrat colleague, the MP for Woking, Will Forster. We are hopeful that this new APPG can help to hold SWR to account, and we look forward to updating you on our efforts to improve rail services from Worcester Park Station.
