Station Manager Corner

[Jeremy]

Oh... I suppose the disruption may explain why the 7:50 from ED stopped at all stations, and was half empty...

[Ladygooner]

The 8.05 was running but the 8.15 cancelled

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Darling Barry, a little pillow talk wouldn't have gone amiss.

When did Cheap Day Returns become obsolete?

It cost me a fortune to go to London Bridge from P.Rye today. I do have an Oyster Card but the chappie in the ticket office told me I couldn't add to it at the station.

Not good. Your dinner's in the dog.

PGC

x

[James Barber]

Hi Barry,

Southwark Council is currently renewing Melbourne Grove. I'm assured very soon the road will be renewed and then sinusoidal humps will be placed on Melbourne Grove section between Grove Vale and East Dulwich Grove. To preserve the newly renewed pavements, pavement parking will no longer be allowed from the 8 March. So the road will be narrower and another reason it wont be suitable for buses

So how do we ensure when the train service is disrupted by engineering works that the rail replacement buses know not to try using Melbourne Grove as part of their route?

Is this a contractual thing between your rail company and the bus company providing the rail replacement buses?

[dbboy]

Seems you and your councillor chums know how to WASTE money and cause distruption by narrowing the road and slowing down traffic. I thought the purpose of roads was to encourage the flow of traffic. Reminds me of the mess being made to the junction of Nigel Road and Rye Lane, but then never mind about the inconvienience caused to joe public.

Sorry for the rant, but can't see the benefits of such changes.

[James Barber]

Hi dbboy,

I thought the purpose of residential streets was for people to live and enjoy their lives in peace and tranquility.

I thought main roads were to collect people and vehicles from residential roads and help deliver them to their destinations.

For example Matham Grove - its been made one way and all East Dulwich Grove traffic wanting to turn right onto Lordship Lane is sent down it. This has made Matham Grove really unpleasant for the residents since this was introduced an age ago.

Past traffic planners had little regard for people and their lives.

Gradually the harm caused is being unravelled and streets made fit for people rather than speeding cars.

Streets with high volumes of vehicles are less social as residents find it hard to be good neighbours with people across the road. They often as a result have higher crime and usually are more deprived because more affluent people vote with their feet and move.

[SMBJones]

Good morning and yes I am still alive, apologies for not being on the forum for a few weeks. There is so much going on at the moment and my team and I are working very hard behind the scenes to improve the service we provide, so here is a quick update on whats happening within the Streatham Hill Area and London Bridge

* From 30th April, everyone of my stations will be staffed from 1st to last service. This means from 0530 to 0030, they will be staffed by gate/platform staff or by Ticket Office Clerks where we have no barriers. So for example East/North Dulwich will be serviced by the clerks. I would like to think that there will never be an issue queuing for tickets once this is implemented

* A new role has been created, again from 30th April, Rail Neighbourhood Officers will be patrolling train stations and services in conjunction with the British Transport Police

* I have just signed a contract with a company to clean every single sign in my area (the old BR Logos at each station for example) They will will also be looking at some more deep cleans over the next few weeks

* I have recently instructed another company to clear rubbish from stations, they took away in excess of 3.1 Tons, I was quite shocked by this

* I have also instructed another company with a further 32k contarct to ensure every sign, poster frame, safety mirror is in absolute prime condition, they will also undertake minor works on platforms, remove grafitti on stations, highlight stairs where faded, these works are due to start in the next week and again this will cover everyone of my stations. This is quite a comprehensive program of works and too much to list here

* Tulse Hill Subway: will now get the much needed works to renovate the subway, we have secured funding from Network Rail in a joint partnership with Southern to get these works done. However, this will mean the rear entrance closing for 3 weeks

*East Dulwich hand rails have finally been signed off and will be installed this spring/summer (sorry for delay on this one)

* Queens Road Peckham will finally see the works commence this summer/autumn for the new ticket office to be built on the ground level

* Peckham Rye, all the grafitti has now been removed from the main tower and I am really pleased with this work. We are now looking at further renovations on platforms 1/2 as this can become quite overcrodwed due to buildings not being in use, the booking hall and stairs to 1 and 2 are also pencilled in for further works

* The London Bridge and Streatham Hill Area (16 stations) will be renamed Metro East and this will see an increase of 40 staff to meet our obligations. In effect the two areas I manage will be come one

* Balham NSIP (National Stations Improvement Programme) will commence this summer and will mean a complete new entrance being built, new ticket office and booking hall

* London Bridge: The projects at this station are a little more in depth, however I can comment on the following. A brand new Gate Line mirroring Waterloo will be build this year and will be expected to finish in approxiamtely one year. As you come off the trains and enter the gates you can see and office block (my offices) that spans across the gates.The demolition of this block is due to commence on 1st June. I am currently working very closely with Network Rail and Mace to ensure there is no disruption to passenger flows when they commence works.

* The "Shard" is due to finish in May 2012, part of this project will mean that London Brdige will get the much needed makeover that is needed when this phase is completed. Again I am working closely with companies ensuring the best for our passengers. My plan is to update you all with more of this project over the next few weeks. There is a viewing platform outside to the left of London Bridge and you can see already they have built up to floor 20, another 69 to go.

There is much more we are working on, however I will update you again very shortly as there is enough here to be getting on with

I welcome your comments or any suggestions to improve the service we provide at stations, please remember I do not cover train services but can forward to the right people

Regards

Barry Jones

Station Manager

[James Barber]

Hi Barry,

Great program of works.

Well done.

East Dulwich station. You said your number one priority was extra covered waiting area on the platform facing London Bridge. You said it would cost ?12,000. We were going to split this ?4,000 from South Camberwell councillors Cleaner, green, Safer funging - Cllr Jenny Jones applied for this - unfortunately they have not granted this share.

However, I anticipate the East Dulwich councillors will be able to allocate ?6,000. We patently want to make East Dulwich public transport better.

Are you able to match fund 50:50 rather than the previosuly agreed third?

[SMBJones]

Hi James

I think that is a good idea and will match 50%. Please confirm when these funds have been agreed and I will instruct our surveyor/contractors to submit final quotes

Many thanks

Barry

[Penguin68]

I wonder how quickly this might all have been sorted without the Forum? Congratulations to Barry and James for acting in a very grown-up and helpful manner.

[Strawbs]

Well done Barry that was fantastic to read, you are a real light.. xoxo

[brunorothgiesser]

Hi Barry,

Can I take a non-folding bike on trains from East Dulwich Station?

I'm planning to go this Saturday to Richmond Park by train with my bike.

Thanks,

Bruno

[mumof3girlies]

I want to ask the same question - I was wondering if I can take a non folding bike in the direction away from central London i.e to Tooting overground, unfortunately at 8.30am, but I wondered as I am going against rush hour direction it may be OK,or do I have to bite the bullet and buy a folding bike, which is a shame as I only bought my bike last december.

[James Barber]

Hi Barry,

I can formally confirm that ?6,000 has been decided by East dulwich cllrs coming from East Dulwich Cleaner, Greener, Safer funding this coming financial yrar. So the money is available first thing in April.

Perhaps a site visit in the next fortnight?

[redpanda]

Any idea when the ticket machine will be repaired at North Dulwich?

It's been out of action for a few weeks now.

[bookhopper]

Do you cover south bermondsey station?

[SMBJones]

Hi

Folding bikes welcome

Barry

[SMBJones]

Hi

Yes, South Bermondsey is mine, how can I assist

Barry

[SMBJones]

Hi

Apologies for this, unfortunately my area went through a spate of attacks, 4 to be precise. I am hoping the new machine will be delivered in seven days time

Barry

[northernmonkey]

Hi Barry,

The lighting at East Dulwich on the slope down towards the ticket office is not functionning properly again. 2 of the lights have not been working for well over a week now. It is quite dark without these and a little dangerous. Please could you look into why they haven't been fixed and arrange for the necessary maintenence. Seems like a common problem over the last few months, but given it has been I would expect that your station staff would have beeen monitoring whether the lighting worked or not. Appreciate the work you're doing on here - but I also think that the local staff could be more alert to these issues.

Thanks

[SMBJones]

Hi

I am onto this now

Barry

[Gimme]

Barry,

Since you are back, would someone be able to look at this request below?

Minor in the scheme of things but more importantly very cheap to implement!

Gimme

Gimme Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Barry,

>

> When I get off at ED, I often see people dumping

> newspapers into the bins in the shelter and by the

> ticket office despite there being a newspaper

> recycling bin just outside the station. Any chance

> you could put signs up by the bins telling people

> to recycle their papers in the appropriate bin

> outside?

>

> Gimme

[the-e-dealer]

Or put a recycling bin where they dump them?

Thing is that once the supply of new ones runs out the old ones are reused so maybe a bin isnt the best idea?

[OutOfFocus]

Are there plans for a 2nd ticket machine at East Dulwich. I nearly missed a train last week because of the queue - a 2nd one would be really helpful.

[markotron]

Hi there,

Firstly I want to say that I think its great that you have this thread running and are engaging directly with people who use the stations you manage. I hope its working well for you and that you keep it going.

Secondly I have a comment regarding Peckham Rye station. The clock in the foyer is often not in time with the departure displays. It is a really lovely old clock and is great for getting a rough idea of the time but often when it appears that you have a couple of minutes to get up the stairs to the platform you actually dont. It would be great if somewhere in that entrance hall there was a way of seeing the time that the platform clocks show. Often if it is a long ish wait til the next train I will get a bus instead but several times I have been deceived by the old clock into swiping my oyster card and running up to the platform when I had absolutely no chance of getting there in time.

Thanks for listening.