In My View: Ellie Reeves, MP for Lewisham West & Penge

We are very fortunate to have such fantastic local services in South-east London but sadly they have been impacted heavily by the pandemic.

One of the biggest disruptions has been the cuts to our train services.

During the first lockdown the loop line between London Bridge and Victoria was cut and is yet to be restored.

This serves Sydenham and Forest Hill in my constituency, but many other stations in South London. In November I met with Southern to urge them to return our service back to normal.

They confirmed that the plan was to reintroduce the service on the January 4.

However, this did not happen and in fact the East Croydon to London Bridge service has also been cut. Meaning that at the time of writing there are no weekday trains at many of the stations in my constituency direct to London Bridge.

This has caused huge and unacceptable disruption for my constituents, and others across South London.

Commuters are now having to contend with crowded alternative routes, and I have also been contacted by families who need to travel to hospitals in central London who are now facing far longer and complicated journeys.

I met with Southern again in January to ask them to sort this out.

They informed me that staff absences caused by Covid had led to the cuts in service and assured me that from February 21 there will be two trains an hour, seven days a week, between the stations in my constituency and London Bridge – on the East Croydon to London Bridge Line.

However, staff absence will need to fall below 12 per cent before the loop line can be restored and is therefore likely to take longer.

We rely on our transport links in Southeast London, and I will continue to do everything I can to ensure our service is restored to the level it was pre pandemic.

In better news, after a tireless campaign driven by our wonderful community, in November the Mayor of London committed to funding the renovations for the 50m pool and diving pool at the Crystal Palace National Sport Centre.

These have been closed since March 2020, denying regulars their routine swim, and preventing the next generation of elite swimmers from using the pools for training.

Young people at the fantastic Crystal Palace diving club have also been forced to travel miles out of London in order to train.

These pools serve so many Londoners and are renowned across the capital, especially for the number of gold medallists’ who have trained or competed there.

I have been lobbying the Mayor for some time to commit the funding needed, so I am absolutely delighted by this news and that we will have our pools back again.