London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025

Fresh calls for London’s suburban rail to come under TfL’s control

Fresh calls for London’s suburban rail to come under TfL’s control

A motion for the change was passed by the London Assembly, but the Government said it was not considering the idea

Fresh calls for the capital’s suburban rail services to be put under the control of Transport for London (TfL) have been resisted by the Government.

The London Assembly passed a motion for the change at a recent meeting, saying the move would “provide a truly integrated, reliable and affordable rail network for Londoners”.

But the Department for Transport (DfT) said that despite the wishes of a majority of Assembly Members (AMs) at City Hall, the idea was not under consideration.

The motion was put forward by Labour AM Elly Baker, who told the Assembly’s March 16 meeting: “The fragmented and broken structure of our railways is well overdue for change and I think this is something we can all agree on, even if our solutions sometimes may be different.”

Labour AM Elly Baker

She added that rail passengers were facing “cuts to services, less staff and no improvements to reliability, ticketing, or accessibility”.

In comments after the meeting, Ms Baker also referred to the “dangerous scenes recently witnessed at London Bridge station, with extreme overcrowding”.


Concerns have been sparked at the central London station in recent weeks, as hundreds of passengers have - twice in just over a month - been stranded on the station’s concourse during the evening rush hour.

The recent overcrowding has been variously blamed on timetable cuts, points failures and signalling issues, as well as a trespasser on the line in January. A petition calling for the suburban routes operated by Southeastern, which run trains out of London Bridge, to be transferred to TfL’s control, has received some 5,500 signatures.

London Bridge: Hundreds of passengers were held on the station concourse

Ms Baker’s motion received support from the Assembly’s Labour, Green and Lib Dem groups, with only the Conservative group voting against.

Tory AM Nick Rogers said: “Whilst there may be benefits to rail devolution, the Mayor’s stewardship of TfL has been so poor that no responsible government would consider devolving control of suburban rail whilst he is Mayor.”

Lib Dem AM Caroline Pidgeon pointed out that former Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson had been in favour of the policy and said it should not matter who the Mayor is in order to back the idea.

Labour AM Joanne McCartney said that one service run by Great Northern, which goes through her Enfield and Haringey constituency, had been reduced during the pandemic from three trains per hour to two. She said this was “not acceptable” and meant trains were prone to overcrowding.

Like the Assembly, London mayor Sadiq Khan has also called for suburban rail services to be devolved to TfL

A spokeswoman for Mayor Sadiq Khan said Mr Khan was already in favour of suburban rail being devolved: “The Mayor has been clear that TfL has a proven track record of making rail services better, more reliable and more affordable.

“Fares in London are 12 per cent cheaper than they would have been without the action taken by the Mayor to freeze fares for five years.

“The business case presented to the Government demonstrated that devolving responsibility for London rail services to TfL would lead to economic benefits for Londoners and better services for commuters, and both the Mayor and TfL will continue to call on the Government to devolve franchised services to TfL.”

But approached for comment, a DfT spokeswoman said the Government would not be following the Assembly and Mayor’s request.

Passengers at London Waterloo station

She instead said: “The Department is committed to its strategic partnership with local authorities across the country, including TfL, to ensure suburban rail services are working at their best for passengers, supporting housing, economic growth and the environment.

“Our passenger-focused reforms will bring in improved services with a focus on getting trains running reliably and on time.”


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
×