PRESS RELEASE BY CLLR PHILIP GOLDENBERG, DEPUTY LEADER OF THE LIBERAL DEMOCRAT GROUP ON WOKING BOROUGH COUNCIL

Woking Borough Council is being urged to seize a key opportunity of enhancing commuter rail services.

The threefold opportunity arises from Network Rail's current consultation on the South West Routes.

In a motion (attached) to full Council on 15 December, LibDem Deputy Group Leader Cllr Philip Goldenberg urges the Council to lobby hard for three key improvements:

the long-standing proposal for a direct Airtrack route from Woking to Heathrow, which would also help commuters from Woking who work in west London;

an early evaluation of a flyover or underpass junction to the west of Woking Station, which would improve commuter services; and

allocating the Eurostar platforms at Waterloo, which will become available when Eurostar is rerouted to St Pancras, to South West Trains in the next franchise round.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve Woking's rail services", said Cllr Goldenberg, "and I am urging the Council to seize it as a matter of urgency."