On Nov 20, 11:40 am, "Paul Scott"
wrote:
"Neil Williams" wrote in message

...

On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:09:05 +0000, Ernst S Blofeld
wrote:

"Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, is preparing to submit a bid next
year to take over most of Southern, one of the biggest train franchises,
from 2009. He is also drawing up plans to take control of all commuter
trains that terminate in the capital, including those that start their
journeys well beyond Greater London."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2903879.ece

There is a precedent on a far smaller scale of Merseyrail, which
operates outside the boundaries of the PTE...

"He is also drawing up plans to take control of all commuter trains that
terminate in the capital, including those that start their journeys well
beyond Greater London."

How far is well beyond Greater London? Looking at the SWML, might it be
Portsmouth, Southampton or Bournemouth? On the WCML might it be Coventry or
Birmingham? Or are these not actually 'commuter trains' after all, despite
being full of pax going to London every day...


I suspect that's iffy journalism. In the past he's expressed an
interest in taking over the inner suburban services that terminate a
few stops outside the boundary (Sevenoaks, Cheshunt, Shenfield, Slough
etc). This, I suspect, is what the zone 7-9 thing is all about.

But I can't see him going for regional or intercity trains. I think
basically he just wants to turn the inner suburban services into an S-
Bahn network, which strikes me as a rather good idea.

Jonn