|
Sainsbury's Purley Way
When Tram Line 1 opened to Wimbledon
we went to investigate the new Access to Purley Way retail Centre.
We enquired at the Customer Service point at Sainsburys with
the question "Where is the Tram Stop?" It took five
minutes to find a member of staff that knew the answer who directed
us to a three foot high wall with a nice new tram stop on the
other side of it and a one way access road. Naturally we complained
that this was not good enough. The good news is that this wall
now has a hole in it complete with a crossing over to the Tram
Stop. This is good for shoppers, good for residents on the Mitcham
Road Estate and good for Sainsbury's, Mothercare, Brand Centre
and Habitat.
London busses are due to put a bus stop near Mothercare and thus
provide a better interchange with the trams.
Stephen Aselford
On the Buses
The LTUC have produced a report 'Across the Borders' with details
of changes to Bus Services 1986 1999 in the Surrey London
Border. At Coulsdon they say that Buses to Caterham on the Hill
has gone up by 30% but buses going to Godstone has dropped by
80%. This is common in Surrey with service cuts resulting in
whole routes being cut to many places altogether. Back in 1985
London Country had a n extensive network, since deregulation
and the arrival of Arriva the network has become a shadow of
its former self. This is partly due to driver shortages but also
to a rapid increase in fares. All this has led to more and more
people having to use the car (increasing congestion) and the
large minority without access to a private vehicle suffering
a worse and more expensive service.
Stephen Aselford
|