Kramer Welcomes News Of Richmond Olympics/Paralympics Rail Link

9.16.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 26th Jul 2004

News that Transport for London has backed an improved North London Line rail link from Richmond station to the Games for the duration of the Olympics/Paralympics has been welcomed by Susan Kramer, Lib Dems prospective Parliamentary candidate (Richmond Park).

This decision will mean a doubling of trains from four to eight an hour and each train will carry six carriages instead of three.

"West Londoners are paying their share towards the Olympics and it is only right that they should be able to get improved access to the Games", said Susan Kramer who sits on the TfL board.

"For Richmond residents, the trip will now be virtually door-to-door since the North London Line will go directly into the main Games station at Stratford. For Kingston residents the journey will be a little longer but still pretty simple. Most will have the opportunity to get to the main events in East London in around an hour.

"It is a shame we have to wait until 2012 for an improved service on this increasingly busy cross London line. TfL should step up the dialogue with Silverlink to increase the number of carriages sooner to reduce the crush at busy times."