» Only three London boroughs have fewer than 10 stations - Barking and Dagenham (7), Havering (9) and Sutton (9).
» Only two boroughs have no TfL stations - Kingston and Sutton.
» And only one borough has fewer than 25 bus routes - poor old Sutton again.
He is wrong there, Sutton's had two tram stops since 2000, but maybe the leader of the council doesn't go to the Beddington Lane Industrial Estate very often.
It's not true that most Sutton stations only see a half-hourly frequency. Carshalton and Hackbridge get four trains an hour (although annoyingly four minutes apart followed by a 26 minute gap). Carshalton Beeches and Wallington get four an hour (although annoyingly five minutes apart followed by a 25 minute gap). Cheam gets four an hour (appropriately spaced). But Belmont, West Sutton and Sutton Common do only see two trains an hour, the latter on the dawdly Thameslink Loop. As for Sutton station it gets ten services an hour to central London, heading in five different directions, so it matters whether you want to end up at Victoria, Blackfriars or London Bridge.
But is ten trains an hour the worst of any London borough? I thought I'd check.
I made a list of all the outer London boroughs and counted up all the trains that go there from central London. I checked for a single hour, off-peak. I assumed a starting point at a central London terminus and accepted any direct train to any station within the borough boundary.
In Newham's case that includes Greater Anglia, Crossrail, c2c, DLR and three tube lines. In Sutton's case there's only Thameslink and Southern. I hope my spreadsheet was correct but I might have missed a few.
Trains per hour from central London
Newham
104
Redbridge
32
Haringey
84
Enfield
31
Brent
65
Hounslow
30
Ealing
63
Havering
29
W Forest
54
Croydon
28
Merton
52
Bromley
24
Barnet
48
Bexley
21
Harrow
48
Kingston
20
Hillingdon
45
Richmond
18
Bark & Dag
33
Sutton
10
Unsurprisingly the boroughs closest to central London have the most trains. Newham and Haringey thrive by being served by three frequent tube lines. Waltham Forest is the best served borough on the edge of London, mainly thanks to the Victoria line. Northwest and northeast London are best connected by train. Merton is the only borough south of the river in the first column, courtesy of the Northern line.
Havering would be struggling without the Elizabeth line. Havering is the least-connected borough north of the river. Bexley would be second from bottom were it not for Crossrail. Southwest London comes out worst of all, so is the least well connected part of the capital. And oh look, Sutton is bottom by miles, so the leader of the council is right to complain.
I also wondered how long it takes to get to all the outer London boroughs from central London. Starting from any central London terminus, what's the quickest you can get from there to any station in the borough?
I had a go at getting to Sutton as quickly as possible. Thameslink is a disaster area because the loop via Wimbledon or Streatham takes ages. The Epsom Downs train from Victoria is hopeless because it goes via Croydon and stops everywhere. The fast train from London Bridge reaches Wallington in 27 minutes, so that's better. But the fastest is a Dorking train from Victoria which reaches Hackbridge in 24 minutes. Look I actually gave it a try.
The borough of Sutton is thus at least 24 minutes from central London by train. But how about the rest?
Quickest train from central London
Ealing
6 minutes to Acton Main Line [Crossrail]
Newham
7 minutes to Stratford [Greater Anglia]
Haringey
9 minutes to Seven Sisters [Victoria]
Brent
9 minutes to Kilburn [Jubilee]
Hounslow
9 minutes to Stamford Brook [District]
W Forest
11 minutes to Leyton [Central]
Croydon
11 minutes to Norwood Junction [Thameslink]
Harrow
12 minutes to Harrow-on-the-Hill [Chiltern]
Barnet
13 minutes to Cricklewood [Thameslink]
Bark & Dag
14 minutes to Barking [c2c]
Ealing is the closest outer London borough to central London, thanks to Crossrail. Newham is second closest, being barely outer London at all. For Brent I started measuring from Baker Street, which seemed fair. For Hounslow I started at Earl's Court (it's twice as long from Victoria, indeed the majority of the borough's quite poorly connected). Croydon is the only south London borough in the Top 10, courtesy of fast trains between London Bridge and East Croydon. All of the above can be reached in under 15 minutes.
And now the slowest 10 boroughs.
Quickest train from central London (contd)
Havering
15 minutes to Romford [Greater Anglia]
Bromley
15 minutes to Orpington [Southeastern]
Merton
16 minutes to Wimbledon [SWR]
Richmond
16 minutes to Richmond [SWR]
Redbridge
17 minutes to Ilford/Wanstead/Snaresbrook
Hillingdon
18 minutes to Hayes & Harlington [Crossrail]
Enfield
18 minutes to Ponders End [Greater Anglia]
Kingston
18 minutes to Surbiton [SWR]
Bexley
20 minutes to Abbey Wood [Crossrail]
Sutton
24 minutes to Hackbridge [Southern]
Havering can be reached in 15 minutes only once an hour on the fast train to Southend. If you miss that the fastest way to Havering is 22 minutes on c2c, Crossrail being even slower. It's quicker to get to Orpington than much closer pasrts of Bromley. Richmond gets just two fast trains an hour. No fast trains go to Redbridge, only stoppers. Technically the fastest way to Hillingdon is the Heathrow Express, but Hayes and Harlington is only 1 minute slower. Enfield is the slowest north London borough to get to. Fast trains make Surbiton quicker to reach than closer parts of Kingston. Bexley is second from bottom even with the benefit of Crossrail. But oh look, Sutton is the slowest borough to get to by a wide margin.
Bad luck Sutton. No tube, not many stations, no cheap TfL fares, the fewest number of bus routes, the fewest number of direct trains and the slowest journeys from central London. The leader of the council is not wrong to think the borough's getting a very bad deal.
There's not much can be done, not that would be transformational. Crossrail 2 was never coming this way, the Sutton tram proposal has been permanently shunted to the backburner and there are no other rail extensions on the table.
The best that could be hoped for is an increase in frequency on some of the Sutton rail routes, for example restoring the two fast trains from Sutton to Victoria withdrawn in 2022, ditto extra trains to Croydon. But local politicians squashed the best long-term option when the Thameslink upgrade was launched. The Sutton Loop could have had four trains an hour rather than two if they'd terminated at Blackfriars (where a spare platform lies waiting), but local interests campaigned for fewer through trains instead. Even reversing that decision wouldn't lift Sutton off the bottom of the London borough league table, but it might be a decent start.
