A local campaign group has secured four trains per hour for Bellingham, Catford and Crofton Park – doubling rail capacity on the Catford loop.

This comes after concerns that Lewisham’s current rail networks will not cater for the borough’s growth.

Campaign group Cinderella Line announced the services would be doubled at off peak times, with four Thameslink trains arriving an hour – two between Kentish Town and Orpington and two between Sevenoaks and Blackfriars.

Group chair Michael Woodhead said they would be campaigning for further improvements and capacity to match growth in the borough.

“The borough is growing, we have seen huge housing developments in Catford. It is important that trains are regular,” he said.

“We will be campaigning to push it up to six trains an hour, and pushing for more services to go further than Blackfriars, and then we will be going to push for more Victoria line service.”

He said the group was also pushing for station standards to be improved, which would include extending the hours waiting rooms are open, improving access to stations and making sure stations were manned.

“Overall we are pleased with the new timetable that is coming into place, however this is by no means the end of the campaign,” he said.

“We will still continue to fight for more services to London Victoria to give us a vital connection to the west of London and we want to see more done to improve the whole passenger experience, including things like improved station facilities, better accessibility and even more services.”

Mr Woodhead said overcrowding on platforms at stations was an issue and a key focus for the group, and hoped the improvements would go towards easing the pressure.

“People shouldn’t be standing on the platform because they can’t get on the train,” he added.

Every train service is changing from May 20th. Visit National Rail for more information about changes.