South London residents are forced to spend “large amounts of money” getting taxis to their nearest Elizabeth line station as a direct link to the service is not operating.

Southeastern Railway bosses have said they will not be bringing back the Sidcup loop line service in their next timetable, saying it would cost £5million to bring back the route.

A resident at the Greenwich Council meeting on Tuesday, March 21 said the punctuality of Southeastern trains had caused “utter misery” and that the company’s business model was “flawed”.

She said: “Those of us who can, will get taxis to the Elizabeth line and spend large amounts of money to do it because we have no choice.

"I am a solicitor, I cannot tell the judge at court that I am late for court again because of the unreliability of your service.

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"I have elderly neighbours who are missing appointments they’ve waited weeks to get at Guys’ and Thomas’ [hospital]. This is really, really serious.”

Last December, a change in Southeastern’s timetable severely reduced the number of trains on the Woolwich and Bexleyheath lines terminating in Charing Cross, with trains now heading for Cannon Street.

The changes also saw the removal of the Sidcup loop line, which gave residents in south Greenwich a direct link to the Abbey Wood Elizabeth line station.

Scott Brightwell, operations and safety director for Southeastern, told the transport scrutiny meeting that the loop line was removed to create an even spread of services across the operator’s metro lines.

He said: “The cost of operating that service would be circa £5million.

"So we understand the requirement, and actually, it would cost more than it would make in terms of revenue.”

Rail minister Huw Merriman said earlier this month that Southeastern had to save £10million due to a loss in season ticket sales after Covid.

Labour Councillor Lauren Dingsdale, chair of Greenwich Council’s transport scrutiny panel, said there aren’t any other options for New Eltham and Mottingham residents to get to Abbey Wood station.

In response, Steve White, managing director for Southeastern, said that the operator understood the value of the Sidcup loop, and that residents could still travel to Abbey Wood station by changing trains at Dartford.

The rail boss also said there was a stronger case to reinstate services to Charing Cross on the Bexleyheath line in the next timetable than there was to bring back the Sidcup loop service, given demand and cost pressures.

Mr White told the room: “In terms of operating that service, it’s a very inefficient way of running a railway, because the loops as you know come out, go all the way up the Sidcup line, go around the top and down the Woolwich line and another train is going in the reverse direction.

"It takes about an hour and a half to do that full loop journey, so it ties up a significant amount of resources.”

He added: “There are multiple solutions for people to get to Abbey Wood. But we are open-minded about our role within that. We will look at demand and we will summarise the alternatives.”