It is with deep regret that – in the same week the Chancellor raised taxes by £25 billion, on top of £40 billion last year, to fund huge increases in welfare – I must share an update on the Government confirming the cancellation of vital Croydon rail improvements.
As many local residents know, the Croydon area is the busiest, most congested and most complex part of the country’s rail network.
I’m pleased to have previously secured £300 million for much-needed upgrades to the signals and points on our local tracks, after making the case to the then Prime Minister, which I hope you will have seen make our service much better than it used to be.
However further work to widen the track around East Croydon and to grade separate the Windmill Bridge Junction near Selhurst is still much needed.
This bottleneck at East Croydon and the complex series of junctions north of Croydon, the Selhurst triangle, delays trains across the Brighton Main Line and the wider network every time an incident occurs. This affects journey times and limits the ability to meet passenger demand.
Huge swathes of Southern England, including anywhere served by Southern Rail, Thameslink or the Gatwick Express are affected. Unless the upgrade to this critical bottleneck is progressed, this entire network risks catastrophic collapse in the years ahead.
That’s why the Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme (CARS) project aims to alleviate this bottleneck, promising faster, more reliable services and improved connectivity for passengers across the whole of the southeast region.
WATCH: Network Rail - "Unblocking the Croydon bottleneck"
Originally set to proceed in 2020, changes in passenger behaviour post-COVID paused the scheme, but Network Rail is now forecasting passenger numbers will return to pre-COVID levels and housing growth along the line is projected to increase further.
In addition, the “minded to approve” judgement on proposals for a second runway at Gatwick makes increasing capacity through Croydon on the Brighton Main Line essential.
I have been working closely with a group of cross-party MPs along the line. We recently wrote to jointly urge both the Treasury and the Transport Secretary to ensure this vital scheme is given the investment it needs.
Unfortunately, the Transport Secretary has now confirmed that the Labour Government has scrapped funding for this essential scheme.
Section of reply from the Labour Transport Secretary, the Rt Hon Heidi Alexander MP, 31st October 2025
Please be assured I will keep pushing on this and have written back to request an urgent meeting with her.
This would be alongside MPs from the new cross-party Parliamentary group I have joined, providing a united front to call for improvements across ‘the Greater Gatwick Diamond Growth Area’.
I will keep you updated.
Yours sincerely,
Chris Philp MP
Member of Parliament for Croydon South
