Sutton Kids Missing Out On Free Travel

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 8th Aug 2002

Graham Tope, Leader of the GLA Liberal Democrats and Sutton councillor, has written to train companies operating in Sutton asking them to join Transport for London's School Party Travel Scheme which gives schoolchildren free travel to educational venues in London.

Currently Sutton children miss out on the benefits of this scheme as it only covers bus or Tube travel. Graham Tope hopes that Association of Train Operating Companies (which includes Thameslink Rail and South West Trains as members) will acknowledge the difficulties of schools across south London that are not served by the Tube network.

"I am particularly concerned, as the former Leader of the London Borough of Sutton Council, that school pupils in the borough may be denied the benefit of the School Party Travel Scheme because it is not practicable in our part of South London for them to reach most educational venues by bus or Tube," said Graham Tope.

School parties from Sutton really have no option but to use national rail for journeys to (for example) London Zoo, Kew Gardens, Parliament or the Wetland Centre.

"As the Scheme restricts travel times to non-peak hours and limits both group numbers and the number of trips per child per term, the impact on the train operating companies would be fairly slight."