Fix the District Campaign Heading to East Putney
Pressure mounts for signalling upgrade on local branch
The entrance to East Putney Station. Picture: Putney Society
November 13, 2026
Campaigners demanding action to improve the reliability of the District line's Wimbledon branch are set to hold their next protest outside East Putney station, calling on Transport for London and the Government to commit to a long-term solution for the line's persistent problems.
The volunteer-led passenger group Fix the District will stage the demonstration on Thursday 3 December between 5.30pm and 7pm outside East Putney station.
Organisers are urging local residents and commuters to attend, sign their petition and show support for investment in the branch's ageing infrastructure.
The campaign argues that the root cause of many of the line's problems lies in signalling equipment dating back to the 1980s. While much of the wider District line benefited from a modern signalling upgrade completed in recent years, the Wimbledon branch was left out of the programme, with the upgraded system ending at East Putney.
Campaigners say TfL has confirmed it currently has neither a funded plan nor a budget allocated to replace the ageing signals. They also point to a £500,000 package of repairs carried out ahead of this summer's Wimbledon Championships, which they say failed to resolve the underlying issues, with three further breakdowns reported in the weeks that followed.
According to figures compiled by Fix the District, there were signal failures on 47 days between February and mid-October this year, equivalent to around one day in every five. The group says many passengers have experienced significant delays despite TfL's service status continuing to report "Good Service". The branch has also faced four weekend closures since September.
The East Putney demonstration follows earlier protests at Wimbledon and Southfields stations. The campaign has attracted growing political support, with Wimbledon MP Paul Kohler attending the first event in September.
At the Southfields demonstration in October, Putney MP Fleur Anderson joined Wandsworth Council leader Robert Morritt, cabinet member for transport Nick Austin and councillors from both major political parties. In a brief illustration of the line's ongoing reliability issues, a track fault disrupted services while the protest was taking place.
The campaign's petition has now attracted more than 3,200 signatures and is calling for TfL to undertake a funded feasibility study into options for modernising the branch. Campaigners believe this would provide a clear route towards securing the investment needed to deliver a full signalling upgrade.
Speaking at the Southfields protest, Fleur Anderson said constituents had repeatedly raised concerns about unreliable journeys affecting work and other important commitments. She argued that while the recent repair programme was welcome, a more comprehensive solution was needed to address the branch's longstanding problems.
Campaign organiser Max Barber has stressed that the campaign is not seeking to apportion blame but to secure practical action. The group believes that a detailed assessment of possible upgrade options is the next essential step.
One complication is that South Western Railway services also use parts of the route, requiring any future signalling system to be compatible with both operators' trains.
The petition is available here , with further information about the campaign on the Fix the District site.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |