Was the line ever in Beeching plans for closure. The trouble with the
line is that on many of the stations St Helier, Morden South, South
Merton, Wimbledon Chase the connections are pretty easy to the
Underground either at Morden or Wimbledon.

Even Sutton Common it is a relatively short bus ride to Morden and in
West Sutton's case it is also pretty near Sutton.

The line is ideal for conversion to tram operation with a Morden
diversion between South Merton and Morden South. The patronage figure
are poor. Trains from Kingston, Raynes Park, Epsom etc could then be
diverted via Tooting, Streatham and onto the Thameslink system.

I doubt passengers from Kingston, Raynes Park, Epsom etc would like
that. Wimbledon to Blackfriars takes twice as long as Wimbledon to
Waterloo, and while Vauxhall and Waterloo have good interchange to the
West End, the City and Docklands, the Thameslink line has poor
interchange at Elephant &Castle and no interchange at all with the
Jubilee or Central line.