Had a very informative meeting with Chris Burchell, managing director of Southern trains, yesterday.

I was pleased to hear that there might be movement on re-engineering the station so that there's more room for people to park their bikes, as well as creating a left-luggage facility.

Greens have been demanding these changes for a while, so it's refreshing to hear that our voices are being listened to.

Chris and I spoke at length about how to make it easier to take a bike on a train, especially at peak times - something which many residents want. The fact that Southern feel this is not possible is disappointing.

Whilst touring Brighton station facilities I was really struck by one of the peculiarities of a privatised station - the ticket office, which is currently rather dingy and unappealing - cannot be moved as National Rail and Southern can't reach an agreement due to the way the franchise was set up.

I can't help thinking this would be a lot clearer if the railways were put back into public ownership!

We also spoke about the potential for the huge space which lies underneath the station.

There ought to be an opportunity to do something really imaginative with the space, and would be intrigued to know more about future plans for it.