Just seen this story online:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?N5BE22DA5
When did this project surface and why haven't we heard anything about it
before?
A tram good idea?
STATE-OF-THE-ART trams taking commuters straight to work in the City could
soon be slicing through our streets.
Transport gurus pored over dozens of plans, all bidding to cut the strain on
the train and relieve bursting buses.
And the experts from the Corporation of London believe the tram is the
answer for South Londoners.
They threw their full support behind a second scheme from Battersea to
Hackney in a new idea revealed this week.
Stations could be built in Vauxhall, Elephant and Castle, along Borough High
Street, at London Bridge and then on to Bishopsgate and Shored-itch.
So at one stroke South Londoners who work in the City would have a direct
journey up to the Square Mile.
Massive interchanges would be created at Vauxhall and the Elephant - both in
line for radical overhaul - where passengers swap between trams, Tubes,
trains and buses.
These newest City-bound routes add to existing Cross River Transit plans to
link Brixton and Peckham with north London via Waterloo.
There, branches start at Brixton Popes Road and Peckham Bus Station, meet at
St George's Circus and cross the Thames at Waterloo.
Graham Forbes chairs the Corporation of London's planning and transport
committee.
He said: "There is a desperate need for improved public transport in the
City and we believe this new tram link will help.
"It would also make a major contribution to relieving overcrowding on key
sections of the Underground and improve access to many proposed development
schemes, like at Battersea Power Station, Vauxhall and Elephant and Castle."
But his report shows investment for trams is not "unfathomable" because
there is no need to sink trenches into streets for rails.
The document stands as stage two - the feasibility study - in the bid.
Now stage three starts where bosses pull together full details before
pitching for cash.
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Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7