On Sat, 4 Aug 2007, Mr Thant wrote:

On Aug 4, 8:35 pm, Tom Anderson wrote:

Hang on, what? Do you mean West Ealing - Uxbridge? If so, how? Via the
Central line depot?

There used to be a line running due north from the GWML at West Drayton
to Uxbridge Vine St station. It's just about all been built on, though.

Aha. I'd never heard of that. Or of the branch from the Chiltern line!

The idea I have for reaching Uxbridge is taking over the Piccadilly
branch, which will be feeling very neglected after T5 opens.

I was thinking a while ago that could be grafted on to the Central line
via a flyover at Park Royal. In conjunction with the classic
Queen's-Park-to-North Acton extension of the Bakerloo, probably.

tom

--
Love as a principle and order as the basis; progress as the goal.

On Aug 5, 6:59 pm, Boltar wrote:
Since the uxbridge road already has a "bus based solution" that gets
nicely stuck in traffic jams I assume that means they're going to do
bugger all. I

Probably - but will the residents notice as they are lulled into
unconsciousness by the increasing carbon monoxide levels in West
London? Perhaps it is already happening in view of the relatively low
response to the consultation exercises undertaken by TfL. If I were a
conspiracy theorist I could suggest that Ken is trying to lull the
residents into a false sense of security before coming up with his
next scheme - The Heathrow and West London Congestion Zone - after all
he may need to find funds for Crossrail - see articles below


quote
http://www.transportbriefing.co.uk/story.php?id=4264

Mayor bows to calls to axe £648m West London Tram
Filed 06/08/07

London Mayor Ken Livingstone has announced his intention to abandon
plans to build a tram line between Uxbridge and Shepherd's Bush in
west London after six years of developing the scheme.

The move follows opposition to the tram plans from local residents and
a concerted effort by the three London boroughs through which the line
would have run to have the light rail proposals replaced with extra
bus services along the Uxbridge Road. In a statement the Mayor said
the decision to axe the project had been taken because government go-
ahead for the Crossrail scheme would significantly increase public
transport capacity in the area, reducing the need for a tram line.
However, given that since 2001 Transport for London's plans for
enhancing the capital's transport infrastructure have envisaged both
projects being developed side-by-side, observers believe the Mayor is
using Crossrail as a smokescreen for dropping what has proved a
controversial and unpopular Mayoral commitment.

While the West London Tram could be resurrected if the government
decides not to approve Crossrail, ministers are expected to approve a
funding package later this year. A green light for the scheme will
almost certainly seal the fate of the tram line.

In a 2004 public consultation on the project TfL sent out 440,000
questionnaires and received 17,000 responses with 30% of those who
completed a questionnaire saying they supported the West London Tram,
but 59% saying that they did not. Opposition to the scheme intensifed
after the local elections in May 2006 when the pro-tram Labour Ealing
council was taken over by a Conservative administration. In the most
recent opinion poll conducted by IPSOS MORI in October 2006, 44% of
local residents were against the West London Tram, with a none too
convincing 40% of people backing the tram scheme.

Crossrail is currently expected to be completed in 2015. In the
meantime, the Mayor and Ealing Council have agreed to work together
with the other local boroughs to deliver an improved bus priority
system along the Uxbridge Road, one of the busiest in the capital. The
Mayor says much of the work already carried by Transport for London on
traffic congestion and the tram project will assist in the planning of
the new bus-based solution.

Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, said: "A positive decision on
Crossrail will mean that substantially improved bus services become a
practical alternative to a tram along the Uxbridge Road to meet the
need for more public transport, boost the local economy and to deal
with rising congestion in the area."

Cllr Jason Stacey, leader of Ealing Council said: "Residents have
overwhelmingly expressed the view that the proposed West London Tram
was not the answer to the area's transport problems. We have been
working tirelessly over the last year to represent this view to the
Mayor and TfL and to stop this scheme."

Although funding for the scheme had not been secured, abandoning the
project will allow TfL to remove an estimated £648m of planned
expenditure, freeing up money for other transport schemes, including
bus enhancements along the Uxbridge Road. The decision also means the
Cross River Tram project will now take precedence in plans to extend
the role of light rail in the capital.

The most recent assessment of the total cost of the West London Tram
scheme, given by the Mayor in answer to a written Mayoral question on
23 May 2007, is £648m at 2004 prices.

http://www.transportbriefing.co.uk/s...d3 bbe0df27ff


£38m development bill for doomed West London Tram
Filed 06/08/07

The decision by Mayor Ken Livingstone to axe the West London Tram
scheme after six years of work is the latest setback for ambitious
plans to return trams to the capital.

An estimated £38m has been spent on the now doomed project, which was
one of four new light rail schemes proposed in the Mayor's Transport
Strategy, published in 2001 shortly after his election to office.

Since then, the East London and Greenwich Waterfront Transit schemes
have been downgraded to bus priority routes and have seen delivery
dates slip. Last month's decision by communities secretary Hazel
Blears to order a second public inquiry into plans for the Thames
Gateway Bridge, which would link together the two bus networks, will
further delay progress.

Development of the Cross River Tram scheme, designed to relieve
pressure on the Northern and Victoria Tube Lines, has been delayed and
a phased delivery is now expected with a cross river tram connection
unlikely before 2016. Plans to extend the Croydon Tramlink network
have also made slow progress. Of four shortlisted extensions, only one
is currently being taken forward and, according to Transport for
London, is unlikely to open before 2013.

Since 2001 the Mayor has also voiced support for a tram line running
along Oxford Street, although no detailed proposals for such a scheme
have so far been published.

According to Richard Barnes, Conservative London Assembly Member for
Ealing and Acton, total spending on the West London Tram scheme was
expected to rise to £38m this year from £29m in 2006/07, a figure
given by Ken Livingstone at Mayor's Question Time. In addition, Ealing
Council has a budget which has been used to fund opposition to the
project.

Cost of West London Tram Scheme development as of January 2007:
Pre 2003/4: £1 m
2003/4: £7.3m
2004/5: £7.5m
2005/6: £7.5m
2006/7: £6.5m (budgeted figure)
Total to date: £29.8m
Source: Transport for London

Unquote

"Boltar" wrote in message
oups.com...
On 4 Aug, 13:36, asdf wrote:
care to find out) both sides of the argument. The local Tories saw an
opportunity and, together with the "anti" lobby, made it an election
issue, which stepped up the campaign to a reactionary frenzy (with
"Vote No Tram" posters all over Ealing).

Does anyone take the Tories seriously anymore with anything related to
public transport? They've proven time and time again they simply don't
have a clue. If they could get away with it they'd probably get rid of
all public transport and spend the money on road widening schemes (and
if it could plough stright through a historic or scientific interest
site in the process so much the better)


I wouldn't want to jump to any conclusions or owt, but I'm detecting perhaps
a very slight anti-Tory bias in this post.

BTN

It's disappointing but inevitable. I have posted before on how
surprised I have been at the depth of feeling against the tram in the
Ealing area where I have been working for 2 years.

My own take on it is that whilst the majority of people quietly
thought it was a good idea, there was a very vocal minority of NIMBYs
who felt their car usage was under threat and launched a campaign
against the tram. Those in favour of the tram didn't have anywhere
near the same depth of feeling, so there was never much of a "pro"
campaign to counter the vocal and passionate "anti" campaign, which
successfully managed to invoke reactionary tendencies and spread
anti-tram feeling (using plenty of lies, half-truths and
exaggerations[1]) amongst a population that did not hear (and did not
care to find out) both sides of the argument. The local Tories saw an
opportunity and, together with the "anti" lobby, made it an election
issue, which stepped up the campaign to a reactionary frenzy (with
"Vote No Tram" posters all over Ealing).
See, for example,http://www.ealingstreets.org/ses_10reasons.htm.

You're right about the vocal "anti" campaign and the Tories' hijacking
of the issue, but I think the "majority of the people" didn't have a
strong opinion either way. However, the reason why those in favour of
the tram did not have a strong opinion (and I would put myself in to
that group, along with many people who I know who live and work in
Ealing) was that there was always a sneaking suspicion that this was
not money well spent, rather than objecting to the investment in
public transport in the area per se. My previously posted new station
at Acton Wells as well as the road improvements I mentioned (amongst
others) would still come in cheaper than the tram and be substantially
less disruptive.

2. Prioirity bus lanes/traffic lights on the Western end of the High
Street in Acton (and to the west of that stretch going the other way)
4. Priorirty bus lane/traffic lights on the A406 crossing both ways

Priority traffic lights won't work for buses because, if bus
frequencies are increased to cope with the rising demand over the next
few years, they will simply be too frequent, and traffic on the A406
etc would experience something too close to a constant red light.

A tram would have been able to satisfy the demand with just one every
3 minutes, allowing traffic light priority to work.

Sorry, I was not at all clear in my numbered comments. By "priority
traffic lights" I did not mean that as a bus approaches, it favours a
green light (which, you are right, would cause chaos on the A406) but
a bus lane from Ealing Common Tube to the traffic light which then
gives the bus a few seconds ahead of queuing traffic (much like the
light at Chalk Farm Tube southbound towards Camden from Belsize Park).

On 6 Aug, 11:51, "Sir Benjamin Nunn" wrote:
"Boltar" wrote in message

oups.com...

On 4 Aug, 13:36, asdf wrote:
care to find out) both sides of the argument. The local Tories saw an
opportunity and, together with the "anti" lobby, made it an election
issue, which stepped up the campaign to a reactionary frenzy (with
"Vote No Tram" posters all over Ealing).

Does anyone take the Tories seriously anymore with anything related to
public transport? They've proven time and time again they simply don't
have a clue. If they could get away with it they'd probably get rid of
all public transport and spend the money on road widening schemes (and
if it could plough stright through a historic or scientific interest
site in the process so much the better)

I wouldn't want to jump to any conclusions or owt, but I'm detecting perhaps
a very slight anti-Tory bias in this post.

I thought I was stating more or less a fact given how they trashed the
railways and london buses by privatising them and starved the tube of
investment. Meanwhile on the roads it was bypasses aplenty - blank
cheques for Mr Laing and Mr Murphy. If thats bias on my part then so
be it.

B2003

On Aug 3, 12:51 pm, thoss wrote:
Today's Ealing Gazette has a story that Ken has suspended the WLT until
after Crossrail opens, if that goes ahead.
--
More News from Ealing

http://www.ealingtimes.co.uk/display...601275.0.0.php

Tram 'isn't over until it's over'
KEN LIVINGSTONE'S announcement last week that he will scrap the West
London Tram plans has been cautiously welcomed by Conservative London
Assembly member Richard Barnes.
The London Mayor had been pushing for the project to go ahead to solve
congestion problems on the Uxbridge Road, although it has been
attacked by residents and shopkeepers alike.
But Mr Barnes, the Ealing and Hillingdon representative, has attacked
the mayor for the £38 million squandered' on the scheme. He said: "I'm
glad that the Mayor has seen the light - albeit after £38m has been
spent on a project the people didn't want.
"Mr Livingstone's blind arrogance in pursuing this scheme, against the
wishes of the people, and spending millions of pounds of their money
in the process illustrates his willingness to play politics with
people's lives.
"The everyday experience of people who use any part of the proposed
tram's route would have been of massive inconvenience, and businesses
would have suffered.
"If Crossrail doesn't go ahead and the West London Tram is brought
back off the shelf then he can say he was forced into it by the Prime
Minister, Gordon Brown."
"It isn't over until it's over, and it ain't over yet."
4:29pm Tuesday 7th August 2007


Residents of Ealing - it's over. Other projects in areas where they
are welcomed by the local community will be built first. Gordon Brown
will not force Ken's hand. A few years of stewing in your own
congestion followed by the introduction of the "Heathrow and
surrounding areas congestion charge" is what now awaits you. As for
Crossrail - remember half the trains will not run west of Paddington.
And now for your further entertainment I shall read my latest
selection of Vogon poetry.