Post electoral blues - Bexley wants promises cashed
 

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/to...rt_a_boost.php
quote
Can Boris give plans for transport a boost?
By Linda Piper
THERE are high hopes the election of a supporter of Bexley Council's
Jump on Board campaign to London's top job will boost the chances of
its success.
The campaign was launched in February to try to improve public
transport in the borough.
Its main aims are to extend the Greenwich Waterfront Transit (GWT)
across Bexley to link up with north Kent's Fastrack system, extend the
Docklands Light Railway (DLR) into Thamesmead and extend Crossrail to
Ebbsfleet.
Bexley also wants to see the introduction of 12-carriage trains on the
rail network and the expansion of the Oyster card to make it
acceptable for travel on all trains in the capital.
The council claims Bexley has been excluded from many of the public
transport improvements which are being introduced in other surrounding
boroughs, such as the GWT and Fastrack, which end at the borough
boundaries.
But Bexley councillor Peter Craske, cabinet member for transport, says
he is optimistic the situation will change now Tory Mayor of London
Boris Johnson is in place.
He was the only one of the three major mayoral candidates to pledge
support for the campaign.
Councillor Craske said: "We want to have a meeting with the Mayor and
Transport for London as soon as possible, to see how we can work
together to deliver what Bexley wants to see.
"We are expecting lots of changes to the way things are done."
Cllr Craske added: "I think we have got a strong case."
The most obvious first target is the extension of the GWT into Bexley,
where part of the potential Bexley route has already been safeguarded.
Cllr Craske said: "The building blocks for extending the GWT are
already there.
"It is definitely something we can now work on and try to deliver."
He added: "And there is no reason why the DLR should stop at Woolwich
or why it cannot be extended to Thamesmead and north Bexley."
The Crossrail scheme is more problematic and longer term, but Bexley
made its case to the House of Lords two weeks ago.
Cllr Craske said: "Together with the new mayor and the former one, we
want to get people out of their cars and onto public transport, but we
have to have the alternatives in place to do that.
"We do not want to just moan about it.
"There are things we can do and I think the doors are opening."
unquote

As the infalliable "Great Helmsman" has just given away £2.7 billion
in an unfunded pre electoral inducement - I believe, if you listen
carefully, we will hear the brakes going on public spending very
shortly. With a packed investment agenda already filled by Crossrail
and the Olympics, Bexley's hopes of Boris and Boris's hopes of further
central funding, however sensible they might be, may be in vain.

Post electoral blues - Bexley wants promises cashed
 

On Fri, 16 May 2008 06:07:10 -0700 (PDT), Mwmbwls
wrote:

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/to...rt_a_boost.php
quote
Can Boris give plans for transport a boost?
By Linda Piper
THERE are high hopes the election of a supporter of Bexley Council's
Jump on Board campaign to London's top job will boost the chances of
its success.

I guess they can dream. They might get an express bus trial route for a
while.

Cllr Craske said: "Together with the new mayor and the former one, we
want to get people out of their cars and onto public transport, but we
have to have the alternatives in place to do that.

Is the electorate in Bexley aware of these intentions? I'm sure they'd
vote people out who want to do this. Surely they want lots of road
improvements and car parks rather than rail lines and buses?

"We do not want to just moan about it.
"There are things we can do and I think the doors are opening."
unquote

As the infalliable "Great Helmsman" has just given away £2.7 billion
in an unfunded pre electoral inducement - I believe, if you listen
carefully, we will hear the brakes going on public spending very
shortly. With a packed investment agenda already filled by Crossrail
and the Olympics, Bexley's hopes of Boris and Boris's hopes of further
central funding, however sensible they might be, may be in vain.

Well exactly. I suspect we may struggle to see GWT actually built and
doesn't the DLR terminus at Woolwich point west rather than east?
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

Post electoral blues - the Metrolink aftermath
 

On May 16, 2:07*pm, Mwmbwls wrote:
As the infalliable "Great Helmsman" has just given away £2.7 billion
in an unfunded pre electoral inducement - I believe, if you listen
carefully, we will hear the brakes going on public spending very
shortly. With a packed investment agenda already filled by Crossrail
and the Olympics, Bexley's hopes of Boris and Boris's hopes of further
central funding, however sensible they might be, may be in vain.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...ansport.london
quote
Cash shortfall threatens London's tube upgrade
Dan Milmo and Matthew Taylor
The Guardian,
Monday May 19 2008
Boris Johnson faces a funding crisis which threatens to paralyse
London's public transport system and overshadow his term as the
capital's mayor, according to sources close to the financial
negotiations.
Senior transport figures say the £16bn Crossrail project, an
underground rail link from Heathrow in the west to Canary Wharf in the
east, will stifle investment in the ageing tube network, meaning a
number of station revamps and line upgrades could be postponed or
cancelled.
According to City Hall insiders, Johnson, who was criticised for his
lack of experience managing large-scale projects during the mayoral
campaign, has yet to get to grips with funding problems. Speculation
within transport industry circles is putting the potential funding
hole at up to £5bn.
Tony Travers, director of the Greater London group at the London
School of Economics, said the consequences of such a big shortfall
could be disastrous. "It could create serious problems for the new
mayor and for efforts to modernise London's antique transport system,"
he said. "Worse, it is increasingly unclear who is responsible for any
shortcomings, Gordon Brown, Ken Livingstone [Johnson's predecessor] or
Boris Johnson."
Johnson faces going cap in hand to the Treasury or pushing through a
rise in bus and tube fares if the shortfall proves insurmountable.
The alleged funding gap covers improvements to London's tube network
up to 2017. Transport for London is currently budgeting the works
programme for the period and senior figures believe it could be up to
£5bn short. One source said Livingstone had underestimated the
financial support needed for the Underground network when he
negotiated the Crossrail deal last year.
"In order to get government funding for Crossrail, the mayor agreed a
funding package that took the risk of cost overruns onto TfL's budget.
It also implied a settlement for London Underground which did not
recognise fully the likely cost of the tube over the next 10 years,"
he said.
A TfL spokesman said the organisation was confident it had the funding
for the next phase of the upgrade: "We simply do not recognise these
numbers," he said. "TfL has a fully funded business plan to 2010 and a
financial settlement from government out to 2017 that represents the
largest investment in London's transport system since the [second
world] war."
But last week the head of TfL, Peter Hendy, said the organisation did
not know whether the present settlement would cover the next phase of
the tube upgrade. TfL expects to complete a financial assessment of
tube plans by the autumn.
The funding problems are a legacy of the failed tube contractor
Metronet, which collapsed last year after a £2bn overspend. With
Metronet's contracts due to be transferred to TfL, Johnson is
responsible for delivering the work on budget
unquote.