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Crossrail was first proposed 40 years ago and identified as the most important rail project in London, although it would cost £300 million.
But for the next 30 years, Labour and Tory governments cut long-term capital investment and it was not long before we realised just how rundown London looked in comparison to Paris or Berlin.
When the Victoria line was finished in 1971 and the Jubilee line in 1977 they were the last major rail projects in London until the badly botched Jubilee line extension opened at the end of 1999.
But it is the big rail schemes capable of moving 100,000 people in the rush hour and those that open up rundown and declining areas of London that guarantee a city's prosperity.
As Mayor I started lobbying the Labour government for new rail schemes from day one but only got the money to extend the East London line to Croydon on the back of the Olympic bid.
It took seven years of high-profile lobbying by the trade unions and London's business community before the Government finally agreed to spend £16 billion on Crossrail.
We won that argument by showing that compared with the rest of the country, investing in London creates more jobs, more profit and more tax revenue than anywhere else in Britain.
When Crossrail opens in 2017, business people will be able to get from Heathrow airport to the City or Canary Wharf in just 30 minutes.
The ExCeL Centre will double in size as the new Custom House station allows ExCeL to become one of Europe's top exhibition centres.
The stations at Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street will trigger a huge upgrade of Oxford Street as a shopping centre.
But it is in the Thames Gateway where thousands of hectares of derelict land can create tens of thousands of new homes and jobs that the biggest benefit comes.
London and Paris have been competitors since before Napoleon but London won.
In the first decade of this century we caught up with New York, leaving Paris and Frankfurt far behind.
Even in areas where Paris had a lead such as tourism, London pulled ahead.
People assume that the financial crisis has permanently damaged London as an international centre but only 10 per cent of jobs in the City are in finance.
In fact, it is the wider range of business services in everything from law and marketing to architecture that allowed London to finally overtake New York as the world's leading international finance and business centre.
The Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis, has publicly reaffirmed that Crossrail will go ahead and is already lobbying for a new national high-speed rail network.
We now need a similar commitment from David Cameron that Crossrail will go ahead on schedule — or many major firms will begin to see the attraction of Paris.
President Sarkozy has reviewed the role and future of Paris following the election of Boris Johnson as London Mayor.
Noting Boris's opposition to tall buildings and hoping to attract some major international firms thinking of relocating, Sarkozy and the Mayor of Paris have overturned the ban on tall buildings in the French capital.
You can't blame politicians for exploiting a rival's weakness but a year on Sarkozy's ambitions have grown.
In the wake of the financial crisis, Sarkozy sees an opportunity for Paris to overtake London as Europe's financial centre.
On 29 April, in an hour-long speech to MPs, the Mayor of Paris, officials and mayors from the whole of the greater Paris area (which includes more than 10 million people), the French President spelt out his plan for Paris to replace London as Europe's leading business centre.
Sarkozy thinks the financial crisis gives Paris the chance to overtake us and so proposes creating a city region to rival London.
There will be massive investment of €35 billion over 10 years to modernise and extend public
transport in Paris (the equivalent of two new Crossrails).
He also plans to create new centres for science, technology and culture within the new greater Paris and a major programme to give unemployed young Parisians the skills to get these new jobs.
Sarkozy will introduce legislation in October and the 10-year construction programme will start in 2012. France has always poured investment into Paris, unlike British governments which have sucked resources out of London, so be in no doubt that the Sarkozy plan represents a huge threat to the UK's future prosperity.
Brown and Cameron must rise to the challenge. To prevent jobs shifting from London to Paris over the next decade, we will have to come up with a bold plan for London that matches Paris.
It will not be enough to complete the Tube upgrades and build Crossrail — we must be planning a second and third Crossrail as well as tramways to match those planned to link Parisian suburbs and a drive to give Londoners who have been left behind the chance to get the skills and jobs of the future.
If our politicians fail to realise the challenge, Paris could overtake London within a decade.
And we will never forgive the lack of foresight by our national leaders if London returns to the decline that we lived through in the Eighties and Nineties.
Reader views (17)
Not a bad city but lousy cuisine.
- Albert Hall, hove england
Yes,I'm sure that Ken would like to ends his days in one of Paris's charming banlieues--try a year in Choisy-sous-bois, Ken. His views on the possibility of Paris overtaking London as a financial centre are delusional as the huge number of former Parisans now working London would tell him. As Sarkosy has pointed out London is now one of the largest French cities as about 250,000 French nationals live and work here.
- Dectora, London UK
I have lived and worked in both Paris and London.
While Paris is a beautiful city, it has as much chance of becoming a more important place for business than London as Ken Livingstone has of becoming Mayor again.
That's zero by the way...
- Ben, London
Fresh i work in Singapore 1 month a qaurter.
I have paid taxes in the UK for 30 years.
I live in Muswell Hill.
Livingstone is desperate to get back to what he considers the family business.
During his entire time in office he taxed the poorest the most.
He is a deeply selfish and immoral man.
The good news is that he and the Labour party are utterly despised .
He has zero chance of being re-elected.
- James, Singapore
Good to see Ken Leaving-soon still dribbling on about London as if he was the only person on the planet who cared. No wonder you were kicked out of office with this sort of presumption for an attitude. Not just beaten, but well beaten by the better man. If it was up to you London would be smothered in tower blocks and the suburbs would be full of outreach workers supporting useless wastes of money that people can't afford in a recession. You're just another champagne socialist who has milked the political system for all it was worth; it's such a shame you never got to drink your wine cellar at city hall. My heart bleeds that you are no longer in office. It's great that you can't move on and do something else; after all - who would employ you? Just goes to show the argument about public sector wages needing to be competitve is total tripe; the public sector is for no-hopers.
- Robin, London
Nice bit of spin from Ken. The locals in Ealing and Shepherds Bush were hopping mad over Ken's barmy plans for a tram that would have seriously blocked the roads.
What might help London is a no-strike agreement on the Tube, which millions rely on to get to work. The economic damage of each day lost runs into millions.
Mind you, that would mean Ken having to cadge one of Boris's policies and upset his extreme left wing friend, Bob Crow.
- Jools, London
Livingstone has managed to completely forget about Canary Wharf.
The infrastructure and legislative environment was created by the Conservatives in the 1980s and we now have an area in East London which, on its own, rivals many other world financial districts.
And just in case you hadn't noticed Mr Livingstone, the area still atracts inward investment and is still growing.
- James Cleverly, City Hall, London
Paris must look back on us winning the Olympics and think Ouiiii services vous droit
Who cares about ideals of grandeur?
Jobs and credibility are more important than catchphrases Ken. We are run by idiots lied to by the bankers and every person is looking after themselves sucking the life out of London. The damage is done and Ken helped London achieve this all time low.
Merci pour rien
- Gary, Brentwood
St London - Ken also got over 1 MILLION votes his highest ever at the last Mayoral contest!!!!
This article is aimed at David Cameron who has refused to guarantee that he would proceed with Crossrail. He needs to state what he would do after an election BEFORE the election is held.
Without Crossrail London will just seize up or just go back to the long decline prior to Ken becoming Mayor!
Its not a question of whether Ken becomes Mayor or not its a question of whether London is getting a fair share of the money it generates if this dies so does the rest of the country (including Scotland!!).
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
It is not just London that needs CrossRail, but the industry that will build it is on its knees and many more firms will collapse if it is cancelled. The injustice of bank leaders who have crippled our economy and have not being sued yet will only be compounded for the construction sector if this project is now stopped.
- Jim, London
Livingstone is not even worth bothering to respond to; the argument falls flat simply because English is the lingua franca of the financial world and that will never change. He spent 8 years ploughing our money into grandstanding projects which nobody really wanted or needed and now he has the nerve to criticise Boris, who was elected with over 1m votes, after just one year.
Livingstone, let it go, it’s not going to happen, go and write a book or something.
- St, London
Bur Paris is the capital. Haven't you heard ? It has class.
- John Smith, London , England
Actually Ken, you highlighted Boris' dislike of tall buildings and his election pledge. It was teh only achievable pledge I remember.
Boris recently gave his go -ahead to 2 x 42 storey towers at Clapham Junction station. The plans have since been withdrawn following local opposition. Smooze Boris in the right way and he likes tall buildings.
Tall Buildings have their place, brown field and the city.
- Bob, London
Ken is right that the French are better than us at implementing big infrastructure projects. But why didn't he use his 8 years as London mayor to actually get Crossrail built, instead of pontificating about it now?
- Nobby Clark, Perth, the Scottish one
How ironic and hypocritical that a Londoner's heartfelt concern for the threat his city faces from a foreign city with ambitious plans should be abused by someone who chooses to make a living in Singapore! A bit like a modern day Lord Haw Haw! Nothing to say- just abuse.
For the rest of us who need to make a living in this great city, regardless of whether Ken wants to be Mayor again or not, I am at least heartened that there is someone with an experienced, knowledgeable view of London's relative position in the World, and what it will take to maintain our predominant position in the face of Paris, Frankfurt, oh...and Singapore.
If there's another politician with Mayoral ambition that has the experience, passion, drive and grasp of detail to encourage and focus the investment this city needs to drive it forward, then bring him/her on, and in to office, whatever their political colours. Vince Cable would do for me.
It's easy to chuck stones and abuse Ken whilst filling your pockets abroad, but the "Anyone But Ken" brigade need to think of those who remain here in London, and be concerned about where our children will work, where their future lies, and what legacy we leave them, rather than just spewing bilious abuse.
- Fresh, London
You omit one of the most important reasons why Paris will not succeed in its goal.
The English language.Doh!
- Benjamin Porridge, Guildford
You are not going to be mayor of London again.
You and your Labour cronies have taxed and wasted for a decade.
You have the answers to nothing.People are sick to the back teeth of people like you.
I suggest to feed your feelings of self importance you should be enobled.
All your old leftie pals are there.
All of those people that have made a career of walking all over working people while claiming to be a socialist.
You get it right?
The Kinnocks.
- James, Singapore
