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"This London Overground network has really been one of Boris's success stories this year"

Ummm, Sarah... I think you will find that London Overground was created back in 2007. And when did Boris come into power? Oh yes, 2008! And the new trains were ordered at around the same time as TfL taking over silverlink... again under Ken. And this station has been on the drawing board for 15 YEARS! The "Coming Soon" signs first appeared here in... you guessed it, 2007. Still, got to give Boris some credit - at least he didn't give it the same treatment as he gave the Cross-river tram!

- Frank, London, England, Great Britain, Europe, The Earth, milky way...

Not Boris's 'success' - how about a first action on Boris becoming Mayor, was to Cancel Ken's CROSS-RIVER TRAM Project! A large area would have benefited: from the Main-Line Terminii of KINGS CROSS, ST PANCRAS, EUROSTAR, EUSTON, WATERLOO; the re-development of ELEPHANT & CASTLE, PECKHAM and an on-street Tram-Line to BRIXTON! Years of intricate-planning have been done (no doubt, having costs millions), only for BORIS to Cancel it, as a first coming-to-power senseless action!

- Roger Bailey, Grove Park, London

Thank you Boris - you are a star! Nothing better than you could have happened to London after Red Ken did his best to ruin it for years.

- Camilla, Lots Rd. London

Well they do say ignorance is bliss and Sarah summed it up for everyone to understand what the saying actually meant.
Well done Sarah.

- Keith, London England

Cockell isn't quite the petrol head you make him out to be Tom. I live in the boro and know for a fact KC has been after this station for years and put 650k into the kitty to pay for it.

TK

- T Kilroy, London

this would have started with ken and just goes to show people that the incorrect person was voted in come back ken

- Tony C, clacton on sea

tom

that "petrolhead" Merrick Cockell is the leader of a council that has been pursuing this station for years and put £650k in to help pay for it; not bad considering it's not even in K&C.

- Tom, Uk

Well done Ken Livingstone!
I recently travelled on one of the new Overground trains and one of the new Victoria line trains and both are a massive improvement on the old rolling stock.
Boris would never have the foresight to plan schemes like these as he's an useless upper-class twit and too much of a snob to travel on public transport, that's why he's achieved absolutely nothing on improving it.
Boris is completely out of touch, his only achievements have been to line his pockets and take credit for other people's work.
People like Sarah (London) obviously have no intellect because they are too dim to see this.

- D.W., London

This is an amazing achievement by Boris - just over a year from being elected and we have this brand new station up and running!

What would Ken have done? Oh, wait a minute.......

- Carl, London

I used to work in Chelsea Harbour and that station has literally been built in 6 months. The consultation process has taken 5 years of squabbling between 2 sets of developers, the council and TFL, the whole thing was on hold until the go ahead was given for Lotts Road power station to be converted into a shopping centre and 2 huge blocks of flats to be built on the Thames. So technically Ken had a hand in this but only by virtue of allowing yet another huge eyesore to be developed and ruining yet another untouched part of London. Although Boris is without any doubt a master of BS if he says it was all down to him.

- Bob, Cheam

Why wasn't it done twenty years ago? Because no-one would have used it!

These lines were then being run (badly) by BR. To make matters worse there was privatisation. Railtrack failed to maintain the track, Silverlink failed to run a decent service. All the money went to fat cat managers and lawyers suing each other about whose fault each and every breakdown was, instead of fixing the problems. On a good day trains ran twice an hour. On a bad day you bought your expensive ticket and could then be waiting in the rain for hours. It was almost certain to be quicker to travel by bus or tube, to say nothing of cheaper and nicer.

The breakthrough was the takeover of Silverlink by TfL in the guise of London Overground. The stations are now vastly improved, and manned. The track and signalling is getting a much-needed total overhaul. Soon there will be new rolling stock, and services sufficiently frequent that we'll be able to use it like we use the tube. Turn up and go, with Oystercard fares and zones.

It was Ken's administration which started this, but big public transport initiatives take decades, and no single administration should take all the credit. Boris is fighting hard for Crossrail, he's unlikely to still be mayor when the trains start running. The enemy is seventy years of under-investment, and insane structures such as the privatised surface rail network, and the tube PFI maintenance rip-offs.

- Nigel, London

As for the London Overground's new rolling stock, all Ken's doing according to some, I would point out that in my area the companies listened to the users before finally settling on the new seating layout. Their initial preference was for Tube-like seating. Then they consulted the passengers!

The Tube-like seating was restricted to just behind the driver's cab (as at the terminus everyone in the final 2 minutes before leaving piles in there. The standing area around the doors was doubled and the 4-abreast seating left a broader passage encouraging standers to move to the centre of the carriage. There enough seats for everyone off-peak. There are much better handles for hanging onto.

Lazy assumptions by "experts" are not always for the best.

- W R Stevenson, London SE26

Agree with everyone (just about) commenting here - this is another example of BoJo claiming credit for work that was agreed prior to his arrival!

- Mike, London

I suppose they'll stop bleating about the Western Zone congestion charge now - after all they can use the train - some chance of that I'm sure.

- Barry Chapman, Welwyn England

Well done Ken, good work. Boris, stop being cheeky & claiming this was your doing, when you know it was not.

- Dom, London

Boris got off the train at West Brompton, 2 minutes later. Not a long journey.
Conveniently he took the first train after the rush hour.

- Jonathan, London

Still leaves the question - why was it not done 20 years ago?

- W R Stevenson, London SE26

I'm not a fan of Ken but there is nothing much lower or ruder then taking credit for someone else's work.
There is also nothing much more laughable then seeing the same names spouting propaganda.

- Devon S, Clerkenwell, London

Excellent work Boris, good to see you're extending London's network for the future.

- Kathryn, London

Needless to say, 'Sarah, London' is doing 'her' usual passable impression of the City Hall PR machine - this station's been in the plans for years, Overground (which is a *nationalisation*, remember) was Livingstone's idea, so were the trains, permanent staffing, Oyster, station refurbishments and indeed the interchange at Westfield, also paid for by the developers. Don't believe the rubbish - you can't do all that in a year, and it wasn't done in a year.

It's disheartening to see petrolheaded slash'n'burn Tories like Stephen Greenhalgh, Boris and Merrill Cockell sitting laughing on a new station for the cameras while back in the real world they're busily working to ensure that no public transport enhancements will be possible in London once Boris has finished claiming credit for the ones he inherited.

- Tom, London, UK

Sarah, London:
Surely the ball was set rolling for the London Overground franchise, the new air conditioned trains and refurbished stations et al by er....Ken.

- Rodders, SWTLand

Sarah, London.

Sorry dear but Ken was the one who cancelled Silverlink's franchise, and developed the Overground network. Go back to Boris Central Office.

- Barry L-Smith, London

"This London Overground network has really been one of Boris's success stories this year." - Sarah, London

So new trains and new stations were all done by Boris in one year and not through years of planning beforehand?

What planet do you live on? And you talk about spin under Ken!

- Anna, London

Sarah - you couldn't be more wrong if you tried.

Imperial Wharf, air conditioned trains, refurbished stations and improved service were all planned and developed under Ken Livingstone - Johnson just happened to be there when they opened. The current Mayor is all too ready to take full credit for massive improvements to our transport system in which he has played no part whatsoever.

- Helen, West London

Katherine Barney didn't put all the information in ! The line stops at the new Westfield interchange at Shepherd's Bush which means quick access to the West End and the City via the Central Line. Bloody marvellous for all of us who had to suffer terrible traffic jams when Chelsea FC is playing ! FANTASTIC !

- Sally Wardle, Chelsea, London UK

This London Overground network has really been one of Boris's success stories this year. New air conditioned trains, refurbished stations, much improved service and now this new connection to Chelsea Harbour goes to show Boris is serious about creating an outer surburban network. Unlike the previous mayor who let Silverlink run this line into the ground whilst crime soared and did nothing, Boris listens to what Londoners want and acts upon it quickly and without the endless PR machine spinning that Ken was so fond of.

- Sarah, London

Excellent, the tax payer helps make Sloanes even wealthier by building a facility that will put up the value of their houses.

- Peace Maker, Battersea

One new station opens and our Boris hails it..Shame he's cancelled most of the other public transport projects for London.

- Mark H, London England

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