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IMPROVING London's Tube and rail network will create vital extra transport capacity and generate £24billion in wider economic benefits for Britain, research claims today.
But without continued investment on the Underground and in Crossrail, Londoners will face slower journeys and much more overcrowding, according to a report by London First. The business organisation says that by 2026 the amount of space between Tube travellers could be similar to four people in a telephone box.
Reader views (7)
It might make 24bn, but it'll probably cost 100bn. But I guess someone, somewhere, will paint that up as an advantage.
- Threaded, Roskilde, Denmark, 28/10/2009 08:18
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Great idea - why didn't the government start to implement it in 1997 when it would have cost a lot less and would be finished by now?
- Nobby Clark, Perth, the Scottish one, 27/10/2009 16:55
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Because transport investment is so long-term (I saw my first East London Line test train today, which John Prescott promised in a PR statement in 1998), politicians never see the benefit.
London Overground was Ken's plan, and Boris gets the praise. Crossrail is Boris's plan, but Lord Coe will get the praise in 2017 (a bit of lateral thinking there).
However, don't ignore independent proposals - a couple are "West London Orbital" and the "Brent Cross Railway". London Mayors do not have a monopoly of strategic thinking.
- Jay, London, 27/10/2009 14:27
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Unfortunately the 24bn under discussion is illusory. Most of the work will not be for long-term UK residents, nearly all of the engine construction and development will be by Non-UK firms, the power they run on will be supplied by foreign companies and the steel required will be from non-uk industry. So a great deal of spending, but not much of it staying in the UK. So where is the benefit? Improved communications, we have no jobs in London, they are migrating to cheaper location. In truth we do not need the transport upgrades because so there will be many less people to transport for employment purposes.
If we are investing for leisure then that is a different matter, but then there are far better things to spend money on to get some part of the capital working and retain the money used within the UK.
I suppose we could restrict all UK currency leaving the UK to 5 pounds, as in the 1950's, that may just stop our economy migrating elsewhere.
- James, City of London, 27/10/2009 13:18
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It immensely annoys me that neither political party seems capable of distinguising between investing in the future, and throwing our taxes down the drain. One wants to spend as much as possible shuffling bits of paper and curtailing our freedom, the other wants to cut everything.
Infrastructure projects that deliver concrete facilities that will still be in use a century hence are investments. They should not be cancelled in a recession -- if anything they should be accelerated -- because the country will get best value for money out of contractors desperate for the work, and because the constructrion workers so employed would otherwise be out of work and claiming benefits.
Regulation, bureaucracy, paper-shuffling and state intrusion into private and business life is mostly money down the drain. They make no contribution to the future, they simply waste time and money that might otherwise produce something. This, and only this, is what the Tories should promise to cut.
- Nigel, London, 27/10/2009 12:50
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Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex:
"...they do not understand that in areas like Transport you have as a nation to spend money..."
I think any government of whatever colour only sees the expenditure to build new transport infrastructures while they are in power. They don't think of the long term good for the country. They are afraid that they might start a project, but in the future, once the project is finished another party in government might take the credit for it. Hence we only get short term popularist decisions by those in power in the hope that will be enough to get them re-elected.
Dare I say it...Ken had a vision of London's long term transport future...most of which Boris has cancelled.
- Mark H, London, England, 27/10/2009 12:43
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Thats the problom with the Tory Party led by Cameron and Osbourne they do not understand that in areas like Transport you have as a nation to spend money in order to save money!!!
They just see projects like Crossrail as expenditure and fail to understand the benefits shorter journey times and new journey opportunities investment brings.
One way to increses capacity could be to transfer the Uxbridge branch of the Piccadilly Line to the District line and thus use larger sub-surface trains while the Piccadilly line would serve Heathrow 100%.
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 27/10/2009 11:50
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