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Boris Johnson: My £7.6bn cuts to improve London travel
Dick Murray and Pippa Crerar29 Mar 2011
Boris Johnson today pledged to transform London's transport network over four years - but will pay for it with £7.6 billion of cuts.
The Mayor said he had "done the impossible" by improving commuters' lives while saving money. The plans include upgrading three Tube lines, new trains on five lines, progress on Crossrail, completion of the suburban rail network and extending the cycle hire scheme.
The announcement sparked protests from unions who said the cuts - £2.6 billion greater than planned - could lead to huge new job losses. The £5 billion savings already earmarked have resulted in more than 2,000 posts being axed and unions fear another 1,000 will go. The Mayor said transport would play a key role in delivering the Games and would provide a "lasting legacy" for the capital, adding: "Through negotiations, savings and efficiencies we have done what many people believed to be impossible.
"We have secured the greatest investment in London's transport network in 80 years while protecting frontline passengers and customer services."
TfL said stringent cuts across all departments - along with higher than expected revenues - will pave the way for a huge investment programme.
TfL boss Peter Hendy will take charge of a "full review". Cuts include £400 million saved from changes to Tube ticket office staffing levels - which lead to four strikes last year; £460 million reducing bus subsidies and £175 million saved by using cheaper offices.
Mr Hendy said: "The Tube carried 1.1 billion passengers this year and the buses 2.2 billion and our operational performance is on an ever improving trend. This is at the same time as we carry out an upgrade of our network and get ready to host the Games.
"We will meet all of these challenges while also ensuring we are as efficient and effective as we can be through our £7.6 billion savings programme." But TfL's business plan, to be discussed by the board tomorrow, met fierce opposition.
Ken Livingstone said: "The Mayor's plans for transport increasingly involve aggressively squeezing the farepayer combined with cut to funding for the bus service and cuts that must start to hit frontline services."
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "With the Tube lurching from crisis to crisis it defies belief that Boris Johnson and his officials are jacking up their cuts target."
Jo deBank, of London TravelWatch, warned the cuts in subsidies to the bus operators could mean a worse service.
Jubilee line passengers suffered disruption today because of a broken down train at West Ham.
Trains are being stranded because of problems with the new multi-million pound signalling system when on board computers fail to connect.
There were delays on the Victoria line due to a signal failure at Euston.
Key improvements up to 2014/15
* Jubilee line upgrade delivering a 33 per cent increase in capacity across the line
* A 21 per cent increase in capacity on the Victoria line, plus new trains and a 19 per cent improvement in times
* Northern line upgrade which will see a 20 per cent increase in capacity and an 18 per cent reduction in travel times
* New trains on the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and District lines
* Crossrail tunnelling and station construction both above and below ground completed
* 4,000 road traffic signals changed to reduce delays
* Make services industries pay for digging up the roads to cut down on unnecessary roadworks
* Eastwards extension of the Boris Bike Barclays cycle hire scheme towards the Olympic Park
* Cable car crossing between North Greenwich and the Royal Docks
* Completion of all 12 Barclays Cycle Superhighways
* Bringing in the New Bus
* Finishing off the London Overground rail network from Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction will complete London's first orbital railway
* Introducing the Source London electric vehicle charging network
Reader views (42)
Boris and Bob Crow we due to appear on Question Time to-night and no we he Bob Crow has been dropped- Perhaps they are frightened that Bob would ask Boris to explain how these cuts work?
Must be a co-incidence that the above has happened since this plan has been announced perhaps Ken could go instead?
(ps since my earlier comment I notice a Sticker with Southfields as staepfree has a appeared in at least 1 district line carraige)
(pps News on TFL website that weekday District Line service to Earls Court is being removed later this year!!! - Thing is it suggests alternative stations like West Kensington however unlike Earls Court and thanks to Boris these stations are of no use to wheelchair users!!).
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 31/03/2011 12:20
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'CUTS = IMPROVEMENT' ???
A fine example of George Orwell's NEW-SPEAK and DOUBLE-THINK.
BIG BROTHER BORIS B B B - step-aside and Bring-Back KEN:
!Cross-River Tram would significantly ease London Travel, far more than wasting Millions on the un-needed 'New' Route-Master at the abandonment of the extensive Bendies Fleets that carry more than double the number of Passengers!
- CHRISTOPHER CROWDY, CHELSEA SW3, 31/03/2011 11:32
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Boris, why don’t you shut up you bloated oaf.
- red tony, Woolwich, 31/03/2011 00:55
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Boris, why don’t you shut up you bloated oaf.
- red tony, Woolwich, 31/03/2011 00:51
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Remember one salient fact about RED KEN.
He will always RAISE YOUR TAXES
- The Pigeons, Muzeltov Hill, 30/03/2011 10:17
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Red-Ken can get as many of his sycophants on here as he can, but they will never be believed, beacuse they stand out a mile as people who have never even been to London, let alone lived here.
- Peter Thurgood, London, UK, 30/03/2011 10:01
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Boris ,well done old chao ,absolute brilliance. Cut 8.7 billion,thats right billion not million and services will all run smoothly and improve.
I say ,Boris for PM. I know all the economic boffins in the world dont understand Boris economics ,but its down to his utter brilliance.
It must be down to the economics taught at Eton ,but why is it that Osbourne and Cameron dont know about Boris economics.
I think a noble prize is due to Boris ,what a true star he is and are we Londeners not the luckyest people in the world to have such a wise man running our city.
- dave, london, 30/03/2011 09:06
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The cuts are new, while the investment plans listed are all old.
This story is cuts cuts cuts--but the gullible ES reporters have been spun into reporting it entirely inaccurately.
Boris is turning into a zone 1 mayor. Outer London depends on the bus service, which is having its subsidy cut by to an astonishing extent--around 50%. This is poor politics from Boris--he's forgotten who it was who put him in city hall.
- Kev, Bromley, 29/03/2011 23:51
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get rid of all the managers on £50-£70k pa. get rid of all the company cars. get rid of the oyster card where fraud is worse than before the oyster card was introduced. best of all get rid of hendy, brown,and boris. its a service not a business. after the 2012 games most stations outside of zone 1 will be unmanned 24/7.
- steve, upminster, 29/03/2011 21:51
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DO IT, screw the unions. All these worthless government departments and worthless government jobs. About time they stop wasting tax payers money and started earning their way.
- Jack roberts, london, 29/03/2011 20:54
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"The Best Mayor London has ever seen..
- KC, Kyrenia Cyprus"
LOL!
- David, Westminster, UK, 29/03/2011 20:51
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(1) Borish has done nothing for London travelling public. We don't need the Olympics. We are the engine of this country economy, yet we are packed in like cattle. Cost of travel is high. They should get rid of London Underground zones, as it is a social injustice. It will make travelling to central london fairer.
(2) What is the point of the Cable Car across the river?. Who is going to use it? Ok, it might good for a scenic route. But you can go on the Jubilee Line and DLR to get between Royal Docks and North Greenwich. This is a big Boris ego project. Plus, the route goes through London City Airport's take off/landing flight path. All you need is a silly human error or act of nature for a major catastrophe. I don't believe the NATS finding that the risks are 1 accident every 15 million years! Did they just make it up?
(3) Instead Boris, could have provided an extra ferry at Woolwich. Please, no Thames Gateway bridge, as instead of easing congestion at Blackwall tunnel, it will create more congestion for longer as it will bring an additional 5,000 per hour. People who in Kent dont use their cars will hop in. You are creating a desire where there previously was n't.
- W.L., London, 29/03/2011 19:56
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The Best Mayor London has ever seen..
- KC, Kyrenia Cyprus, 29/03/2011 19:49
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Keep it up Boris, well done
- peter, london, 29/03/2011 19:04
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Boris has just said fares at London transport to go up by 25 percent per year. That means under Comrade Boris,while salaries have been frozen for four years,he would have doubled the cost.Boris has made transport 100 percent worse alleady,but what did you expect electing a rich boy with no ability and no idea about ordinary people.
- dave, london, 29/03/2011 18:36
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Currently the South London Line runs as a half-hourly
oveground service between London Bridge and Victoria.
It helps in a small way to ease the pressure on the Northern Line for Claphamites.
Guess what? BJ has agreed to close it next year.
Brilliant.
- Jez, Lambeth, 29/03/2011 13:41
The South London Line is NOT CLOSING it is becoming part of the Overground with services running from Clapham Junction to Highbury and Islington via a new link to the East London Line at Surrey Quays. How many passengers really travel from Victoria to London Bridge on this line?
The problem is Boris has no plans to expand the Overground to bring its benefits to more passengers but given his lack of knowledge of London and public transport how can he!!
If you can cut billions then you can invest millions with the result of reduced costs and increased use which then generates billions more - Ken understands this- Boris does'nt!!
His plans contain nothing about DLR and Tram extensions and yet the Tory Led government is granting millions to cities like Manchester and Sheffield to extend their tram networks while Boris goes on about his Vanitymaster that has an open platform that is ideal for fare dodgers to jump on and off just like they used to do!!!
- Melvyn, Canvey Island, Essex, 29/03/2011 18:14
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"I HAVE DONE THE IMPOSSIBLE", really? just how have you done that then? making an announcement?, let me make an even bigger promise , if i am elected mayor i will run the road and rail network for nothing , and pay all its workers with sweeties, hows that for the impossible, anyone else want to have a go?
- Brian, Wiltshire, 29/03/2011 17:27
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Creative accounting?
- Fifi, London, 29/03/2011 17:14
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It sounds like the old less is more trick,typical Tory
- bazza, London, 29/03/2011 17:13
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* Cable car crossing between North Greenwich and the Royal Docks
Is this the same cable car Boris thought of that goes through the City Airport emergency landing flight path?
All the tube pledges such as upgrades and new trains and overground to clapham high street were schemes Ken started.
- Simon, London, 29/03/2011 16:49
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What do I have to do to get my post published on here, wave the red flag and slag off Boris for doing a great job, whilst I lie through my teeth about Red Ken, saying how wonderful he is?
You're kidding, I tell it like it is as a real Londoner. Publish my post or be damded.
- Peter Thurgood, London, UK, 29/03/2011 16:35
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Is this guy for real? "extending the cycle hire scheme"...he's a bloody nutcase as he obviously hasn't bothered to check how people are using these bikes...Nine times out of ten they are cycling on the pavements or cutting through red lights...Yes as a cyclist myself I know there are some of the normal every day cyclists with no respect for the roads or public but not all of us are like this and the majority of the ones using the bike scheme are totally off the rails...Boris should have had someone teach these nuts how to cycle the roads of the UK, would have been better if he'd bothered to put in proper cycle lanes all over London instead of just the West End....another waste of space..maybe it's time we stopped having a Mayor in London and save some money.
- Sarah, London, 29/03/2011 16:07
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As someone who depends on a reliable public transport I think there should be more investment. If that means savings have to be made on tweaking the back of house operations to preserve front line services so be it.
Boris should also do more to stop the £20 billion of London taxes that are being redistributed every year across the country which provides them with better transport than Londoners.
- Sam, London,UK., 29/03/2011 15:47
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He really is the people's buffoon.
- Mike, London, 29/03/2011 15:21
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War is Peace , Ignorance is Strength , Freedom is Slavery, £7.6bn cuts will improve London transport.
- Winston Smith, Airstrip One, 29/03/2011 15:05
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If bonkers Boris thinks having the Jubilee line shut most of the year, a circle line train once every 15 minutes (if you're lucky), trains continuously breaking down, and squeaking on rusty tracks (like the Bakerloo at Paddington) can be considered a good service, then he only further epitomises this government - out of touch and incompetent. The sooner he's given the boot by the people of London, the better.
- Theodor Marco, London, 29/03/2011 14:14
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Currently the South London Line runs as a half-hourly
oveground service between London Bridge and Victoria.
It helps in a small way to ease the pressure on the Northern Line for Claphamites.
Guess what? BJ has agreed to close it next year.
Brilliant.
- Jez, Lambeth, 29/03/2011 13:41
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The best thing to improve transport would be to decentralise tax-raising powers across the UK, including in London.
Then we wouldn't just merely this rehash of previously-announced measures.
- Jay, London, 29/03/2011 13:34
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This Boris gets more and more like Billy Bunter every day, I saw him in town yesterday and he even walks like him.
- Davey-buoy, Chertsey, 29/03/2011 13:18
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"If Boris cared about public transport users as Mayor Ken did then he would be using funds gained from cutting costs for MORE capital investment!!"
Dream on! If Comrade Ken was in office he would have to deal with the same cuts. But then he would probably let Crow and the unions strike in defiance causing even more problems. And he would hike up council tax and fares then waste it on more vanity projects.
- mike stern, london, 29/03/2011 13:14
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Abolition of the mayor and his toytown assembly would save billions more.
Just let TfL get on with the job without interference and political cronyism.
- John Buckeridge, London, 29/03/2011 13:03
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"If Boris cared about public transport users as Mayor Ken did then he would be using funds gained from cutting costs for MORE capital investment!!"
@Melvyn - he is. You numpty. Have another read.
- Andyr, St Ives, 29/03/2011 13:02
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A few cuts to the Transport for London empire is not a bad thing, as the self-serving bureaucrats waste lots of money on eccentricities like Cycling Fridays while dangerous potholes spread and spread on TFL-maintained roads.
Action against potholes is conspicuously absent from the Mayor's list above. Why?
- Jools, London, 29/03/2011 13:01
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By reducing the number of junctions on the major roads, traffic will flow far more smoothly instead of having to stop/start every 100m or so (South Circular, I'm particularly looking at you).
Close off 3/4 side road junctions and divert local traffic to join major roads through the remaining 1/4.
- Steve, London, 29/03/2011 12:51
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If Boris is serious about congestion and therefore quality of life in the capital, he should look to improve bus travel to persuade more of us out of our cars. This will free up road space and reduce congestion. To make bus travel more atrractive he should provide more buses in the peaks, to deal with overcrowding on many routes and ensure every bus stop has real-time Countdown information. This would make the biggest difference to the quality fo life in London for minimal outlay.
- Paul, London, 29/03/2011 12:51
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Its disappointed that the ES has swallowed Bob Crow's press release hook, line and sinker and are labelling the £7bn savings programme as "cuts". Surely there is a difference from contract negotiation and back office savings, which don't impact the travelling public, and 'cuts' to front line services, which do.
- PD, London, 29/03/2011 12:28
If Boris cared about public transport users as Mayor Ken did then he would be using funds gained from cutting costs for MORE capital investment!!
- Melvyn, Canvey Island, Essex, 29/03/2011 12:41
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Thats brilliant economics. More Cuts but Better Services! Great slogan for 2012.
One idea would be to introduce rickshaws to the strets of London, It would create more jobs and get people from A to B through the traffc jams a lot faster. We have the cycle lanes already in place.
- dhan raj, basildon, 29/03/2011 12:40
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So Boris is going to improve transport by making cuts in the transport budget,
I intend doing the same, on my arrival at home from the office today, I intend to tell my wife that I will be cutting down her housekeeping allowance, and instead of a T bone once a week, I will expect a T bone twice a week, not sure if I need to book an appointment at my local A&E, or just phone an Ambulance.
- Brinley Allsop, London, 29/03/2011 12:32
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Its disappointed that the ES has swallowed Bob Crow's press release hook, line and sinker and are labelling the £7bn savings programme as "cuts". Surely there is a difference from contract negotiation and back office savings, which don't impact the travelling public, and 'cuts' to front line services, which do.
- PD, London, 29/03/2011 12:28
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Boris .what planet did you fly back from today. What have you been doing all this time you were meant to be improving London Transport.Has this sudden interest in London Transport actually working got anything to do with the election comming up and lastly DO YOU THINK WE ARE ALL STUPID.
Save London Boris ,retire and keep doing nothing for London ,after all you do it so well.
- dave, london, 29/03/2011 12:28
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Just looked at plan on TFL website where bus milage remains the same for ALL years so given the millions extra milage required to cover for Artic bus removal then many passengers will find major cuts in their services just so routes like the 38 cqan run with 80 double deckers instead of 47 artics (and carry less passengers!!!).
As for Cuts well well given the underinvestment in Londons transport what Boris really means is "vote for me and you can struggle even harder to get on a bus or train and I have other things to get on with!!".
Anyway you dont save billions with cuts you just leave someone else to pick up the mess as Ken found in 2000 when he became Mayor with a rundown transport network that had suffered major cuts after the GLC was abolished.
The plan still talks of making Southfields step-free well it ALREADY is- its just trains have still not had their maps updated!!!
When you think £80 million wasted on de-bendification, millions more on a Vanitymaster which carries less passengers than most new of the shelf double deckers (which cost a fraction of the price a Vanitymaster will!!) and now millions on a cable car and more millions wasted on an estuary airport.
Cut BOJO waste and the outer London boroughs could have got £80 million each!!
And remember his first actions included stopping step free schemes at outer London stations and his new plans contain no new schemes so millions of elderly, disabled and mothers with prams zilch..
- Melvyn, Canvey Island, Essex, 29/03/2011 12:24
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The sole cheapest and most effective thing TfL could do to improve transport is to have no stopping on the red routes between 0700 and 2200 every day. Then, buses, cycles, and all the other traffic could use these artery roads unimpeded. Currently, they are thrombotic for most of the day and on the High Street sections of red routes, you often can't even cycle along them because the congestion is so bad and there isn't space to pass, which is ironic as the cycling superhighway passes through these sections but you can't use the cycle lane as they become parking spaces for most of the day.
- Ross, London, UK, 29/03/2011 12:21
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