TFL boss: Plenty of improvements in the pipeline provided we get funding

Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms underground stations open in London
REUTERS
Ross Lydall @RossLydall1 October 2021

London’s transport chief today said he had a pipeline of major projects ready to revitalise the capital — but which can only proceed if he wins government funding.

Andy Byford, the Transport for London commissioner, said the opening of the £1.1 billion Northern line extension to Battersea Power Station last month showed how big transit schemes could help transform an area.

“There’s plenty more where that came from,” he told the Standard. “If we can get a long-term deal for TfL, we can do more of this sort of thing and help transform communities and create jobs.”

Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms underground stations open in London
A general view of the newly opened Nine Elms underground station in Battersea
REUTERS

TfL’s six-month funding deal is due to run out on December 11.

Mr Byford and Mayor Sadiq Khan are desperate to secure a longer-term arrangement from the Government to enable work to start on many “mega-projects” that have been paused due to cash constraints.

Crossrail, the expansion of Bank station and the London Overground extension to Barking Riverside are all due to be completed next year, while tunnelling is due to start in April on the Silvertown road tunnel under the Thames.

But TfL’s two most transformative schemes in terms of their potential for regeneration — Crossrail 2 and the Bakerloo line extension — have both been mothballed until 2030 due to a lack of funds.

A new fleet of trains has been ordered for the Piccadilly line but TfL cannot afford to upgrade the signalling system that would allow them to run more frequently to ease peak overcrowding.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government had already been “incredibly generous” to TfL, with more than £4 billion to help it maintain services hit by the pandemic.

He said talks would take place later this year on future funding. But Mr Byford said: “We can’t continue on these six-month deals. They are inherently inefficient. We have got to have that long-term certainty for TfL so we can plan with confidence and help get London motoring again.”

Mr Khan said: “One of the points I’m trying to make to the Government is: you can’t stand still. If you stand still as a global city, you go backwards. We should always be investing. We’re competing with Paris, New York, Tokyo.”

TFL’s big projects

*Crossrail Main section expected in the first half of 2022. £18.7 billion Elizabeth line will serve 41 stations. Heathrow to Canary Wharf within 30 minutes. Three years late.

*Crossrail 2 Linking Hertfordshire to Surrey, running from Broxbourne through London and serving Hampton Court and Epsom. Operating by the early 2030s. On hold due to TfL funding crisis.

*Bakerloo line Extended to Lewisham, and to Hayes and Beckenham later with new stations along Old Kent Road and another at New Cross Gate. Also on hold.

*DLR extension From Gallions Reach, with Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead stations. Could be reality by end of decade.

*Silvertown tunnel Work likely to start next April. Expected to open in 2025.

*Overground 4.5km extension of Gospel Oak-to-Barking line to Barking Riverside, expected to open next year.

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