Wandsworth
councillors fear that the borough has been 'dropped off the map' by
transport planners after work on two major tube and rail projects ground
to a halt.
The problems were highlighted in a report to the council's regeneration
and transport committee in September and confirmed in the Mayor's transport
plan published this week.
Now the council has written to the Mayor of London calling for an urgent
meeting to review the lack of progress.
The major casualty is the East London Line extension with Clapham Junction
dropped from the first phase of the work. Instead the line will serve
West Croydon and Crystal Palace despite these areas already having good
north-south links.
Work on Crossrail 2 - otherwise known as the Chelsea Hackney Line -
has also stopped. This removes any realistic prospect of Clapham Junction
getting on the tube map.
Meanwhile in another blow to local commuters the first Crossrail project
will not now include a route to Richmond and Kingston. This would have
relieved overcrowding on trains to Waterloo from south west London.
Cabinet member for regeneration and transport Guy Senior wants the Mayor
of London to start speaking up for Wandsworth:
"Everywhere you look there is a transport project that has stalled.
It is as if the entire borough, including the UK's busiest station at
Clapham Junction, has been forgotten. We must get a firm commitment
to the second phase of the East London Line extension which must surely
include Clapham Junction. It is all very well linking this line to the
Olympic Games bid but 2012 is far too long to wait for a decent east-west
rail connection that can bypass central London.
"Local commuters will also be dismayed at the complete lack of
progress on the Chelsea - Hackney link which would at last have put
Clapham Junction on the tube map.
"At a time when local rail services are more congested than ever
the failure of the Government and the Mayor to move forward on this
much needed investment in south London's rail and tube infrastructure
is unforgivable."
Even the first Crossrail project is still bedeviled by funding problems.
Although a bill will be presented to Parliament later this year no decision
has been made on how the £10 billion project will be financed.
There is also concern over the practicality of running such an intensive
service through central London.
Work on a further project, Thameslink 2000, is also held up pending
the outcome of a second public inquiry next year. The line, which includes
Tooting, would benefit from additional capacity south of the river.
The earliest start date is now is likely to be 2007.
October 20, 2004