The Transport for London Board approved a revised budget today which delays or cancels key schemes. The Greenwich Waterfront Transit is cancelled and the widening of the North Circular is delayed. Failure to widen the North Circular may leave a gap in the Olympic Priority Route Network. This follows the cancellation of several other transport projects which the London Mayor claims were unfunded and a three years freeze in the expansion of the bus network.
Jenny Jones said:
"People have been waiting years for these improvements and there will be anger if these schemes are abandoned at the last minute because the London Mayor has failed to balance the books. There is a hole in the Transport for London budget and it is partly of the Mayor’s own making, as he has cancelled the £25 emissions charge for gas guzzlers and is wasting millions replacing bendy buses."
"The local community around the Bounds Green area will be devastated by the news that the London mayor is even considering delaying the changes to the North Circular. They have waited decades for the planners to sort out the North Circular and a further delay is simply not acceptable. The mayor should find the money by bringing in the emissions charge for gas guzzlers in central London and keeping the western extension of the congestion charge."
"The Greenwich Waterfront Transit would connect a whole swathe of commercial and residential areas in East London. It is a public transport scheme which helps create access to businesses and local communities in one of the poorest parts of London."
Notes to editors
1) A406 bounds green project has a current estimated total cost of £69m, TfL 27 Jan 09 project approval list.
2) TfL estimated that the emissions charge would raise between £30-£50m in its first year. They also estimated that canceling the western extension in 2010 would lose them £72m.