News from London Assembly Labour

Labour’s East London Line investment pays off

– only Labour is committed to the next step: Crossrail.

London Labour was celebrating the imminent completion of the first phase of the extended East London Line today, delivered with the £1bn investment agreed in 2003 by the Labour government in co-operation with Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone, and warned that only Labour has given a clear commitment to continue the transport investment London needs by completing the Crossrail link.

Tessa Jowell and former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone were in Dalston Junction this morning with Hackney Labour as the first phase of upgrade neared completion. Full passenger services will commence on the new London Overground East London Line on 23 May 2010, to tie in with the new public timetable on the National Rail network, and from this month TfL plans to trial limited ‘preview’ services on the section of the line between Dalston and New Cross/New Cross Gate.

Labour’s London Minister Tessa Jowell said: “The re-opened, improved and extended East London Line, built with Labour investment, is a big advance for people in East and South London. When it is linked up with the east-west Crossrail we will see a further quantum leap forward for public transport in our city. Without the decision in 2003 to go ahead and deliver this line in time for the Olympics, with £1bn investment from the Government, we would not have won our bid to host the Games.

“What we have seen from the Conservatives this week is a failure to give a straight answer on whether they will complete Crossrail. The Conservatives must answer a simple question – are they committed to completing Crossrail on the current timetable, financing and route? The Conservatives’ repeated failure to give this clear commitment shows they cannot be trusted to secure the recovery and invest for London’s future.”

Former Labour Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, who worked with government to secure the go-ahead for the East London Line in 2003 and who was passed control of the project as work started in 2004, said:
“I am delighted that decisions we took in the first term of the London mayoralty are now bearing fruit with the delivery of the East London Line this year, based on a huge programme of investment from Labour that London needs to see continue with Crossrail. I have fought for as long as I can remember for improved transport links for this part of London and we are now starting to see, with Labour investment, what that means in concrete terms. I want to ask Boris Johnson one simple question – are you happy that your party in Parliament and your party’s own manifesto has just three words devoted to Crossrail, and none of those is ‘complete’?”

Commenting on Crossrail, Labour’s Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis said: “Voters in London need firm dates, not weasel words, on Crossrail. Are the Tories committing here to pressing ahead with the full existing plans to the same timetable? I hope Theresa Villiers, my shadow, will clarify in the coming weeks.”

Other news from London Assembly Labour

• TfL reports another huge operating surplus of £310m – it's time to cut the fares - 2 February 2012
• Murder detection rates down 10% in London as police numbers fall - 2 February 2012
• Christine Quigley becomes latest London Assembly Labour candidate - 1 February 2012