Barking and Dagenham is to benefit from better transport under a proposed £10 billion, five-year investment programme to give London a 21st century transport system, unveiled by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone today.

Speaking at City Hall, the Mayor said:

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reverse decades of under-investment in Barking and Dagenham and right across London. It marks an end to stop-start funding for London's transport. The programme will deliver real improvements in the services and capacity needed to keep passengers travelling in and through Barking and Dagenham on the move."

The main benefits for Barking and Dagenham included in TfL's 5 Year Investment Programme, subject to approval by the TfL Board, are:

  • the proposed Thames Gateway Bridge, connecting Beckton and Thamesmead - this will carry four lanes of traffic as well as separate lanes for public transport, pedestrians and cyclists;
  • a major new high quality bus service - the East London Transit - will serve Ilford, Barking and Dagenham Dock. Eventually connecting to the Thames Gateway Bridge, it will link residential areas with shopping centres, new development zones and other transport services and;
  • a raft of improvements planned for the Silverlink Metro including station and security improvements covering the upgrade of communications links, CCTV, improved lighting, structural improvements and graffiti cleaning. In addition, station staffing hours will be extended to provide a visible presence in the early morning and late at night;
  • the option of extending the DLR to Barking Reach will be funded to design and powers stage.

In addition, the following improvements to District and Hammersmith & City trains and stations are planned to be delivered under the PPP:

  • station refurbishments to Dagenham Heathway (to be completed 2005); Becontree, Dagenham East and Upney (2006);
  • all 75 District Line trains to be refurbished by 2009 including space for wheelchairs, audio & video info systems and refurbished seats and interiors.

The Mayor added:

"The last four years have seen huge improvements in Barking and Dagenham's bus services. This investment programme will build on this and deliver improvements right across the transport network.

"We have had to take hard choices. Even with the biggest transport investment programme London has seen since the Second World War, we cannot do everything we want to do this time round. But there have been no trade-offs between maintaining the existing system or launching new projects."

Work undertaken to improve transport in Barking and Dagenham by TfL over the past four years, benefiting all Londoners including those with disabilities and the socially excluded, includes:

  • more reliable services and better information on all bus services;
  • licensing private hire vehicles to improve passenger safety;
  • funding for improving conditions for walking, cycling and road safety; improvements in dial-a-ride and taxicard funding;
  • New low floor, fully accessible buses on 18 routes, increased frequencies on 15 routes and the introduction of 1 new route (N369) and;
  • Upgrading of the A13 Thames Gateway corridor, enabling the regeneration of the East London area. The programme is due for completion this year and includes improvements to four key junctions.

In partnership with Barking and Dagenham Borough, a range of schemes have been implemented:

  • the Safer Routes to School programme, which encourages children to walk or cycle to school and;
  • improvements to Barking railway station, which have provided better arrangements for bus and taxi users.
  1. The Investment Programme will be formally approved by the board of TfL at a meeting on October 27th.
  2. Crossrail is not part of the Programme. TfL is progressing it as a joint partnership with government in expectation of a Hybrid Bill.
  3. Many of the projects listed are subject to further consultation or other statutory processes before they can be delivered, and may be delivered beyond the life of the Programme.
  4. Tube Lines are responsible for the maintenance and renewal of the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines;
  5. Metronet Rail BCV are responsible for the maintenance and renewal of the Bakerloo, Central, Victoria and Waterloo & City lines;
  6. Metronet Rail SSL are responsible for the maintenance and renewal of the Sub-Surface lines, the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and East London lines.