The Corporation of London is to benefit from better transport under a proposed £10 billion 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 the Corporation of London and right across the capital. 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 the Corporation of London on the move."

The main benefits for the Corporation of London included in TfL's 5 Year Investment Programme, subject to approval by the TfL Board are:

  • the East London line will be extended south to Crystal Palace and West Croydon and north to Dalston Junction in 2010, in good time for the Olympics and;
  • plans to upgrade to 3-car trains by mid 2008 on the DLR between Bank and Lewisham - this will increase capacity by 30% and help meet future demand.
  • In addition, the following improvements to London Underground trains and stations are planned to be delivered under the PPP:
  • line upgrades on the Central Line by 2006 and the Waterloo and City ine by 2007;
  • station modernisation to Barbican, Blackfriars and St Paul's (completion 2007 - 2010);
  • station refurbishments to Aldgate, Mansion House, Cannon Street, Liverpool Street and Moorgate (completion 2007 - 2010);
  • station accessibility will improve with step-free access at Liverpool Street station by 2008;
  • all 75 District Line trains to be refurbished by 2009 including space for wheelchairs, audio and video information systems and refurbished seats and interiors.
  • the first new air-cooled trains to be introduced on the Metropolitan line in 2009.

The Mayor added:

"The last four years have seen huge improvements in the Corporation of London'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 the Corporation of London 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;
  • new low floor, accessible buses on 34 routes, increased frequencies on 38 routes and the introduction of 5 new routes (205, 254, 388, 705. RV1) and 9 new night bus routes (N133, N149, N214, N242, N271, N341, N63, N76 and N89);
  • licensing of 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.
  • In partnership with the Corporation of London, a range of schemes have been implemented including:
  • improvements to the north-south route from the City to the River Thames via King Street, providing benefits to pedestrians and cyclists and;
  • the construction of a new pier at Blackfriars to allow passenger ferries to serve the area.
  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.