APPENDIX 22
Memorandum submitted by the East London
Line
1. The East London Line Group is delighted to submit
evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in connection
with its inquiry into Winning the 2012 Olympics.
2. The Group is a consortium of local authorities,
regeneration agencies, publicprivate partnerships and other
interested parties, seeking the earliest possible construction
of northern and southern extensions to the East London Line.
3. The extensions would deliver numerous transport
benefits across North, East and South London which have been set
out in considerable detail elsewhere. It is clear that the extended
line would provide substantially improved access to many of the
potential Olympic centres and vital transport connections between
the major sites, relieving congestion on other major routes and
river crossings:
- The proposed swimming pool at London Fields,
the cycling, archery and softball site at Hackney Marshes and
the modern pentathlon site at Crystal Palace would be situated
within close proximity of the new line, as extended under the
initial phase of construction. Should a further phase of construction
lead to an extension to Wimbledon, this would facilitate access
to the proposed tennis site there.
- The interchange between the Jubilee Line and
the East London Line at Canada Water means that access to the
proposed Olympic sites in Docklands from North and South London
would be facilitated by the East London Line extensions
- Access to the proposed stadium at Stratford could
also be provided by the East London Line extensions, if the disused
eastern curve at Dalston was brought back into use, to allow services
to run onto the North London Line towards Stratford.
4. The cost of the East London Line extensions scheme
is currently estimated at £800 million, which means that
it could be completed at a fraction of the price of other major
rail infrastructure schemes which would bring benefit to London
and enhance the viability of an Olympic bid.
5. The extensions scheme makes considerable use of
existing or former tracks which means that it could be completed
within a relatively short timeframe. In TfL's annual report, published
last month, it was noted that the opening of the line could be
achieved by 2008. This means that, unlike other major London infrastructure
projects, the new East London Line could be fully operational
well in advance of the potential London Olympics in 2012.
6. The East London Line extensions will boost £10
billion of regeneration and economic development around London,
of which a large part will be concentrated in inner East and North
East London, close to the major potential Olympic site. This means,
if the East London Line extensions are given the goahead,
not only will key transport infrastructure be in place by 2012,
but also jobs, investment and economic infrastructure. We have
attached a brochure outlining the regeneration benefits which
would accrue as a result of the extensions.
7. The extensions scheme has almost universal support
from London and national stakeholders. The project was cited as
a top priority in the Government's Ten Year Transport Strategy,
published in July 2000, and was also listed as a key project several
times in the Mayor's Transport Strategy, published in July
2001 and his London Plan, published in July 2002. The project
has also gained endorsement from MPs, GLA members, all major players
in the rail industry, and local stakeholders who are members of
the East London Line Group.
8. Despite this, the project has stalled in recent
months. The business case, which contains proposed service patterns
and a funding plan, was submitted by the Strategic Rail Authority
to ministers in late summer, but has still not been signed off.
Until this happens, funding cannot be allocated to the scheme,
and contractors cannot be appointed to construct the extensions.
9. The construction of the East London Line extensions
would increase the viability of a successful Olympic Games and
indeed greater certainty about the future of the extensions project
would increase the viability of a bid for the Olympics. Conversely,
the Group believes that if the government is unable to complete
what is essentially a small and simple infrastructure project,
it is surely unable to support a successful Olympic Games.
10. The Group hopes that all of the above points
are borne in mind by the Committee, and that pressure is applied
on the government to sign off the business case as soon as possible
and facilitate the earliest possible construction of the line.
11. The Group would be happy to supply supplementary
evidence, if the Committee felt that this would be helpful.
10 January 2003
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