APPENDIX 23
Memorandum submitted by the Corporation
of London, City Remembrancer's Office
INTRODUCTION
1. The Corporation of London supports the
Olympic movement and welcomes the opportunity to work with the
Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to ensure that the 2012 Olympics
are a success. The Games will provide the opportunity to bring
much needed regeneration to east London and improve London's status
as a world class City which people will want to visit and where
they will want to do business. The Corporation is particularly
concerned to ensure that the Games fulfil their potential to act
as a catalyst and deliver legacy improvements, especially in east
London. In order to ensure the success of the Games, however,
and to maximise the legacy benefits, it is important that the
Olympic Transport Plan does not adopt a narrow geographical or
time perspective but considers the Games in the context of London's
wider transport requirements. The paragraphs below set out the
Corporation's views on the issues it considers should be addressed
in planning the transport infrastructure for the Games.
THE OLYMPIC
TRANSPORT PLAN
2. The Olympic Transport Plan (OTP) should
cover a much broader time period than simply the duration of the
Games because, in addition to demand generated by the events,
the expanded transport system should be designed to sustain the
expected extra demands resulting from London's natural growth.
It is important therefore that the final OTP reflects the projected
future needs of the central and eastern parts of London. The OTP
will need to establish both what work is required to fulfil the
operational needs of the Olympics and also how this work will
contribute to planning for London's growth as set out in the Mayor
of London's London Plan.
3. The investment that is injected into
London to promote the Games should not, however, be at the expense
of the existing planned projects and capital schemes within the
Mayor's Transport Plan. Where possible, any removal of capacity
from the existing transport network should be avoided. This may
be mooted under the guise of preparation for the Games but would
result in severe inconvenience to London commuters who will still
need to use the network in the lead in period before, and during
the Games. Any unnecessary removal of capacity prior to the Games
will impact upon London's ability to function properly and accommodate
the projected growth in its population.
4. Public transport provision is vital for
the City of London to operate. With a work force of over 310,000
people, and 86% of them arriving by public transport[2]2,
a reliable transport network feeding the central business zone
is fundamental. Consequently, predictions of employment growth
need to be taken into consideration when planning the construction
of the Olympic sites and transport network. In addition, the economy
of the country relies heavily on financial and business services
and cannot risk the existing transport network being inoperable
for any extended period due to construction works. A properly
scheduled programme of improvement works that minimises disruption
should therefore be an essential component of the OTP.
CROSSRAIL
5. The Corporation believes that the large
infrastructure schemes, such as Crossrail and Thameslink 2000
(discussed in more detail below), which have been developed over
many years and are awaiting the allocation of funding, should
not be delayed or deferred as a result of the Olympics. These
schemes still need to be progressed urgently as they provide additional
capacity in key areas of London that are unlikely to benefit directly
from the Games. The City and central London as a whole need the
benefits of a properly constructed Crossrail scheme to meet demand
generated by the predicted growth in employment. The GLA have
reported a projected employment figure in the City of London in
2016 of 397,000 people[3]3.
This is an approximate 22% increase in the number of employees
working in the City. At present the current workforce predominantly
relies on public transport to access the City. The Corporation
would not expect this travel demand pattern to change unless public
transport capacity did not grow to meet the needs of the consumer.
A consequence of such a situation would be the suppression of
economic activity and job growth.
6. Securing funding for these schemes at
an early stage would demonstrate commitment to improving the current
rail transport network. Without early delivery of these much needed
schemes to provide significant new capacity to meet the economic
needs of London and its commuter belt, there is a risk of business
being lost to overseas competitors with lower office rental costs
and cheaper, less crowded transport services. London's competitive
advantage must be upheld.
7. The private sector is also keen to see
the concept of Crossrail progressed and has agreed to the principle
of considering a precept on the business rates to help fund the
scheme. It cannot also be expected to have a similar large financial
role in underwriting the transport plan for the Olympics. The
Olympics are a national event and benefits from the Games will
not be confined to London. The benefits and costs should be properly
shared across the whole of the UK.
8. The Corporation understands no significant
engineering resource or significant logistical conflict in taking
Crossrail forward for its currently planned completion in 2013.
The current programme of works suggests that the major tunnelling
activities and allied temporary rail sidings for spoil removal
at the eastern portal near Stratford will have been completed
in advance of the pre-Olympic construction projects. Consequently,
only fitting-out and commissioning works for the railway, which
will mainly be underground within central London, would coincide
with the Olympics work. Typically projects of the scale of Crossrail
would be undertaken by consortia of international construction
firms drawing their skilled staff and equipment from a very broad
base. In terms of construction traffic the Environmental Statement
for Crossrail envisages, at peak times, a daily volume of around
200 lorry movements at two City locations. This level of activity
can reasonably be absorbed without causing issues on the City's
street network. Commercial building redevelopment has always been
intense within the City—the most intense being 700,000m2
starting in 1988 and 327,000 m2 under construction now—which
often create well in excess of 1,000 lorries per day. The level
of construction lorry traffic is comparable to that Crossrail
will generate and, using careful management has not proved to
be a material issue in terms of traffic congestion. Further, the
Games could provide an opportunity for Crossrail to be built with
a new focus, with the potential for a partial phased opening of
the line, for example to the east of Liverpool Street, which could
significantly aid the OTP.
THAMESLINK 2000
9. Thameslink 2000 would improve the only
north—south mainline rail line across London by enhancing
services that run from Bedford to Brighton directly through central
London and so increasing capacity across the network. As part
of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) works at Kings Cross, Thameslink
services were suspended through the central core from September
2004 to allow the construction of a new box under the CTRL site
at St Pancras to house a new improved Thameslink Midland Road
station. A lack of funding has resulted in the new station lying
incomplete and dormant while Thameslink services continue to use
the old station at Kings Cross Thameslink. The Corporation believes
that fitting out of the Thameslink station box at St Pancras is
essential for the success of the OTP. It is likely that Thameslink
services will be in great demand by visitors to the Capital throughout
the Games as the service links both Gatwick and Luton airports
to central London. If the new station were to become operational,
there would be a much improved interchange between Thameslink
services and the planned high speed Javelin service to Stratford.
It would also provide relief to the congested Northern line by
aiding the dispersal of international rail passengers both north
and south of Kings Cross without the forced need to use the underground
system.
CHANNEL TUNNEL
RAIL LINK
10. The Corporation is keen to ensure normal
surface links for international travel continue to function fully
and propose that Waterloo International is reopened during the
Olympic period so that "non Olympic" international Eurostar
passengers can be diverted away from the busy Kings Cross area
thus reducing the demand for non-Games related onwards travel
from that location.
UNDERGROUND IMPROVEMENTS
11. The Corporation would prefer not to
have, extended periods of closures on the underground network,
as has previously been suggested, in order for the Public Private
Partnership (PPP) infrastructure works to be completed unless
these become absolutely vital to meet the 2012 deadlines. The
current timetable allows for this work to be done without the
need for extended closures, providing that there is no slippage
in the programme and the contractors apply adequate resources.
Metronet's programme for station upgrades has already slipped
which suggests that the PPP works need to be managed in a more
robust manner so that the infrastructure and rolling stock upgrades
are completed to meet the Olympic timescale.
12. The Corporation would not advocate any
changes to the existing PPP arrangements. In the City's experience,
previous closures of both the East London line and Northern line
for extended time periods to enable works to be carried out did
not deliver results, leaving passengers plagued by faults and
requiring additional closures for further remedial work. The cause
of this appears to have been failures in the oversight and management
of these works.
13. The Corporation strongly supports the
focus of 2012 for completion of the London Underground capacity
enhancements and refurbishment work. The DLR enhancement programme
and the East London line extension are also welcomed. These projects
need to continue as previously planned and retain the existing
allocated funding. Each transport scheme with current funding
is supported by a justified economic case. If the decision is
taken to transfer these funds to Olympics projects, there should
be a guarantee that the funding will be replaced within in a specific
time period. Furthermore, the boroughs must be fully consulted
on any such proposals.
OTHER PUBLIC
TRANSPORT SCHEMES
14. Other transport schemes that the Corporation
believes could usefully be included in the Olympic Transport Plan
include:-
— Phase 2 of the East London line extensions.
This would complete the scheme and provide connections to other
Olympic venues;
— Continuation of the DLR enhancement
programme;
— National Rail station upgrades (especially
around the Olympic venues to cater for accessibility issues);
and
— 8 tracking of the bottleneck into/out
of Liverpool Street station which would provide greater capacity.
Currently the tracks on the approach to the Liverpool Street station
narrow to 6 and cause a bottleneck. There is an opportunity to
place an additional 2 lines in from Bethnal Green which would
relieve the strain and increase the operational capacity at Liverpool
Street.
Each of the above schemes would enhance Olympic
services by ensuring greater resilience and improvements to the
current public transport network. This would contribute to a valuable
legacy, encourage further regeneration and provide some of the
necessary infrastructure for the expansion of London to the east.
OLYMPIC ROAD
NETWORK
15. Central London's key roads are currently
running close to operational capacity during weekday peak periods.
The proper allocation of this road space, therefore, involves
the balancing of a number of issues and the ODA's proposed powers
to remove road space for exclusive Olympic usage will need full
agreement from stakeholders. It is vital the Corporation is consulted
at an early stage before the creation of the Olympic Road Network
(ORN) as it will have "traffic transfer" effects on
the rest of the City's roads and on the ability to maintain frontage
servicing. Changes will have to be communicated to and agreed
with the businesses along the route so that their needs can be
met without impairing the functioning of the Games. The impact
of the operational hours of the ORN also needs to be discussed
with the affected boroughs at an early stage in order to allow
boroughs sufficient time to make contingency plans for general
traffic. It will be important that there is an early decision
as to whether the central London congestion charge will operate
during the Games, taking into account the effect this will have
on the ORN and the roads outside the zone.
FREIGHT
16. The Corporation believes that the planned
movement of freight during the Olympic period should be taken
into consideration within the OTP. Freight supply to London is
important to the UK's economy and therefore should not be compromised
during the Games. A robust plan, especially for lines such as
the North London line which will be heavily used during the Games,
is essential.
COACH PARKING
17. There is a need to identify suitable
on and off street parking facilities for all the additional coaches
and buses that will be used to facilitate the Games. Garaging
and coach parking facilities in London are already extremely limited.
The OTP should therefore tackle this issue at an early opportunity.
Assuming an increase in tourism after the Games, as has been shown
in other Olympic cities, retention of some facilities is likely
to be welcomed by the coach tourism industry but it will need
to form part of a wider London policy towards coach provision.
TOURISM
18. The main focus of the OTP appears to
be improving services to Stratford and linking the Olympic site
to the existing transport corridors. The plan should, however,
also consider how London's transport system will cope with the
expected large number of visitors who may also wish to visit restaurants,
entertainment and tourist attractions elsewhere during their visit
to London. The Cross River Partnership, in collaboration with
TfL, has developed a tram scheme for Central London, called the
Cross River Tram, which links Kings Cross to Waterloo where the
service divides to serve Peckham and Brixton. This scheme would
greatly assist the movement of people across Central London and
would aid with the expected post Games increase in tourism. The
scheme would also provide transport access from more deprived
areas to central London for job opportunities. The continued development
of the scheme should not be delayed because of funds being transferred
to the Olympics and it would be regrettable if funding for implementation
post Games was not identified for this beneficial scheme. The
Corporation is also in the process of considering the feasibility
of an extension to the proposed Cross River Tram which would connect
Battersea to the City via the Elephant and Castle and then travel
on into Hackney. The initial modelling work for the extension
is encouraging.
HOME WORKING
19. One aspect the ODA may wish to explore
in the OTP is the possibility of seeking a reduction in the impact
of normal weekday business activities to help relieve pressure
on the network during crucial periods of the Games. The Corporation
will encourage City businesses to work with the ODA to find ways
of achieving this. In the Olympic bid document it states that
"travel demand is consistently down as much as 20%"
in August[4]4
and it is suggested that would release capacity on the network
to be used by visitors to the Games. This spare capacity may not
arise, however, if businesses continue to operate at their full
capacity during the Games and London workers decide that they
will remain in London to attend the Olympics rather than taking
their usual holidays at this time. In addition, our on-going measurements
of road traffic in the City have shown that in August, typically,
the levels are down only 2% from the yearly average.
AIR QUALITY
20. The OTP should include a section on
London's air quality. It seems that the underlying thinking in
the Olympic bid was to move the majority of competitors by road
transport, hence the need for the ORN. A statement as to how emissions
are to be controlled in respect of the increased use of buses,
coaches and taxis for both competitors and spectators, especially
in central London, needs to be set out at an early stage. Poor
air quality during the Games could prove embarrassing to London,
particularly if this was thought to affect athletes' performance.
SECURITY
21. Given the increased global terrorist
threat and high profile nature of the Games security is an issue
that needs to be explored fully with the Corporation, boroughs
and the Metropolitan and City police at an early stage of the
planning process. Liaison with transport providers should form
part of the security plan considering the impact on public order
and traveller safety of the large numbers of people arriving at
and departing from the Olympic sites during events. The Corporation
recognises that there are many factors that determine the timetable
of events, however one potential solution would be to set the
phasing of the starting and finishing times so as not to overcrowd
the network or the Capital's streets.
CONCLUSIONS
22. The Corporation supports the Olympics
and believes it is a great honour for London to host the Games.
The Corporation looks forward to working with the Olympic Delivery
Authority to progress the projects and works needed to host the
Games. In order to ensure that the Games are a complete success
for spectators and competitors alike the Olympic Delivery Authority
will need to work closely with the London boroughs and the Corporation
on issues of transport, security and construction.
23. The Olympic Games create an inflexible
deadline for construction, so it is important that bureaucracy
is streamlined to ensure that all of the projects are completed
on time and to budget. It is also important that other transport
improvement projects in London, which may not be directly associated
with the Games, continue to be progressed in order to support
the predicted population and employment growth.
24. The Corporation does not believe it
would be appropriate to transfer funding from those London transport
projects which are not classed as essential for the Olympics.
Schemes which have yet to secure funding and powers, such as Crossrail
and Thameslink 2000, should continue to be progressed, as London
is relying on these large schemes to relieve existing overcrowding
and provide additional capacity on the network. The Corporation
believes it is vital that the OTP considers the legacy issue and
provides London with a world class transport system able to sustain
the projected growth of our world class city.
September 2005
2 2001 Census. Back
3
GLA Economics-Current Issue Note 4, May 2005. Back
4
4Olympic Bid Volume 3, Theme 14, page 99. Back
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