Mayor presents bold strategy for the future of London’s transport

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has set out ambitious plans to improve transport in London over the next 25 years, presenting his Transport Strategy to the London Assembly for consideration before final publication in the coming weeks.  The Transport Strategy includes;

• Ensuring affordable public transport for all, support London’s economic growth, and create a fairer, greener and healthier city;
• Continued record investment in improving transport capacity, with new rail lines, more frequent tube services, thousands of clean buses and more accessible transport over the next two decades;
• A new commitment to a West London Orbital rail line and a specific proposal for the Sutton Tram extension

The Transport Strategy will act as the backbone of transport planning across London, helping to deliver The Mayor's ambition for 80% of trips in London to be made on foot, by cycle or using public transport by 2041.‎ It includes record investment in new and improved rail, tube and bus services, an unprecedented focus on walking and cycling, and a commitment to make the entire transport system zero-emission by 2050.

As outlined in the Strategy, there will be new Tube trains and signalling giving more frequent and reliable services, the opening of the Elizabeth line, extensions to the Tube, DLR and Overground, new green buses and taxis, new river crossings, and the transformation of London’s streets to make walking, cycling and public transport the most appealing and practical choices for Londoners. The strategy also reiterates how vital Crossrail 2 and a transformed suburban rail metro service are for the capital’s future economy, jobs and homes.

Following extensive feedback from the consultation, the strategy now also includes the potential for a West London Orbital rail line, connecting Hounslow with Cricklewood and Hendon via Old Oak, Neasden and Brent Cross. This new line, delivered through TfL, the West London Alliance, boroughs and Network Rail, could potentially support the delivery of an additional 20,000 homes, as well as employment growth in west London.  The strategy also contains a specific proposal to work with the London Boroughs of Merton and Sutton to develop the proposed Sutton Tram extension.

Across the next two decades, the Mayor’s Transport Strategy will include:

•  Major transport schemes including the Elizabeth line, Northern Line extension, Crossrail 2, Bakerloo line extension and the Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf crossing. These major transport schemes, delivered through partnerships and close working between TfL, boroughs, and landowners across London, will help create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and homes across London and the South East and support the principles of ‘Good Growth’.
•  Billions to be invested in delivering the Healthy Streets Approach across all London boroughs. This investment will help remove the need to travel by car, and make walking, cycling and taking public transport safer and easier, helping to promote healthier active lifestyles. This includes major transformation schemes at Oxford Street and Old Street in Central London, as well as hundreds of walking and cycling schemes across inner and outer London to help more journeys become active, efficient and sustainable.
• Forging ahead with Crossrail 2, which is vital to the success of the wider UK economy. Once delivered the new rail line would relieve pressure on the transport network across the south of England, enabling 270,000 more people to travel into and across central London every morning at peak time, and will drive the development of 200,000 homes and 200,000 new jobs across the south east.
• Record breaking investment across the entire Tube network to run more trains more often and carry far more passengers. This investment will see the completion of new signalling and more frequent services on the Metropolitan, District, Circle and Hammersmith & City lines. The modernisation of the Piccadilly, Central, Bakerloo and Waterloo & City lines will also begin by the mid-2020s and see new trains and more frequent services delivered to increase capacity and improve reliability.
• Dramatically improving air quality across London and making London a zero-emission city. This will be delivered through a phased approach, following wide-spread public consultation and building on the forthcoming introduction of the Ultra Low Emission Zone. This includes creating zero emission areas in town centres from 2020 and in central London from 2025, larger zero emission zones in inner London by 2040 and London-wide by 2050. TfL will lead by example, with the aim that all taxis and PHVs will be zero emission capable by 2033 and buses will be zero emission by 2037.
• Improving accessibility across London to enable all Londoners, including disabled and older people, to travel spontaneously and independently. The Mayor and TfL will work hard to halve the additional journey time required by those using step-free network only, so that journey times on the step-free network become comparable to those on the wider transport network. This work will see more Tube and rail stations made fully accessible, while improvements to the DLR and London Tram, both of which are already 100 per cent fully accessible, will make it easier for people with a disability to turn-up-and-go. When Sadiq became Mayor, fewer than 25 per cent of Tube stations were step free - the interim target is to ensure 40 per cent of the network is accessible by 2022.

During last year's statutory consultation on the draft Mayor's Transport Strategy, more than 6,500 responses were received from members of the public and stakeholders from across the UK, showing strong support for the aspirations and vision set out. Hundreds of presentations were carried out across London to key stakeholders and businesses to explain the strategy.

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said: “I’m delighted that thousands of Londoners have got involved and given us their feedback on the future of transport in London over the coming decades.  I’ve been clear that we need to be bold in how our city operates as London’s population grows, and this means not only investing record amounts in new infrastructure like extensions to the tube, rail and Crossrail 2, but working with boroughs and local communities to reduce our reliance on car use across London. With our unprecedented focus on walking, cycling and clean public transport, our ambitious Transport Strategy can act as a crucial driver for new homes and jobs, but also improve quality of life for everyone living in London.”

The Mayor’s Transport Strategy will be discussed by the London Assembly on 8 March and can be accessed by visiting: https://www.london.gov.uk/moderngov/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=179&MId=6259

(This press release was published by the Government London Assembly on 28th February 2018)