• Rising travelcard costs and no end in sight for farepayers. Only Ken will cut fares and set a course that ensures a fairer deal for Londoners.

• Tory Mayor Boris Johnson has failed to get a decent settlement for London out of the Autumn Statement. He has been awarded 4 out of 40 projects for the Infrastructure Fund lower than almost every other English region. Of the 4 projects that have been announced, only two are actually funded.

• George Osborne’s remarks about a Silvertown river crossing and a Northern line extension are little more than warm words. There is little or no detail on how the projects would be delivered or funded.

• The Government should take up Labour’s five point plan for growth and jobs – which will give up to 334,000 London firms a tax break to take on more workers, create 11,500 jobs for young Londoners and build 5,000 new homes.

More Tory fare rises

Today’s fares announcement by the Tory Mayor and Tory Chancellor means rising travelcard costs and no end in sight for farepayers:

• This is the fourth consecutive year of inflation-busting fares under the Tory mayor

• Fares in London have risen faster than anywhere else in the country during tough

economic times. Boris Johnson should use the £729 million of surplus money in his TfL budget to keep fares low.

• If Ken is elected Mayor in May 2012, in October 2012 he will cut fares, then freeze them the whole of the following year and ensure that they rise by no more than inflation in the following two years.

London’s economy in worse state

The London economy is in a worse state than it has been for more than 15 years

• 410,000 people are now unemployed in London, almost one in ten of the population. Unemployment in London is now higher than it has been at any other point since 1994. According to the latest estimates from ONS, more than one in four young people in London is unemployed.

• Only 56 affordable homes were built in London in the last 6 months, and the number of housing starts in the last quarter went down by more than 50% on the previous year.

• Between January and September, the number of 18-24 year olds on the dole for more than 6 months has doubled in more than half of London’s boroughs.

• A survey by Travelex yesterday showed that 59% of small and medium sized businesses in London expect to go into a double dip recession.

Infrastructure projects cut

The government is cutting not investing in infrastructure.

• Only 4 out of the 40 infrastructure projects outlined today are in London, less than the 10 in Yorkshire and the Humber, and less than the West Midlands, the North West, the South East and the East of England. This is despite the fact that unemployment is higher in London than anywhere else apart from the North East.

• The Tory-led Government got rid of the London Development Agency as well as agencies to promote tourism and inward investment in London

• And even these 4 are beginning to unravel once the detail emerges:

I. The Northern Line extension is a wish not a commitment. London will get no money from the Government for the Northern Line extension, and no guarantee that it will be allowed to borrow. At the earliest, this project will only begin in mid 2013.(In the Autumn Statement it says “Subject to commitment by April 2013 from a developer to develop the site and make agreed contributions, the Government will consider allowing the Mayor of London and partner authorities to borrow against the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to support this scheme.”)

II. If London receives the same as the other super-connected cities – it will get only £2 million of funding next year – 26p for every citizen

III. There are no commitments on where or when new river crossings will be built or how they will be funded. (In the Autumn Statement it says “the Government will work with the Mayor of London and Transport for London to explore options for proposed additional river crossings, for example at Silvertown.”

Child tax credits cut

As a result of George Osborne’s cuts to tax credits:

• 561,900 families in London will lose out as a result of the changes to the child element of the child tax credit

• 323,600 families in London will lose out as a result of the freeze on the couple and lone parent element of the working tax credit.

In 2008 Boris Johnson axed the childcare affordability programme which had delivered affordable childcare for thousands of London children.

Pay freezes

As a result of George Osborne’s further reductions in public sector pay

• 719,000 public sector workers will experience just 1% pay increases in the two years after a pay freeze ending in 2013. This will impoverish well over a million households in London, who will experience falling real pay every year for the lifetime of the Tory-led government

Labour’s 5 point plan in London would:

1. Create up to 11,500 jobs for young people and build 5,000 homes

2. Bring forward investment projects like new school buildings

3. Temporarily reverse the Tory-led Government’s VAT rise – a £450 boost for families with children

4. Cut VAT on home improvements to 5% for a year

5. Give up to 334,000 small firms a tax break to take on extra workers

I can confirm we are running a significantly reduced service this evening peak.

We are running to the booked timetable but there are a large number of cancellations. We are advising customers to check our live departure boards on the First Capital Connect website for the latest information.

Ticket acceptance on other routes and with other operators has not changed since my last email to you.

There is the potential for some disruption tomorrow morning but our strong desire is to avoid this by returning all our trains to their correct start points north and south of London before the route across central London is closed tonight for engineering work.

Our advice to customers is to check the live departures board on our website tomorrow morning, www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk.

Yours sincerely

Neal Lawson
Managing Director, First Capital Connect

The Mayor has raised fares repeatedly since 2008 which has led to Lambeth residents paying hundreds of pounds a year more to use public transport.

Boris Johnson’s decision to raise fares means:
• A single bus ticket is up 56% and a weekly bus and tram pass is up 47%
• The price of a weekly zone 1-2 travelcard is up 23%, costing £291 a year more
• The price of a weekly zone 1-6 travelcard is up 22%, costing £509 a year more

Conservative mayor Boris Johnson this week described the fare increases as “fair and reasonable”.

Commenting, Chuka Umunna MP said:

“The rising cost of living is a huge issue for local residents and the last thing they need at a time when family budgets are being stretched are these unnecessary fare rises.

“It is staggering that the price of tickets and travelcards has risen so steeply above inflation over the past three years because of the decisions taken by Boris Johnson.”
This week’s announcement by Boris Johnson means:

Single bus ticket up 56%
• was 90p in 2008
• will be ￡1.40 in 2012
Costing Londoners ￡260 a year more

Weekly bus and tram pass up 47%
• was ￡13.00 in 2008
• will be ￡19.10 in 2012
Costing Londoners ￡317 a year more

Weekly zone 1-2 travelcard up 23%
• Was ￡24.20 in 2008
• Will be ￡29.80 in 2012
Costing Londoners ￡291 a year more

Weekly zone 1-4 travelcard up 23%
• was ￡34.60 in 2008
• will be ￡42.60 in 2012
Costing Londoners ￡416 a year more

Weekly zone 1-6 travelcard up 22%
• was ￡44.60 in 2008
• will be ￡54.40 in 2012
Costing Londoners ￡509 a year more

The emergency works detailed below were completed on 13 July 2011. However, in order to repair the consequential damage caused by the leak, Thames Water will be returning to this location over two nights to restore the condition of the road. The works will be carried out between 20:30 and 05:00 on Wednesday 20 July 2011 and Thursday 21 July 2011. On both nights, the following traffic management will be in place:

I apologise in advance for any inconvenience that may be caused as a result of these works. TfL has worked closely with Thames Water and the London Borough of Lambeth in order to reduce the impact of these works on road users, local people and businesses as far as possible.

Below is a further statement from Thames Water:

“The water main was repaired initially as planned, but a leak at the next joint required a further repair. The work has been particularly challenging because of the quantity of underground cables and ducts from the other utilities, including high security fibre-optic cables.

“Apologies on behalf of Thames Water for the disruption and the length of time that this water main has taken to repair.”

More frequent services are being provided on Friday and Saturday evenings, with a new 0018 service from London Bridge to Streatham, an hour later than when the last train previously departed, and additional trains to Streatham Hill from London Victoria at 0007, 0022 and 0037 where before the last train was at 2337.

Trains will run more regularly, every 15 minutes, to Streatham Common during late Friday and Saturday evenings.

In his meeting with Mr Burchell, Mr Umunna raised the concerns of local residents about the operating company’s sheds at Streatham Hill sidings, backing on to Sternhold Avenue. Southern has pledged to implement improvements to the structures, removing one of the sheds and providing soundproofing to affected homes.

In November, the government gave the £6bn Thameslink investment programme the go-ahead but with a two-year delay. Under the plans put, Wimbledon Loop services which currently link Streatham and Tulse Hill stations with Bedford, Luton and St Pancras would have to terminate at Blackfriars.

However, through a series of parliamentary questions and discussions with Network Rail, Mr Umunna has learned that any timetable changes will have to be consulted and decided upon by the government two years before being implemented. Whether trains terminate at Blackfriars is thus a decision for the Department for Transport rather than Network Rail – operationally, it would still be possible for Wimbledon Loop trains to go directly to St Pancras and beyond

Mr Umunna will continue to campaign to keep Streatham’s direct train services beyond Blackfriars.

Commenting, Mr Umunna said: “I was pleased to learn from Southern that there are going to be more regular and later train services on Friday and Saturday evenings.

“Clearly there are outstanding obligations which have yet to be implemented in relation to the sidings and my position is clear – Southern need to get on and do what they have agreed to do for the sake of my constituents who live next to them.”

Following a series of parliamentary questions, transport minister Theresa Villiers confirmed to Mr Umunna that a “decision on this matter will be made some two years before the date of the timetable change”.

In 2008, Network Rail published its South London Route Utilisation Strategy which proposed that from 2015, all northbound Wimbledon loop trains on the Thameslink line terminate at Blackfriars. Currently, it is possible to travel directly from Streatham and Tulse Hill to the City, King’s Cross St Pancras and Luton Airport via Thameslink.

Mr Umunna set up the Save Our South West London Thameslink Services campaign and Facebook group to protest against the proposals and met with the then transport minister Sadiq Khan last year to discuss local residents’ concerns at the planned changes.

In answer to Mr Umunna’s parliamentary questions, new transport minister Theresa Villiers also confirmed that a public consultation would be required before any timetable changes are enacted.

Mr Umunna said:

“The fact the government has not yet made a decision on the Thameslink changes means there is still an opportunity to ensure the proposals are not adopted. I will continue to press the government on this issue and make the case for our local transport connections.”

“So far there has been a worrying lack of consultation on Network Rail’s planned changes – I hope that local passengers will now have a genuine opportunity to have their views heard.”
Tessa Jowell, Member of Parliament for Dulwich and West Norwood who has campaigned alongside Chuka to defend local Thameslink services and passengers, said:

“Rail users have had to put up with a poor service on this route for years and it is just not acceptable that they will have to suffer more because this government refuses to intervene.”

To deal with this, Chancellor Alistair Darling announced a new £100 million fund to repair potholes in the recent Budget. As a result, Lambeth will benefit from £67,500 in additional funds to deal with potholes, while Transport for London, which manages main roads, has been allocated £764,100. This funding will help get Streatham’s roads back to an acceptable condition and minimize dangers to road users.

Over the past ten years, Labour has trebled funding for road maintenance. The latest three-year settlement means that funding will be £809m in 2010/11 nationally, up from £265m in 2000-01.

In the video above, Chuka discusses improvements to Streatham’s rail stations, funded by investment from the Labour government.

Labour has invested £5.5 million in local train stations in the last two years thrrough the National Stations Improvement Programme.

Streatham Common and Streatham stations have already benefitted from CCTV and new ticket barriers, and upgrades are currently taking place at Streatham Hill.

For more on Chuka’s transport campaigns, follow this link.

However, recent proposals from Transport for London suggest that the permanent closure of eleven ticket offices is under consideration and dozens more could face drastically reduced opening hours. The proposals would affect tube stations including Brixton, Clapham South, Clapham Common and Balham and result in hundreds of jobs being axed.

Under the proposals, Clapham South station ticket office would see its opening times cut by 46 hours per week, while Clapham Common station’s ticket office would be open for 32 fewer hours each week.

While currently Clapham South’s ticket office closes at 9.30pm on Saturdays and Sundays, under the Mayor’s planned changes it would be without a ticket office after 3.45pm on Saturday and 4.00pm on Sundays.

The ticket offices at Balham and Clapham Common will close at 7.45pm from Monday to Friday and Clapham South’s at 7.15pm, also closing for most of the afternoon, between 1.30pm and 5.00pm on weekdays.

If you would like to register your disappointment with the current proposals then you can contact to Transport for London at enquire {at} tfl.gov(.)uk, we will post any consultations on the proposals as soon as they are available.

Chuka Ummuna, who is opposing the planned reduction in ticket office opening hours, commented:

“Thousands of people use our underground stations on a daily basis and they form a vital connection with central London.

“The Mayor’s drastic cuts to opening times would see our local tube stations without ticket offices for hours on end at peak times.

“As well as the loss of customer service for tube users, I am concerned about the impact the changes could have on the safety of stations, particularly late at night.”