The river crossings consultation report shows there is continued support for a new road tunnel between Silvertown and the Greenwich Peninsula and a new river crossing at Gallions Reach

·         The report is available online on the website

Transport for London (TfL) has today published the findings of its river crossings consultation. In October 2012 TfL launched the second phase of a public consultation on a proposed package of new river crossings between east and south east London – this closed on 1 February 2013 and the findings are now available in a report.

In total over 10,000 responses were received from the two consultations. More than 90 per cent of people from the initial consultation agreed there is a need for more river crossings in east and south east London. The scale of demand to cross the eastern section of the River Thames can be seen every day, and this will only continue to increase with the population growth expected in this area.

The findings in the report show there is a high level of support for the option of a new road tunnel, between Silvertown and the Greenwich Peninsula, with 76 per cent of respondents supporting it. This option could be delivered by 2021 if it is taken forward. Whilst a new ferry service at Gallions Reach which could be delivered by 2017 is supported by 51 per cent of respondents there is a higher level of support for a fixed link at Gallions Reach with 71 per cent of respondents preferring this option – even though it could not be delivered until after 2021. A third of those that took part support user charging as a way to fund river crossings.

TfL is now considering the findings in the report. If a decision is taken to progress any of the proposed options further, more detailed consultations would take place.

TfL’s Managing Director of Planning, Michele Dix said: ”We have delivered very significant public transport improvements providing better connections across the Thames in south and south east London, however with London’s population potentially reaching 10 million by 2031, we recognise the importance that will be placed on transporting goods and services throughout east and south east London.

“The proposed additional road infrastructure is vital. Apart from the opening of the QEII Bridge at Dartford there has been no increase in the capacity of the highway network across the river in east London for nearly 50 years. We will review the river crossings consultation report findings to decide what the next steps will be. There will be further more detailed consultations if any of the proposals are taken forward.”

The crossings in the area are under significant strain, with delays at the Blackwall Tunnel averaging 20 minutes per vehicle during the morning peak. Currently there are only a few routes for vehicles to choose from and some of those create indirect journeys across the river costing businesses money and time and discouraging investment. Height restrictions at the Blackwall Tunnel further reduce the options available to vehicles. Both the Blackwall Tunnel and Woolwich Ferry are operating under considerable stress and the new river crossings proposed would address these problems.

The consultation report and more information on TfL’s proposed river crossings package are available here

• Improvement works to Court Street set to start this week to pave the way for  the creation of a temporary new station entrance
• Crossrail’s most architecturally ambitious new station begins to take shape

Work to transform Whitechapel station for new Crossrail services is making good progress as the project moves into an important stage of construction, including the start of work on local street improvements.

The new Whitechapel station plans are among the most architecturally ambitious on the Crossrail project. Key design elements include preserving the existing heritage station entrance with a more spacious forecourt area; a new ticket hall and larger concourse built above the London Overground tracks, stretching from the station entrance on Whitechapel Road to Durward Street; a new pedestrian walkway providing a safe route for local residents from Durward Street on to Whitechapel Road; and a more integrated station layout allowing easy, step-free interchanges between Crossrail, London Underground (Hammersmith & City and District lines) and London Overground.

Early next year, the existing station entrance on Whitechapel Road will be temporarily closed to allow improvement works to take place. A new temporary station entrance will be created on Durward Street, accessible from Whitechapel Road via Court Street and Fulbourne Street.

Before the temporary station entrance opens early next year, Crossrail is now starting work on a range of improvements along Court Street between May 2013 and early 2014 to ensure it provides a safe and accessible route for local residents and passengers.

The improvements will include new improved surfacing with the current roadway raised to create a level surface for pedestrians to use, and better lighting throughout.

The bridge section of Court Street will be closed towards the end of next week to allow the first phase of works to take place. The southern section of Court Street will initially remain open but will then be closed later this year to allow the improvement works to continue. Diversions will be in place for local residents via Fulbourne Street and on to Whitechapel Road whilst these works are underway.

Along with the improvement works on Court Street, the wider construction of the new Whitechapel station remains firmly on track. Work is continuing across a number of sites in the local area and progress made to-date and future construction activity includes:

• Tunnelling work taking place around 32 metres below ground to create around 1km of new station platforms and cross passages for Crossrail services
• Tunnelling work is well underway to create 355 metres of cross passages and 640 metres of twin platform tunnels for the new station – each platform tunnel is 9 metres in diameter and will accommodate the new 250 metre long platforms
• Excavation works well underway to create a 35 metre deep shaft near Durward Street – the Durward Street shaft will sit at the north-west end of the new station concourse and will form the main access route to the Crossrail platforms
• Works underway to create a 30 metre wide, 35 metre deep shaft close to Cambridge Heath Road – the shaft will be located at the eastern end of the new Crossrail platforms and used for tunnel ventilation and emergency access once Crossrail services start operating. Shaft excavations have already reached a depth of 22 metres
• A range of utility works are nearing completion in the local area to check the condition of existing gas and water pipes and other utilities ahead of Crossrail’s tunnelling machines passing through the Whitechapel area later this year

The construction of the new Whitechapel station is a challenging project with work taking place in multiple sites within a confined area – station improvements are being delivered within the constraints of the existing London Underground and London Overground lines as well as a number of residential buildings, local businesses and roads.

Bill Tucker, Crossrail Area Director Central said: “Whitechapel is one of Crossrail’s most ambitious new stations but also one of our most challenging, with a range of improvements being delivered in a tightly constrained area. We are working hard to minimise disruption in the local area so we would like to thank local residents and businesses for their patience while we carry out these essential works. Construction is making good progress and we are on track to deliver a world-class new station and improved transport links for Whitechapel.”

When Crossrail opens in 2018, up to 24 Crossrail trains per hour will operate in each direction between Paddington and Whitechapel during peak times, in addition to the existing London Underground and London Overground services. The new Crossrail services will help ease overcrowding on existing rail services and will support economic growth in the surrounding area, as Whitechapel becomes an important interchange on the Crossrail route. Journey times from Whitechapel to Heathrow Airport will be only 39 minutes, whilst Whitechapel toCanary Wharf will be reduced to just 3 minutes.

New figures from the start of 2013 show that London Underground (LU) customers continue to see solid reliability performance on the Tube as the network remains on track to record its most reliable year on record

The figures, covering periods 11 and 12 of 2012/13 (6 January to 3 February and 3 February to 2 March), show that customer demand continues to rise – in total there were 187m journeys made during the two four-week periods, with LU operating 97.5 per cent of scheduled train services.

The new Victoria line timetable, introducing a 33 trains per hour service to the line following the successful upgrade of track, signalling and train fleet, was also introduced during period 11, giving customers the highest frequency service anywhere in the UK.

Customer satisfaction, measured quarterly through independent surveys of LU customers, stands at a record high of 84. Reliability of services is at record levels, and is poised to smash last year’s best ever performance.

The continuing trend of long-term improvement follows the success of the London Underground Reliability Programme.  London Underground continues to implement this Programme to meet the Mayor’s commitment of reducing delays by a further 30 per cent by 2015.

Mike Brown, Managing Director of London Underground and Rail, said: ”Building reliability into our services is at the core of everything we are doing, and customers are seeing this in improved journeys. But we cannot be complacent – we must continue to invest to keep pace with the relentless demand placed on the Tube, which enables the capital to function as the engine room of the UK economy.”

The performance figures for periods 11 and 12 can be viewed here.

A landmark report on the future of cycling in Britain calls for a national cycling champion to lead a drive for 10 per cent of all journeys in Britain to be by bike by 2025.

More of the transport budget should be spent on supporting cycling, at an initial rate of at least £10 per person per year, increasing as cycle levels increase, says the report by British Parliamentarians.

The report of the influential All-Party Parliamentary Cycling Group inquiry ‘Get Britain Cycling’ also calls for 20mph speed limits to become standard in urban areas and lower speed limits on many rural roads. It also says that all children should be given the chance to learn the skills of road cycling, at primary and secondary school.

The group’s report, published today (24 April) follows extensive public evidence from over 100 individuals and organisations, including cycling organisations, the Automobile Association, and a wide range of government departments and ministers.

It is both possible and necessary to expand the role of cycling in the nation’s transport and social life, says the group. This will lead to reduced congestion, environmental benefits and healthier citizens.

The aim is increase cycle use from less than 2 per cent of journeys in 2011, to 10 per cent of all journeys in 2025, and 25 per cent by 2050.

For this to happen, leadership is needed right from the top, the MPs and Peers conclude. They call on the Government to appoint a National Cycling Champion to advocate for cycling across all departments and externally.

Key recommendations include:

- More of the transport budget should be spent on supporting cycling, at a rate initially set to at least £10 per person per year, and increasing as cycling levels increase

- Cycling should be considered at an earlier stage in all planning decisions, whether transport schemes or new houses or businesses

- More use should be made of segregated cycle lanes, learning from the Dutch experience

- Urban speed limits should generally be reduced to 20 mph

- Just as children learn to swim at school they should learn to ride a bike

- The Government should produce a detailed cross-departmental Cycling Action Plan, with annual progress reports

Julian Huppert, MP for Cambridge and Co-Chair of the group, said: ’Cycling has huge advantages – it is fast, safe, healthy, efficient, reliable, environmentally sound, and fun. We all benefit when people choose to cycle.

‘One of the most consistent points made was that lower speed limits reduce the number and severity of collisions for both pedestrians and cyclists – we should heed that advice. It will improve safety and reduce the fear of cycling that too many feel.

‘This generation of politicians has the chance to be long remembered for having a vision for cycling that includes us all. Put simply, Britain needs to re-learn how to cycle. This report sets out how this can be done.’

Ian Austin, MP for Dudley North and Co-Chair of the group said: ’Too often, cyclists are just an afterthought. When collisions happen, the police and courts let the victims down, with sentences that do not fit the harm caused – this must be changed.

‘The real test of whether something is taken seriously in Government is who leads on it – and that means the Prime Minister has to take that lead.

‘With the excitement of the Olympics and Tour de France last year, cycling has captured the public imagination and is ready to grow. Our proposals will make that happen, and get Britain Cycling.’

Dr Sarah Wollaston, MP for Totnes and treasurer of the group said: ’Cycling saves you money, improves your fitness and your quality of life. Please help us to make it safer for everyone by lobbying your MP to support cycling and most of all by joining us on your bike to Get Britain Cycling’.

Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch and vice chair of the group said: ’In Hackney strong political leadership has shown what can be done with Hackney topping the league tables for journeys by bike in London. We now need that leadership nationally.’

Journalist and broadcaster Jon Snow said ’At last Parliament is pedaling the talk and recognising the urgent need for political leadership on actions for cycling. Whichever Party Leader now seizes this opportunity, will reap dividends.

Cycling is no longer an eccentric past time, but an urgent day to day need with massive potential, and positive outcomes for transport, health, and economic efficiency. Dare we think Ministerial action on this excellent report?’

The President of the Automobile Association, Edmund King, said ’If the recommendations in Get Britain Cycling are followed through it should be the catalyst for change to put cycling on the front foot. The clear vision is to change cycling from a ‘minority sport’ to a mainstream mode of travel.

Currently 18% of AA members cycle regularly but if these recommendations become reality we could see these numbers double. We now need leadership to match this vision. Drivers and cyclists are often the same people and they should all welcome this report.’

British Cycling’s Chris Boardman, said ’The benefits of getting more people to cycle in terms of health and improving the places in which we live are clear. We need to be ambitious and set ourselves quantifiable targets to increase the number of people on bikes. Only then will we have a yardstick against which we can measure our every action and policy. This is how we go about winning gold medals at British Cycling because we know it is the only way to be successful.’

The Summary & Recommendations: Get Britain Cycling

Phil Goodwin’s full report: Get Britain Cycling – Goodwin Report

Transport for London (TfL) today announced the names of the companies shortlisted to bid for its new Docklands Light Railway (DLR) franchise.

The bidders are:

- Stagecoach Rail Projects Ltd

- A joint venture between Keolis (UK) Ltd and Amey Rail Ltd;

- A joint venture between Go Ahead PLC and Colas Rail Ltd

- Serco Ltd

DLR Acting Director Rory O’Neill said: ”We are pleased to further consider the bids from these companies which have passed the first stage of the rigorous process in issuing a new franchise.

“The DLR is already a highly successful railway but we are not complacent and wish to ensure that the service offered to Londoners continues to improve.”

This shortlist is as a result of the pre qualification process undertaken following the publication of a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union.

TfL will now be issuing an Invitation to Tender to these companies within the next few weeks.

Under the new franchise, TfL wants to ensure that:

- service reliability continues to improve;

- trains, stations and track are maintained to support service reliability and are used  efficiently over the long term;

- capacity on the railway continues to grow to support development in the Docklands area and along the railway’s routes;

- customer satisfaction continues to grow;

- the environmental impact of the railway is reduced;

- safety performance continues to improve

- a good value-for-money service is delivered for passengers and tax-payers.

The new franchise is due to commence on 14 September 2014.