HC Deb 21 November 1990 vol 181 cc119-20W
Mr. Gerald Bowden

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans London Transport has to improve rail access to south and east London.

Mr. Parkinson

A Bill to extend the Jubilee line through south London to docklands and Stratford is currently before the House. This will do much to improve access to areas of Southwark, Bermondsey, Greenwich, Tower Hamlets and Newham.

I recently announced the go-ahead for east-west crossrail, which will provide Stratford and points east with a direct rail link with west London and the west end as well as the City.

London Transport is extending the docklands light railway to Bank and Beckton.

I am pleased to report that I have authorised London Transport to deposit a Bill for the proposed extension of the docklands light railway to Lewisham. I have done this on the clear understanding that the project will only proceed if LT is successful in its efforts to arrange an acceptable privately financed scheme, and the powers are being taken in that behalf. This extension would provide a further important river crossing and allow the docklands regeneration benefits to spread south from the Isle of Dogs to areas of Greenwich and Lewisham.

London Transport is also spending very large sums modernising the Central line as well as continuing to invest heavily in safety and in the general upgrading of the existing underground system. London Transport's investment programme over the next three years will approach £3 billion, an increase of about 90 per cent. in real terms over the previous three years. With such a large programme already in hand and largely funded by Government grant, further extensions to south and east London could be afforded now only if they were privately funded or London Transport felt able to reorder its priorities.

As it is, although a substantial private sector contribution has been offered towards a station on the proposed east London line extensions, the project as a whole would still require substantial public funding. Given the public expenditure constraints within which it must operate, London Transport has concluded that it has other more pressing priorities at present and has therefore decided, with my agreement, not to seek leave to deposit the necessary Private Bill in this Session of Parliament. I hope nonetheless that London Transport will continue to discuss the project with interested parties in case a way can be found of taking the project forward at less cost to it. We are discussing with London Transport the case for safeguarding the route of the extensions through the planning system so as to ensure that they remain an option for the future.