Transport

South London Press

Why ignore a perfect plan?

Jan 24 2003

LAST year, I was encouraged to see the progress of Transport for London's (TfL's) planning of the Cross River Transit. In south London, it would relieve the buses in Walworth, Peckham and Brixton, and the horribly over-crowded Tubes in Kennington, Stockwell and Brixton.

At a presentation made by TfL, longer-term plans for a link with the very successful Croydon system via Streatham were discussed. This would be the sort of scheme that ought to be the beneficiary of the congestion charge, providing a real alternative to cars blighting the town centres strung along the A23.

Just when the tram plans all looked fixed, Lambeth council appears to have called Brixton into question, favouring the duplication of the Northern Line to Clapham Common instead.

Apart from the fact that TfL's plan has been fully costed, assessed and been subject to public consultation, surely such tinkering can only delay the project and put in place a lengthly detour on the projected link to Streatham, making it much more unattractive to the A23 road and bus users.

Nicholas Weedon
Brixton Hill

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