John Biggs - on DLR disruption

By John Hill on July 16, 2008 1:01 AM |

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John Biggs is the Labour London Assembly member for City and East

The honeymoon with our new Mayor is creaking to a close, with a furore about Mayor Boris Johnson’s deputy mayors, including allegations against and resignation of one of them.

These may be just teething troubles with the real politics beginning in the autumn when announcements are expected on spending cuts and new priorities.

Local Conservative councillors have been attacking major improvement works on the DLR and blaming Ken Livingstone for the inconvenience affecting residents on the Lewisham-Crossharbour section.

This is a rather misconceived attack.

The closures on the DLR are taking place to extend the platforms to enable three-car trains to operate. This will increase capacity by 50 per cent. For some years residents have complained to me about DLR trains reaching the Island already packed to capacity. When the works are complete residents will benefit from capacity increase and an additional platform at Mudchute where some trains will begin their journeys to better serve local people.

Most people accept the trade-off of short-term inconvenience is worth it for these vital improvements that will make a substantial improvement to their daily commute. The DLR is both a cause and a victim of the stupendous growth of jobs at Canary Wharf.

Separately I have met with DLR and London Underground to speed up the problems at Bank station escalator works coinciding with the closure of Tower Gateway station.