Boris Johnson opens Woolwich DLR extension

But the Dagenham Dock branch, which would have improved commuting options from south Essex to Canary Wharf, was put on ice last October due to a lack of funding, and prospects of its revival are slim.

"We haven't cancelled anything," said Mr Johnson. "What we've done is stopped spending money on projects for which we weren't given, and don't have, the capital allocation to pursue.

"If the government wants to come forward and give us the cash to deliver on these projects then I'm absolutely for them.

"Transport delivers regeneration and the creation of jobs but you shouldn't be endlessly wasting money and creating false hopes by keeping consultants paid to do studies on projects you don't have the capital funding to build.

"In the next few days we're taking up Gordon Brown's challenge and will be presenting to Government some of the things we think they should now be accelerating.

"But we're doing things already at Stratford and the East London line, so you will see things happening."

Mr Johnson was bullish about the success of the Woolwich extension, which was sanctioned by his predecessor Ken Livingstone, dubbing it a "recession-buster".

He said: "We will create at Woolwich Arsenal a transport hub linking up the DLR, the Overground and the river services. It means you are now only 20 minutes from Canary Wharf and 24 minutes from the Olympic site.

"This is a classic example of the kind of thing we should be doing now in London as the recession bites, to continue to drive forward, and indeed accelerate, projects which create jobs and growth now, and also make the city more competitive.

"If you use your ability to invest you can keep the economy ticking over and keep people in employment and gaining skills you might otherwise lose.

"You also produce a fantastic bit of infrastructure which is going to be of huge benefit for people in this part of London."

Other transport issues in East London remain unresolved, despite pledges made by Mr Johnson during last year's election campaign.

The scrapping of the Blackwall Tunnel tidal flow remains, with legal wrangles continuing over its reinstatement, but there are moves to build a new river crossing, despite the rejection of the Thames Gateway Bridge.

"We are very hopeful the government will look favourably on a solution," said Mr Johnson.

"We are looking at another crossing east of Tower Bridge and we want to see if we can transfer the PFI credits away from the Thames Gateway Bridge, which was thrown out by the inspector, to a crossing in Silvertown."