Cross-river tram debate to begin
Consultation is expected to start this week and will continue until January 2007.
When I first saw the proposals for this maybe five years ago my immediate reaction was frustration that it was planned to stop at Brixton Town Centre. It seems that all these proposals for massive investment in London's public transport infrastructure and which will undoubtedly bring major benefits to South London, are by passing those areas of population density clustered round the A23 from Brixton down to West Croydon. But if you live where I live, the nearest tube stations involve and will involve walks of half an hour; the nearest railway station (Streatham Hill) is a branch of a branch line.
If you draw a line on a map from Crystal Palace to Balham to Brixton, you create a triangle within which the population equivalent of a small city will eternally be entirely without Underground or Light Rapid Transit. I am guessing that there are logistical problems - I don't think a tram could fit on Brixton Hill without destroying Rush Common, a move I would oppose, unless the road was closed to private motor vehicles, which I would support, but I suspect would be politically unpopular, even though a tram system would improve far more lives than banning cars would inconvenience.
I will contribute to this consultation and will copy my views to my MP.
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