The Mayor has recognised the “reasonable business case” for extending the Tramlink to Sutton after being grilled at City Hall by Caroline Pidgeon AM, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group.
At today’s Mayor Question Time Caroline Pidgeon highlighted to the Mayor the huge benefits that the extension of the tram would bring, including creating 10,000 new jobs, helping to regenerate Sutton Town Centre, and in the long term, providing links with the exciting Sutton Life Science Cluster. She also highlighted that Sutton is just one of five London boroughs that does not have an Underground station and is not included in Crossrail or the London Overground; yet despite being excluded from all these significant transport projects, the borough still financially contributes to the schemes through the community levy.
In responding to Caroline Pidgeon’s questions the Mayor claimed that staff at Transport for London were already working up plans for a possible tram extension although he was unable to clarify how extensive this preparatory work was. Critically, he also refused to give absolute commitment as to when he would finally make a decision.
After grilling the Mayor, Caroline Pidgeon said:
“There is a very strong case for extending the tram to Sutton. It would bring huge economic benefits, including thousands of new jobs to the borough. Instead of just warm words the Mayor must now make a decision once and for all.”