Boris Johnson submits suburban rail takeover plan

July 2nd 2012

Boris Johnson has submitted proposals to take over London’s suburban rail services.

Mayoral control would simplify ticketing, create a more frequent, reliable service and save £100 million over 20 years, according to Mr Johnson.

The mayor’s request to take responsibility for running services currently operated by Greater Anglia and Southeastern has been submitted to the Department for Transport and follows the government’s promise to allow more local control over rail services.

The London devolution proposal would see 104 stations added to the London Overground network and the introduction of a smartcard-based ticketing structure.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “London’s rail passengers deserve far better service than the current franchises deliver and the economic benefits of properly investing in our rail infrastructure are huge.

“An efficient rail service is vital in order to remain competitive in challenging economic times, helping to usher in greater prosperity in the future, not just for the capital but for UK PLC.

“This plan gives us the opportunity to create a truly joined up suburban railway system that would vastly improve service and deliver better stations. A more coherent London-wide structure would bring more frequent trains, safer stations and sanity to a mind bogglingly complex fare system.”

TfL has targeted the Southeastern network inner suburban services for improvement from Dartford, Sevenoaks and Hayes; and the West Anglia inner suburban services from Enfield Town, Cheshunt and Chingford.

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