London mayor Sadiq Khan has said the new Barking Riverside Overground station will be a “game changer” as he warned public transport around the capital still faces cuts.
Mr Khan officially opened the station on Monday morning in a ceremony attended by around 100 people.
Transport for London (TfL) has been operating on a series of emergency short-term funding deals since falling into financial trouble during the pandemic, and Mr Khan said a new proposal from the Government was still being considered.
Cutting London's money is like them cutting their nose to spite their face— Sadiq Khan
“The indications so far from the Government is not that they’ll give us a deal that we need, but let’s wait and see what the actual deal is in detail. Our officials have been examining it all weekend.”
He said “a win-win outcome” would be for the Government to give TfL a long-term capital deal to allow new bus contracts, which would avoid making cuts and provide revenue support for 2022/23.
He added: “If TFL isn’t firing on all cylinders because of Government decisions, that inhibits the ability of our businesses to make profits to flourish and thrive, which means less money for the Government to distribute around the country.”
Mr Khan said “cutting London’s money is like them cutting their nose to spite their face”.
The mayor said the Riverside development was “really exciting” for this part of London.
Barking Riverside is the largest housing development in east London with planning permission for more than 10,000 new homes.
He said: “This extension is a real game changer because you’ve got now not just the connection from Gospel Oak to Barking Riverside, the London Overground, that enables people here to get to the Tube, to the Elizabeth line, to the c2c – that is really important.”
The Barking Riverside extension adds almost three miles to the London Overground line between Gospel Oak and Barking.
The mayor said the Overground extension was an important step in helping people reduce their reliance on cars.
“Without this extension (and) without decent public transport, people will understandably jump in their cars and you don’t tackle climate change unless you have reductions in carbon emissions.
“So that’s what public transport allows. But also you don’t get improvements in air quality without people using cleaner forms of transport. That’s what this is.”
