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What infrastructure does London need for the future, Dedring asks industry?

London’s deputy mayor for transport Isabel Dedring wants suggestions from industry professionals as to what the capital’s agenda should be in terms of infrastructure projects beyond the current mayorality, she said during her keynote speech to the ACE annual conference last week.

(Above: Video - watch an interview with Isabel Dedring recorded directly after her keynote presentation to the ACE conference).

“I am genuinely keen to get your views and interested in people dropping me a line,” she said. “Our overall objective is to protect London’s big city status…. There are big questions as to how the city will look in the future, how its brand proposition of ‘quality of life’ can be maintained.”

"We recognised that the Tube will reach capacity in 20 years and getting mainline rail to play more of a role in moving people across the city will be very important.”

The issues the capital faces result from substantial population growth – double what was expected, from 10M in the 2030s to 11M in the 2050s. This requires a big increase in public transport, another 1.6M homes, 500 new primary schools, 160 new secondary schools and so on, she explained. “Our view is that population growth can’t be stopped so how do we accommodate it.”

The shape of the city is changing, Dedring said. The centre is becoming more dense with thousands of homes being built at Elephant & Castle and Vauxhall. There is job growth to west and east of the central zone and what does that mean for the future?

Airports are an issue, she said – will a Davies decision change London’s shape? And what response is needed to the growth areas in east London round the Olympic Park and Old Oak Common to the west as well as in south London town centres. In Barnet, Brent and Cricklewood new home construction will mean that local movement will be significantly different and small stations like Colindale will be facing having to handle two to three times as many people.

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Transport has a big role to play, she emphasised. “We recognised that the Tube will reach capacity in 20 years and getting mainline rail to play more of a role in moving people across the city, like Thameslink and Crossrail, will be very important.” Orbital movement in the outer suburbs by road and rail will have to be on the agenda, she believed.

Crossrail 2 is a must have, Dedring suggested. “But we see massive opportunity for third party revenue support. In terms of the sources of funding, the percentage from the public sector needs to be substantial smaller (than for Crossrail 1).”

If you would like to contact Jackie Whitelaw about this, or any other story, please email jackie.whitelaw@infrastructure-intelligence.com.