• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

Just looking first then at Crossrail, which is good news, it does seem that initially the intention is to use floating interest rates in order to take the loan out before the fare box comes in, in order to repay the loan. Have you had any success with the Government in order to be allowed to consider a fixed rate of interest for the loan?

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

There have been press reports recently that because of the Metronet collapse the programme to introduce cooling of the Tube, and also some of the accessible station work, has been put on hold. Is there any truth in that?

• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

The overall financial deal which we have now, which allows for £16 billion in total, compares with a figure which was just under £10 billion less than a year ago. Now, I understand that outturn prices and contingency have contributed much to that increase but has there been a further increase which means that there is a larger cost to pay than we were thinking a year ago?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

But it is all relative, isn't it?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

This is quite a depressing tale. Will you be putting fares up to pay for the collapse in Metronet?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

You will not be recommending a fare cut?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

Given that projections have shown that traffic congestion will increase by around 30% by 2025, even with all those increases in public transport capacity that we have talked about this morning, that shows that we do need a longer term grand plan in terms of major investment and major funding and not just think about what we are doing in the next couple of years and so on.

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

There is a lot of detail here, which we have not managed to get to yet and I can understand that you have not got that available with you. I do not want to talk about it in detail now, but can you give us a date by which you will be able to answer these questions?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

Have you got a plan to catch that up or are you going to be saying to Londoners, 'Look, you will have to do without some of the stations being improved' as a bare minimum consequence of this?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

I think it is the longer term that we really need to be thinking about. I noticed that, in response to Val's [Shawcross] question at the start, in your wish list of major infrastructure projects that you would be looking to bid for government funding for, there were some welcome rail schemes and DLR and tram schemes and so on, but no major funding that you are bidding for for cycling and walking or travel demand management.