• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 15 March 2006

Do you feel that some of the controversy that arose on the issue of the withdrawal of family Travelcards and the Mayor's offer of free travel on the Underground show that it is much more difficult for TfL and for the Mayor to be able to offer solutions for South London transport, bearing in mind our lack of an Underground system there? What do you feel should be the approach of the Mayor, TfL, Assembly Members, and London MPs, to lobby for improved public transport provision in South London? After all, in some of these debates about investing in Crossrail...

• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 15 March 2006

Would you agree with me that Londoners from both sides of the river ' you have just mentioned the North London Line would be better served if TfL's strategy or plans to increase London's rail capacity were strategically linked with projects to improve passenger security and safety at stations? My question is prompted by my constituents in Waltham Forest who continue to call for safety improvements at Wood Street Station where John Coffey was stabbed to death in 2004. This seems to be an action that has fallen out of TfL's plans and strategies. Do we have to wait for...

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 15 March 2006

Is this all dependent on TfL taking control? How far have we got? I know we are consulting on the potential boundaries of such a change of control. Is there a lot of negotiating still to be done? Where have we got to?

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 15 March 2006

Perhaps more realistic is improving rail access to our airports, for example Gatwick and Stansted. Even if we get TfL responsibility for rail in London, that may not extend as far as those airports. How is that going to be handled?

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 15 March 2006

I am pleased to hear that. I believe it is said that if we could modernise the signalling systems in particular in South London we could increase the capacity coming into London from the South and South East by as much as 40%. Is that a fair assumption?

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 15 March 2006

I have a couple of questions about money. You mentioned the ELL phase two extension. Is that dependent on the Government's 2007 expenditure assessment?

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 15 March 2006

Do you think it might be funded shortly?

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 15 March 2006

When do we expect to get a decision from the Government?

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 15 March 2006

If you can find out, that would be helpful. There have been proposals for an extension to the Tube service in South London, such as an extension to the Bakerloo Line from Elephant and Castle to Camberwell. I would imagine that is going to be quite expensive, is it not?

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 15 March 2006

There is certainly an amount of good will. It is not our railway. In the last set of changes to railway management, the DfT, in effect, took over direct control with the appointment of a Director General 27 of Railways (Dr Mike Mitchell) within the DfT, so it is their system: Network Rail's assets and infrastructure, the Government's franchises with the train operating companies (TOCs). There are two ways we can do that. We can either take real control as we are going to do with the NLR and specify the franchise within the limits of the capacity of the...