Fare hikes slammed during borough visit

KEN Livingstone has pledged to revive plans to extend Tramlink to Crystal Palace if he wins the London mayoral race in May next year.

His promise came at the end of a day-long tour of the borough – part of a commitment to visit every London borough to gauge local views in the run-up to the election.

Addressing a “Tell Ken” public meeting held at the Croydon Conference Centre in Surrey Street, the Labour candidate condemned current mayor Boris Johnson for pulling the plug on the extension and other outer London transport projects shortly after coming to power.

He said: “The first project we will reinstate will be the building of the Crystal Palace link.

“It is madness to have extended the East London Line down to Crystal Palace and then not link it up to the tram.”

Mr Livingstone also used the meeting to attack Mr Johnson’s hike in fares, which he claimed had hit Croydon passengers hard.

Since 2008, the cost of weekly tram and bus passes has increased by 36 per cent, while there has been a 44 per cent rise in the price of a single tram or bus ticket.

Mr Livingstone, who visited Croydon last Monday, said: “Jacking up fares while encouraging people to switch to public transport is bizarre.

“I say there should be no fare increases above the rate of inflation.”

Stressing Croydon’s position as a major business area, Mr Livingstone said he wanted to help it attract investment and businesses from further afield and capitalise on the growing desire to invest in London from emerging and growing economies such as China, India and Brazil.

Mr Livingstone was joined during the day by former Croydon Council leader Valerie Shawcross, who would be deputy mayor following a win.

He started his tour with a visit to the Sir Philip Game centre, in Addiscombe, met shoppers in North End, visited the Advertiser’s offices and met parents at Ecclesbourne Junior School in Thornton Heath.