Minister for London Paul Scully has hit out at Sadiq Khan, after the Mayor confirmed that plans to extend the tram network into Sutton were still shelved.
Mr Scully, who serves as Sutton’s Conservative MP, accused Mr Khan of depriving his constituency of public transport investment at the same time as extending the Ultra low emission zone (Ulez).
Transport for London (TfL) pointed out that Sutton will soon be served by the Superloop express bus service, which will double the frequency of the existing X26 route to Heathrow and West Croydon.
A spokeswoman for the Mayor meanwhile said Mr Scully should use his ministerial position to lobby the Government for “a proper long-term funding deal for TfL” if he wants to see projects like the tram extension realised.
The plan to connect Sutton to the capital’s tram system has been discussed for two decades - with the latest iteration of the plans proposing to do so via a new branch stretching down from Colliers Wood, linked to the existing network at Belgrave Walk.
In July 2020, TfL said the project had been put on hold “as the transport case is poor and there remains a significant funding gap”. It has remained ‘paused’ since then.
Mr Scully’s comments came after a written question from Labour London Assembly Member Elly Baker, who had asked Mr Khan what needed to happen for the project to be ‘unpaused’.
Mr Khan said: “There would need to be a material change to the case for the scheme (to help secure national Government funding) and a firmer commitment to local sources of funding, noting that the overall funding requirement will have increased due to inflation.
“At the present time there is no indication that the case for the scheme will have substantially improved.”
He said that when the scheme was paused, “the trams were forecast to be busy but the journey time improvements for passengers, while substantial, were not sufficient to outweigh the cost of constructing the scheme and operating the service”.
He added: “The funding requirement was approximately £560 million, with commitments of £79 million from TfL and £36 million from Sutton and Merton Councils, leading to a gap of £440 million.
“Potential other funding sources were identified, including from national Government, but with a low likelihood of securing them. The scheme was paused given the weak transport case and large funding gap. There is no longer a TfL funding commitment to the scheme.”
Mr Scully called the Mayor’s update on the project “disappointing”, saying that Mr Khan is “extending the Ulez zone to Sutton despite that being at huge cost to Sutton's poorest and our small businesses and charities, with little benefit in tackling pollution according to his own impact report. We need more public transport alternatives first”.
The MP added: "Sutton has one of the lowest levels per head of transport investment by the Mayor of any London borough. That needs to change now."
TfL sources claimed Mr Scully’s reference to transport spending per head is derived from a report which doesn’t factor in investment in Sutton’s transport such as that spent on the Thameslink rail service or the close to 100 new electric buses that have been purchased to operate in the borough.
Geoff Hobbs, a director at TfL, said: “The London-wide Ulez is vital in tackling the triple challenges of air pollution, the climate emergency and congestion.”
He said the Mayor had “committed to one million extra bus kilometres”, which he said will “complement previously announced enhancements, [including] three new routes in the Sutton and Croydon areas”.
He added that the Superloop would provide better orbital connections from Sutton and said 90 per cent of Sutton’s residents are within 400 metres of public transport, with bus services now operating at “pre-pandemic levels”.
Some £14.1 million from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund was recently secured to enable a programme of double-tracking near Belmont rail station, which is expected to allow Southern to run four trains an hour from Sutton into central London, rather than the current two.
A spokeswoman for Mr Khan meanwhile said: “As Minister for London Paul Scully is ideally placed to lobby his ministerial colleagues for a proper long-term funding deal for TfL – money that is essential for unlocking further investment in major infrastructure.
“After a series of short-term funding deals, the Government has still left TfL with a significant funding gap.”
Mr Scully recently confirmed that he is still considering a run to be the Conservative candidate for Mayor against Mr Khan - who will be seeking a third term next year.
