Andy Burnham should show London he cares by funding this one transport project
The ascendancy of the ‘King of the North’ has spooked London. James Ford outlines that this can easily be fixed by greenlighting the West London Orbital Railway
London is anxious. The new Prime Minister is not just something of an unknown quantity, but – worse still – he is (whisper it quietly) Northern. Now, we’ve had Prime Ministers from the North before. Rishi Sunak had a constituency in Yorkshire. And Tony Blair had a constituency in the northeast. But Sunak was born in Southampton and Blair was technically Scottish. Neither were ‘proper Northerners’ or had that most obvious giveaway of their otherness: a regional accent. Before Blair, you’d have to go back as far as Harold Wilson (who left office 50 years ago) to find a Prime Minister who represented a constituency in the North-west and flattened his vowels.
This could suggest that ‘proper Northerners’ have been historically underrepresented amongst our political leaders and are, arguably, overdue a turn in the top job. But many in the capital do not see it that way. A quick glance at some recent headlines shows that London is scared. Very scared. The Evening Standard has predictably led the charge: “Londoners face £1,000 property tax rise”, “Andy Burnham-backed £7.5bn homes tax on London” and “Will Andy Burnham spark an exodus of London’s middle classes?” are all articles that have run in London’s other newspaper. The barbarians, it seems, are at the gate. One cabinet minister had to reassure southern voters, via the BBC, that “Burnham won’t ignore the South”. Even our freshly ennobled mayor has warned that harming London would be harming the wider UK too.
Well, I have a solution to this particular political problem. One simple and relatively affordable policy change that will turn the capital’s frowns and fears into confidence and calm. A single piece of infrastructure that will buy the Prime Minister more goodwill – and good headlines – than knocking a few quid off of electric bills (a gimmick with an estimated cost of £850m).
Burnham should build the West London Orbital railway.
Cheap, quick and impactful
The West London Orbital (WLO) is a proposed expansion of the London Overground network from West Hampstead and Hendon to Hounslow. It largely repurposes old freight lines in West London (with the addition of four new stations) and would connect multiple rail, tube and Overground lines (the Bakerloo line, Elizabeth line, Jubilee line, Mildmay line, Piccadilly line, plus HS2 and Thameslink) with around 18.5km of track (most of which already exists). The project would also unlock around 15,800 new homes.
WLO will create around twice as many jobs as the proposed extension of the DLR to Thamesmead yet costs about a third as much
WLO will create around twice as many jobs as the proposed extension of the DLR to Thamesmead yet costs about a third as much. By transport infrastructure standards, WLO is pretty cheap (just £610m in 2021 prices). That is a lot less than the £8.2bn price tag for the Bakerloo line extension and just a fraction of the £40bn plus cost of Crossrail 2. Construction of this game-changing project would be just three or four years on current estimates, so it’s possible that Andy Burnham could still be Prime Minister when it opens. Cheap, quick and impactful – as transformational transport projects go, WLO is pretty much perfect.
But let’s be clear – the Treasury should pick up the whole bill. No strings, no surprises. Transport for London recently topped a list of the most indebted local authorities in the county with debts of £13.9bn. The beleaguered transport body is still paying off the £4bn cost overrun from the Elizabeth Line having also paid for the Northern Line extension to Battersea in recent years as well. Worse still, it looks like the £1.7bn bill for the DLR extension will be going on TfL’s credit card too. Far too often London is expected to foot the bill for projects that benefit the UK as a whole when the same is not asked of other cities or regions. This should be a gift from a grateful nation for a capital that contributes far more in tax revenues than it receives in public spending.
Currently, Burnham is a scary bogeyman for voters in the capital. Londoners fear that he is going to steal the capital’s wealth and spend it funding free chips and gravy for life for the citizens of Makerfield. For significantly less than £1bn, Andy Burnham could assuage those fears and give Londoners something more concrete than just hope. He could give them jobs, growth, homes and a shorter commute.
James Ford was an advisor to former Mayor of London Boris Johnson