Tram Plans Derailed

Cllr Ian Gibb, Conservative Parliamentary candidate in Ealing North and Deputy Leader of Ealing Council welcomed the news that that the West London Tram scheme has been shelved by Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.

Ken joined Jason Stacey, leader of Ealing Council, to announce that, on the assumption of a positive government decision on the construction of Crossrail, the Mayor and the local boroughs will work together to address the problem of improving public transport on the Uxbridge Road, between Uxbridge and Shepherd’s Bush, via a bus-based solution rather than the tram originally envisaged.

Cllr Gibb said, "This is a tremendous victory for the Conservative administration in Ealing, which has fought to scrap the Tram scheme.  The first decision we took as a new administration in May 2006 was to change the Council's position of full support for the Tram to one of opposition.  We've worked with our colleagues in Hillingdon and Hammersmith and Fulham and had allocated nearly £1million to fight the public enquiry.  I'm glad that Ken has seen sense at last."

Councillor Jason Stacey, Leader of Ealing Council said: "Residents have overwhelmingly expressed the view that the proposed West London Tram was not the answer to the area's transport problems. We have been working tirelessly over the last year to represent this view to the Mayor and TfL and to stop this scheme. 

"The Council welcomes this announcement, and the positive indications that Crossrail will be given the go-ahead. Ealing's traffic problems require different solutions and we will be working constructively with TfL to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion in the borough."