12 April 2012
Evening Standard editorial comment

Of all London's transport projects, CrossRail is the most essential. More than a decade has passed since a fast-track, deep-tunnel rail link between Paddington and Liverpool Street was first mooted, and its main purpose, to relieve the congestion of the Central and Circle Line routes through the middle of London, has become a matter of overwhelming urgency.

Last week, a viability study by the engineering consultants Halcrow (commissioned by the City Corporation) compared the two CrossRail options on the table. One, backed by the City, runs from Heathrow to Stratford, would cost £3 billion, and could be completed within 11 years. The other, for which Mayor Livingstone and the Canary Wharf Group are pushing hard, follows the westward route but veers south after Liverpool Street to link up with the Thames Gateway area. This would almost double the length of tunnel, say Halcrow, and cost at least £2.3 billion more.

Behind these choices lies a power struggle over whether London's business should remain focused on the Square Mile or migrate east to Docklands - but Londoners should not let this vital transport link be hijacked by business interests. The northern route is preferable on all counts. It is cheaper, reaches east London communities not served by fast rail links, takes pressure off overloaded Liverpool Street, and can incorporate a "gateway" allowing a Canary Wharf link to be built separately. Crucially, it could be completed by 2011, instead of 2017 at the earliest for the alternative.

Mr Livingstone should back the route that more quickly relieves congestion.

Cronies

To appoint almost two thirds of the Upper House by grace and favour would be a profoundly retrograde step, which would hark back to the discredited origins of the hereditary House. Maybe that is why Lord Irvine of Lairg, who has always behaved as if he would have been more at home in some earlier, less democratic era, is apparently the man behind the new scheme. This is not to say that the entire Upper Chamber should be directly elected. That would bring about a conflict of powers with the Commons, and in these days of low turnouts we shudder to think of the third-raters who would be elected by default; there are enough of those in the Commons.

Those who sit in the reformed Lords must be there not because of their service to party machines, or because they have the votes of 10 per cent of the electorate, but because they have knowledge and experience that can be put to legislative service. Democratic reform of the Lords is still vital - but patronage from on high is no way to give it the legitimacy it has always lacked.

Zoo-illogical

The sudden announcement that the three elephants in London Zoo are to be removed to a new life in Whipsnade raises crucial questions about the future of the famous institution in Regent's Park. As Simon Jenkins wrote in this newspaper last week, the transfer would entirely change the nature of London Zoo: if the elephants go, no logical case can be made for keeping other large jungle animals there, such as the big cats or rhinos. The Zoo would then cease to exist as we have known it. This may or may not be a good thing - opinion is divided within the Zoological Society itself.

However it would undoubtedly have a major impact on London if the Zoo were to contract into a research institute. That must not be allowed to happen without Londoners having their say. There must be public debate on the issue, and we invite our readers to express their views.

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