Olympics bid blow as East London line faces axe

There were fresh fears today that the £1 billion East London line project could be axed.

That would be a huge blow for London's hopes of hosting the Olympic Games in 2012. The project is needed to provide extra capacity for the capital's transport system to help it cope with the 200,000 people a day expected.

The East London line extension is reckoned to be one of the best valuefor-money projects in the capital - but the rows continue over who will pay.

The scheme involves building a national rail metro service connecting south and south-east London with east London. It would connect Clapham Junction, West Croydon and Crystal Palace with Dalston and Highbury and Islington. There would be connections to Silverlink services on the North London line besides the Tube and other mainline stations.

Cost would be kept down because it would use existing main lines, the current ELL Tube tunnel under the Thames and disused embankments.

But the proposal, which has included High Court challenges, has been dragging on for years. It is now a joint scheme between Transport for London and the Strategic Rail Authority. Most of the money would be provided by the private sector.

TfL's chiefs have warned that London's transport system will not be able to cope with the Olympic Games.

A leaked document concluded that without major capacity improvements there will be "critical levels of overcrowding on lines and stations at key points around the network."