Investment, investment and investment

21 September 2012

What struck me about the whole Olympic park was the thoroughness and scale of the investment. This extended to much of the transport infrastructure – the DLR station at Stratford International, the Javelin trains, London Overground and the bus station at Stratford.

However, a post-Olympic trip to Harold Hill revealed one line that has been a real Cinderella. The metro services from Liverpool Street come as a bit of a shock. Old trains, shabby, no customer information on the train or even on the stations. Dingy stations with no staff at night. This all needs a bit of attention. Yes, the ‘short’ Greater Anglia franchise will provide some, but the longer franchise coming afterwards will have to invest in these services and stations. The contrast between London Overground and Greater Anglia is too great for services doing a very similar job.