Bozza puts Gordon, Dave, Nick and Ken in the shade

Gordon, devoid of credibility and popularity, crept back to Downing Street after the election and squatted inside Number 10. His arch rivals David and Nick busied themselves in their secret 'coalition-building' meeting around the corner at Admiralty Arch. 

Meanwhile, back at his City Hall ranch, our beloved mayor Boris took advantage of the power vacuum and the media's distracted attention. Neither the Prime Minister nor the Tory leader were watching Bozza as he slipped out an announcement that Transport for London was going to buy Tube Lines, the ailing Private Public Partnership (PPP) set up by Gordon to upgrade London's creaking and overcrowded Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly Lines. 

Boris promises Londoners that TfL 'will complete the delayed Jubilee Line upgrade quickly, ending the horrendous inconvenience of weekend line closures. Boris promises that upgrading of the Northern - infamously tagged the 'misery line' - will also be completed without the vast amount of weekend line shutdowns that Tube Lines, a consortium of Ferrovial and Bechtel, had requested. Boris promises that new, faster and more frequent trains will arrive sooner 'in-house' with TfL rather than later and late with Tube Lines.


In this sense, it's BoZo and not his rival David who has removed the PPP, one of the most unpopular legacies of Gordon's reign. Ken, Boris' predecessor as mayor, had tried to KO Gordon's PPP in the courts but failed. BoJo is now bagging the political house points.

Boris, possibly rightly, thinks this move will raise his own popularity; but the bigger question remains - how can TfL afford the £310 million price tag for Tube Lines' shares, owned by Ferrovial and Bechtel? Can TfL find the money through efficiencies and savings achieved during the upgrades themselves? 

Might Boris and TfL at some point have to squeeze the money from other parts of TfL's budget? It's a budget already being squeezed. Boris and TfL's board are already implementing a business plan designed to save more than £5 billion up to 2017/18. 

True, Boris' decision to buy Tube Lines has put Gordon, Dave, Nick and Ken in the shade. But will Boris end up robbing Peter to pay for Paul?

Paul Coleman, London, May 2010

Photo: London Underground's Westminster station (courtesy TfL 2005)

The Prince and the Poor Parper

Boris Johnson, London's Mayor, loves to parp up with a jolly turn of phrase. It's possibly all part of his self-styled 'cool buffoon' image. For instance, BoJo apparently says he plans to 'wage a holy war on 'holey' roads'. Translated, he's tooting that he's keen to publicly flay and curse utility companies who constantly dig up the city's streets. 

Another hoot came from Bozza when he welcomed the green light being given to Crossrail, London's east-west rail link that involves much tunnelling under central London. "When in a hole, keep digging," hurrahed BoZo.

Well, apparently, Boris has dug himself into a bit of hole by indulging in clandestine meetings at Clarence House and by exchanging letters with Prince Charles, our future King in waiting...(and very long the Prince has been waiting too). 

Pippa Crerar, City Hall Editor for the London Evening Standard, or Evening Stranded as Londoners tag it, cites "City Hall aides" and "sources at City Hall" as saying Boris and Charlie had "exchanged views over London issues including planning". The story originated from blogging journalist Adam Bienkov.

Crerar's eyebrow-raising front page lead story questions whether the Prince influenced Boris over controversial plans for the Chelsea Barracks housing project. "Sources at City Hall were not clear whether the Prince explicitly lobbied the Mayor over the Chelsea project," writes Crerar.

The project's Qatari backers dropped the development last June after Charles criticised their plan's appearance. The Stranded says Londoners aren't likely to find out if our unelected Prince's letters and meetings with our elected Mayor influenced the democratic planning process because "the Mayor's office turned down a Freedom of Information Act request to release them" (their letters that is, not Boris and Charlie themselves). 

It's a hoot of a story about our beloved Mayor that might toot for a bit longer. 

As Boris himself said when work on Crossrail began, "the shovels have tasted earth".

Paul Coleman, London, January 2010

Boris, there's a fly in my Oyster sauce

Londoners have waited years for Oyster ‘pay as you go’ cards to be valid on National Rail services but as the big day looms – this Saturday, 2 January 2010 - will the long wait be worthwhile?
No doubt London’s Mayor Boris Johnson and various train company spokesmen will merrily pontificate about their big ‘Oysterisation’ day. But hang on a mo’ though, BoJo, ol' bean, we could all do with a bit more pastry on this Oyster business and less puff.


For instance, I live almost an equal distance between two Zone 5 stops, Oakwood tube station on the Piccadilly Line, and Grange Park, a National Rail station on the Hertford North-Moorgate line. Most days I use the Piccadilly Line to get to central London but from 2 January I’ll have the choice of using my Oyster at Grange Park to access National Rail services operated by First Capital Connect.

On Monday morning – 4 January - if I commute on the Piccadilly Line from Oakwood to Oxford Circus in Zone 1 during the peak (Monday-Friday, 0630-0900) £3.80 will be deducted from my Oyster, a 10p rise on the fare up to 1 January. If I make the equivalent commute to Oxford Circus during the peak using National Rail from Grange Park, changing onto the Victoria Line at Highbury & Islington, a whopping £5.00 gets whipped off my Oyster. So I think I'll stick to my overcrowded but less expensive tube train and save myself £1.20 rather than take FCC's equally overcrowded but more expensive overground train.

Will Oyster's new validity on National Rail persuade me to travel from Grange Park during the off-peak, on weekends and public holidays? Oakwood to Oxford Circus off-peak on the tube will cost £2.40 – a rise of 20p on the 2009 fare - but £3.70 will come off my Oyster if I touch in at Grange Park and head towards Oxford Circus using an FCC train. Once again, even with the 2010 fare rise, using the off-peak Oyster option on the tube will save £1.30.

I’m forwarding this post to FCC just in case I've missed a less expensive option amongst the train operator’s bewildering array of nine ticket products that cover that journey between Grange Park and Oxford Circus. However, I did seek an antidote for my confusion with Transport for London’s helpline. The friendly operator, using TfL's useful Farefinder, confirmed Oyster is generally less expensive on the tube than on National Rail. “The National Rail companies wanted to retain their own fares," the operator explained.

So, Bozza, before you orate about Oysterisation, perhaps you might advise Londoners that, before touching in with our cards at National Rail stations, we should check with Farefinder to see whether it's the tube or National Rail that gives us the least expensive Oyster deal.

Paul Coleman, London, December 2009