More 24-Hour Rail Part Of £10bn London Plan

Chancellor George Osborne and London Mayor Boris Johnson have launched a government plan to put £10bn into London's transport infrastructure.

Mr Johnson promised more 24-hour rail services in the capital where the first round of overnight Tube services are due to get under way soon.

The proposals are part of a package of measures designed to help London stay ahead of New York and other cities in the coming years.

The Government is confident that the plans will create half a million jobs by 2020 and add £6.4bn to the capital's economy by 2030.

Chancellor George Osborne and mayor Boris Johnson said 24-hour services would be expanded on the Tube and extended to London Overground and the Docklands Light Railway.

During an early-morning visit to view maintenance work, they outlined a six-point plan that also extended wi-fi on the Tube.

Night-time Tube services will be expanded to the Metropolitan, Circle, District, and Hammersmith and City lines once Transport for London's modernisation programmes are completed.

Currently 24-hour services will begin on the Northern, Victoria, Piccadilly, Jubilee and Central lines from September.

Rail unions described the announcement as a "blatant pre-election stunt" and questioned how the figure of £6.4 billion had been worked out.

The £10bn of funding covers investment in new TfL infrastructure over the next parliament, including the Tube improvements, better roads, more buses and cycle lanes.

It is designed to cope with growth that will mean London's population is expected to top 10 million by the early 2030s.

Appearing at the Tate Modern art gallery on Friday morning for the official launch, Mr Osborne said: "This is our long-term economic plan for London. To grow our city and outpace New York.

"To create over half a million new jobs, build over 400,000 new homes, provide £10bn on new transport, back business and science and culture here, give a voice to people here and make London the greatest capital city on earth for the next generation of Londoners."

Mick Cash, leader of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, said: "This announcement has been dropped on London by the mayor as a blatant pre-election stunt without a shred of consultation with the union.

"RMT is not opposed to extended running but there are massive issues on staffing, safety and maintenance which have not been addressed and which would need to be signed off by our reps.

"Night running would mean increased drunkenness and risks to both passengers and staff alike and could only work with substantial increases in staffing right across the board."