'The Mayor is a Cross River Tram Fan' - Caroline Pidgeon AM

1.30.00pm GMT Wed 22nd Oct 2008

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has said he is a fan of trams and that his mind is not yet made up on the fate of the Cross River Tram.

Members of the Cross River Partnership, a conglomeration of businesses, councils and other supporters of the Cross River link, supported by Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrats' transport spokesperson, met with Mayor Johnson on Tuesday.

Southwark councillor Paul Noblet, who led the meeting, says: "The Mayor is clearly still taking a keen interest in this issue. We were pleased to hear he'll work with boroughs to ensure all the options for this project are worked through before any final decision is made."

Caroline says: "It was a really productive meeting and the Mayor made a lot of positive noises about the Cross River tram proposals.

"The Mayor needs to know there'd be a huge cost to London if the plan were to be dropped both in terms of vital regeneration and the lost opportunity of greatly enhancing the capital's transport infrastructure.

"I'm also pleased he's not averse to the possibility of levering in private sector finance."