Latest Transport roundup: TFL reveal amount spent on clearing homelessness

Transport news from London.

Transcript

00:01Hello and welcome to your latest London Transport Roundup.

00:05TfL has spent almost £37,000 on removing homeless people from Park Lane since April last year.

00:13It has now been revealed.

00:15It came in response to a Freedom of Information request.

00:20The Transport Authority stated that the money had been used for court costs

00:24and for instructing bailiffs and legal counsel as a fairly large encampment

00:31had settled in the area during each of the past two summers.

00:36Transport for London, which owns the green strip of land running down the dual carriageway there,

00:43has collaborated with Westminster City Council to clear the encampments.

00:48Now, homeless charity St Mungo's called for a compassionate approach to the issue.

00:56TfL has responded that no one should have to sleep rough,

01:00but it did consider that Park Lane was unsafe for such encampments.

01:09In its response to the Freedom of Information request submitted by the local Democracy Reporting Service,

01:15Transport for London disclosed that it had spent over £35,000 from 24 to 25

01:23and a further £1,714 this year.

01:28A spokesman confirmed that an additional £404 had been spent

01:32since the Freedom of Information response was issued,

01:36bringing the total to over £37,000.

01:40They also said that individuals who had been sleeping rough in Park Lane

01:45had been informed that they would be removed if they returned

01:50and that security personnel would intervene and continue to patrol the area.

02:01Now, elsewhere, a rail tunnel in south-east London prone to water damage

02:07has reopened after a 10-week closure for repairs.

02:12Southeastern trains between Charlton and Blackheath are once again using the Blackheath Tunnel,

02:19approximately a mile-long stretch that had been closed for the second time within a year.

02:27Now, Network Rail reported that the £10 million repair project

02:31involved replacing thousands of bricks, adding new lining,

02:35and rebuilding drainage systems as well.

02:38David Davidson, Network Rail's chief operating officer for Southeastern Railway,

02:44had described the programme as groundbreaking

02:48and said that strengthening and waterproofing work in the tunnel

02:53would improve the reliability.

02:55Let's see.