00:00A brand new overground line in West London, a hub for trains heading to France in the heart of East
00:05London, and finally, plans for the most overdue underground line extension in history. Here are
00:11the key changes coming to London's transport network, announced in Chancellor John Healy's
00:15budget. 20 years after opening, Stratford International may finally see international
00:21trains actually stop there, with plans to open a large unused chunk of the facility and half the
00:26platforms for services to mainland Europe, adding stop before they head into St Pancras.
00:31Originally, when it opened in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games, Stratford International was to
00:37act as the hub for trains heading to and from the north of England through to France. However,
00:42that never materialised. They built a grand concourse, escalators, an area for customs and
00:48passport checks, even signs in French and English, but not a single cross-channel train has ever stopped
00:54there. The plan to put international back into Stratford International will be funded by the
01:00area becoming a business rates retention zone, allowing City Hall to keep more of the business
01:05rates generated in Stratford instead of going straight to central government. If you want to
01:09learn about how London got an international station without any international trains, or more behind the
01:15scenes of the huge but unused station, head over to our YouTube channel. The budget also mentions
01:20addressing capacity constraints at Stratford Station, with it already serving the Jubilee,
01:26Central and Elizabeth Lines, Overground, TLR and National Rail. Anyone who's passed through the East
01:31London hub will know that the tight corridors and confusing platforms could do with a well-earned
01:36expansion. The newest addition to the London Overgrounds, although currently only in the consultation
01:41phase, is the West London Orbital, linking Hendon in northwest London to Hounslow in West,
01:47including stops at Acton, Brentford and, most importantly, Old Oak Common, the new mega station
01:53where HS2 services will whiz up to Birmingham. It'll also include a new interchange onto the
01:58Elizabeth Line, which is currently being built and dug underneath Old Oak Common. The tracks are
02:04already mostly in place, used predominantly by freight trains and Thameslink services, and three brand new
02:09stations will be built at Halston, Old Oak Common Lane and Larnall Road, just north of Q Bridge.
02:15This will be paid for by a successor to the Business Rates Supplement. So, while large infrastructure
02:21projects such as Crossrail allowed the mayor to borrow against future tax revenues to fund the
02:26Elizabeth Line, doing so required an active parliament. In theory, it should now be easier and faster for
02:32local governments to invest in transport upgrades like this. Furthermore, local businesses that benefit
02:37from the development will also have to pay a contribution. Fifteen years after the ambitious plan was
02:43first unveiled, southeast London may finally be getting its own tube connection. The Bakerloo Line
02:49extension to Lewisham would include new stops at the sprawling Burgess Park and the bustling Old Kent
02:54Road, feed into Newcross Gate, linking up to National Rail and the Windrush Line, and then through to
02:59Lewisham, which would also connect it up to the DLR network and access to the now-booming Deptford.
03:04And there remains the potential to extend it further, either south to the likes of Catford and Hayes,
03:10just south of Bromley, or further east to Blackheath and Eltham. Southeast London has long been
03:15underserved by the TFL network, with the Windrush Line, DLR and, albeit an extensive national rail
03:21network, serving as the only routes into the city. In fact, there were even calls as far back as the
03:281940s to extend the Bakerloo Line to south London, with an official proposal to take it to Denmark Hill
03:33in Camberwell. This will be funded in the same way as the West London Orbital and make a huge benefit
03:38to a previously underserved region of the city. Finally, the Chancellor announced tax increment
03:44financing for Euston Station. This means a share of business rates generated by local development
03:49in and around the station will be retained and used to pay for infrastructure improvements.
03:54It's basically a financial tool used to pay for a big, expensive infrastructure project
03:59before the money actually comes in, using cash you'd earn in the future to pay for things right now.
04:05With HS2 terminating at the North London hub, the added revenue will be used for improvements
04:10across the entire underground network.
