Transport Crucible

£23m is owed in unpaid Congestion Charge fees and fines by foreign diplomats in the capital according Labour members of the London Assembly. But Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, local taxes do not apply to foreign diplomats, who therefore have ‘diplomatic immunity’ from such charges of fines for non-payment. Go here for latest from the BBC, or here for Times report. Meanwhile, London’s Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson is begging for £15m from Geoff Hoon, the new UK Transport Secretary, to rescue plans for A ‘CRUCIAL’ extension of a major rail link through South London. Mayor Johnson has cut the cost of the East London line extension between Canary Warf and Clapham down to £30m, and is willing to fund half of that but wants central government to cough up the rest – and in time for London Olympics in 2012. Go here for a London Evening Standard report. TC notes an interesting conundrum at the centre of the lack of cash for a crucial rail extension and point blank refusal by diplomats since 2003, to pay fees and fines in road user charges. If UK government were to establish proof in law that congestion charging is not just a local tax as the diplomatic community who work in the capital claim, the cash gap for the rail extension could be filled – and there would be £8m to spend elsewhere…