An award of £14.1 million to Sutton Council from the government's Levelling Up Fund will unlock the full potential of the London Cancer Hub and allow the number of trains running to the village of Belmont in South London to be doubled.
The London Cancer Hub is a world-leading life sciences campus that is being developed at Belmont in Surrey, and which will create 13,000 jobs and £1.2 billion each year for the UK economy.
Until now, Belmont has been poorly served by public transport and the money will enable its train services to be doubled to four trains an hour, and extra direct services from Belmont to London Victoria.
The award will also enable Belmont station to be improved with step-free access, better direction signs, and new walking and cycling routes to the London Cancer Hub.
To gain the enormous health and employment benefits from the London Cancer Hub, it is essential that it has better public transport. This is a major regeneration project that will bring unprecedented investment to Sutton, accelerate life-saving cancer research and innovation, and tackle inequalities in health nationwide.
With better public transport across the borough, the award will be a welcome boost for Sutton Council, and it residents and businesses.
A summary of the Council's successful Levelling Up Fund bid is available online at https://drive.google.com/file/d/19vFfDFGBDz0BWO5pHg0OOxhjdQE41OUB/view
Councillor Ruth Dombey, Leader of Sutton Council, said: “I'm delighted the government has awarded us Levelling Up Funding and backed our plan to make Sutton a more connected borough.
“I'd like to thank our partners, The Royal Marsden, Institute of Cancer Research, the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust and Harris Academy Sutton who backed our cross-party bid from the start.
“It's a step in the right direction for Sutton residents, who for decades have received the least transport investment per person in London.
“Alongside celebrating this brilliant win, we'll continue to fight for Sutton's fair share of public transport investment, and I now repeat my call to the Mayor of London to contact me to discuss how he can help to make Sutton a better connected borough and close the transport gap between inner and outer London.”
The Epsom Downs line should be upgraded to double line and perhaps a 2nd platform at Epsom Downs to be built to accommodate extra trains.
It seems bizarre to me they aren’t doing this. Personally I’d of done that to future proof the area for the eventual needed housing developments on the other side of the track near Epsom Downs station.
Fun fact: Belmont in leafy Surrey is in a Tory-held constituency which is under threat from the Lib Dems.
No other country in Western Europe has such regional inequality. No other government would have the sheer brass neck to award “levelling up” funds to locations in its most affluent region. But then no other government is as shameless, corrupt and unaccountable as Britain’s Tories.
Right I am a paid up active member of the Labour party, I am as cynical as you get with them. But I have to correct you. Belmont is in Greater London, it has rich residents and it also has poor residents. The rich will still use their cars no doubt. This instead is for those who currently work in the Cancer hospital, the Cancer research facilities, the prison, the recently opened school and the new A&E which is about to be built. Also consider this was a Lib Dem majority council which submitted the bid.
They call this levelling up then.
Must be o.k though as South of Watford Gap and close to London.
As to the rest of the country that is north of Watford Gap its mere rhetoric and false promises.Just think of HS2
I hope they find a few quid to provide a proper heated waiting room for cancer patients using the station.