Money saved from scrapping West London tram plans should be used to pay for the second phase of the East London Line according to Wandsworth Council.

London's Mayor Ken Livingstone announced last week the £650million scheme had been dropped due to opposition from west London councils.

Wandsworth Council hope the Mayor will instead divert the cash to build a new rail link connecting Clapham Junction to Surrey Quays and Canary Wharf.

The first phase of the East London Line, which will link West Croydon and Crystal Palace, is scheduled to open in 2010, in time of the 2012 Olympics.

But there is currently no cash for the second section to Clapham Junction.

Wandsworth Council's transport spokesman Guy Senior said: "Transport for London had already set aside the money for the tram. Now this is not going ahead what better way for the Mayor to show his support for south London than to earmark a small part of the cash for the East London Line extension?

"Instead of relying on the Government, the Mayor would be able to take control and ensure the extension was completed by 2012.

"The tram was hugely unpopular among west Londoners while there is universal agreement on the need to improve connections from Clapham Junction. By giving an early go ahead the Mayor will begin the task of reversing years of under-investment in the south London rail network."

The council believe the new service would help cope with a predicted population growth of 118,000 over the next ten years in the four south London boroughs served by the line.

In the same period the number passenger at Clapham Junction are set to rise by around 30 per cent.

The second phase of the East London Line would mean the completion of a new London orbital route and mean a fast connection to East London with services every fifteen minutes and a single change for Canary Wharf.

Among the council supporting the East London Line campaign are Croydon. Merton and Wandsworth.

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