Could Improved Public Transport Cut Crime?
London is going through a murder epidemic at the moment, mainly with knives and a couple of guns.
I’m not worried about it, as why would anybody bother a seventy-year-old man, who doesn’t have the best dress sense?
But I wasn’t always old and I can remember the 1950s and 1960s, where things weren’t as idyllic, as those who voted Brexit like to think.
A friend of mine was a policeman in the East End in those days and he has some interesting tales.
Return To Dalston
I moved to Dalston in 2010, after the deaths of my wife and our thirty-seven year-old son from cancer, and a serious stroke, which left me with damaged eyesight and unable to drive.
You might ask, why I moved from deepest Suffolk to a slightly run-down area of London? Free public transport was a big draw!
A hundred and thirty years ago, all my grandparents and lots of relatives lived in this area.
My paternal grandmother would shop in the Marks and Spencer and the Woollies at the Angel, as I still do, although the Woollies is now a Waitrose.
This part-Jewish, part-Huguenot, part-Devonian, very stubborn London mongrel has come home!
An Observation
When I moved here, if I walked down Kingsland High Street, at times, the pavements were crowded with youths with nothing better to do. I wasn’t actually threatened, but I would avoid the area.
Now, the street is probably more crowded, but everybody is going about their business or pleasure in a calm manner.
I can only speculate about why the atmosphere has changed, but there has been two major developments.
- The Overground has arrived to replace the travelling urinals of the North London Line and provide new services to the City and South London.
- Most of the bus routes now have new buses.
Local people even got excited, that Hackney and Dalston got the first of the New Routemasters on route 38.
Have those young people from Dalston, now found better things by using public transport, such as work or a pleasureable leisure activity?
Research needs to be done, but there’s nothing on the Internet.
The Rise Of Dalston
I truly believe that the rise of Dalston has been created by the better public transport.
Who would have wanted to live in the new flats or the old Victorian houses, if you couldn’t get to work?
We’re now in an upward spiral, as property is improved, businesses are created and restaurants and cafes open.
The Next Experiment
Several major rail projects are underway in North and North East London.
- The Gospel Oak to Barking Line is being electrified.
- White Hart Lane station is going to be rebuilt, to serve Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium development.
- Capacity is being increased on the West Anglia Main Line, by the STAR project.
- New or rebuilt stations are planned for Tottenham Hale, Northumberland Park and Meridian Water, in conjunction with STAR.
- London Overground and Greater Anglia have ordered new Class 710 and Class 720 trains to replace the current elderly rolling stock.
It will be very informative, to see whether crime is lower or higher in a couple of years.
Conclusion
Improving public transport is one of these measures, that benefits a wide range of people; the elderly, the disabled, the unemployed and families with children.
It may also encourage those, who might drift into gangs and crime, to do something more worthwhile.
Lots of other places in the UK are getting or need the same treatment as Dalston has received.
- The West London Orbital Railway could invigorate North West London.
- Kirkby to Skelmersdale, would connect the latter town to Liverpool.
- Newcastle is planning to reopen the railways to Ashington and Blyth.
- Birmingham is expanding passenger railways on reopened and freight lines.
The future could be fascinating.
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