There isn't a practical public transport alternative for the M25 though is there. People have to use it and they have to drive.

Central London has one a myriad of public transport alternatives.

Wonder why Boris never rescinded the whole scheme then? Have they got used to the extra income it brings? Or are there other tangible benefits for keeping it..

Yes, you're right. If I had a good link from Woking to Hayes I would use it.

There was talk of replacing the current Rail-Air coach from Heathrow to Woking with a train line but that has come to nothing. The proposal would have seen a train from Woking to Hayes & Harlington which would have been perfect for me.

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Lets be careful out there !

I did some work for a while over on Brooklands in Weybridge and that was a right pain to get to without a car. Mine broke down once and I ended up hiring one for a few days.

A rail link to 'ayes, I'm sure the denizens of Woking and it's surrounding areas would be chuffed to bits !

Third class with an outer cage for hanging on to when there's no room inside

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Lets be careful out there !

One BIG benefit:- Surveillance - but in a good way

Think back to when Islamic terrorists tried to explode a gas cylinder bomb outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub in the west end of London. It was a viable device but simply failed to explode (as did the subsequent device at Glasgow airport you may recall).

Following the nightclub device, The Met immediately used their stock of ANPR cameras (including Tfl's CC machines) and soon discovered that the 'bomb' car was followed thru several ANPR devices by another car. Far too many times to be a coincidence.

A search later found the suspect car (with a second defective device) in a Hyde Park car pound after it was removed for parking violations by an unsuspecting tow truck crew!

So there you have it, a network of surveillance cameras installed and maintained free of charge thanks to Londoners paying the CC.

I'll bet ANPR and mobile phone locations are used to great effect. I often wonder how these murder suspects are picked up so quickly these days. I'm betting phone location data.

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Lets be careful out there !