0:00:00 > 0:00:14reminder for tomorrow morning of some dense fog around.
0:00:14 > 0:00:15Welcome to BBC London News.
0:00:15 > 0:00:22I'm Katharine Carpenter.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24The Transport Secretary has apologised to train passengers
0:00:24 > 0:00:26using Southern and Thameslink services for delays
0:00:26 > 0:00:27and cancellations.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29He was responding to a report which says they have suffered
0:00:29 > 0:00:32the worst disruption of any franchise, one which has NOT
0:00:32 > 0:00:33provided value for money.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37Here's our transport correspondent Tom Edwards.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42Unreliable, not value for money, the worst service in the country. It
0:00:42 > 0:00:47won't surprise many passengers that today more damning evidence on
0:00:47 > 0:00:52Goveia Thameslink. Blighted by industrial action and a lack of
0:00:52 > 0:00:56understanding from Government, at its worst, only two thirds of trains
0:00:56 > 0:01:01arrived on time.A shabby train service. ? The franchise covers
0:01:01 > 0:01:05Thameslink, southern and great northern services and today's report
0:01:05 > 0:01:09outlines how 60% of delays have been due to the operator mainly because
0:01:09 > 0:01:15of industrial action, and a lack of crew. Nearly 40% of delays are down
0:01:15 > 0:01:18to Network Rail's poor infrastructure. I think from a
0:01:18 > 0:01:21passenger's point of view, what they don't want to hear is people passing
0:01:21 > 0:01:25the buck and saying it is someone else's fall. What they want to know
0:01:25 > 0:01:29is that action is being taken to sort this out, and to make sure that
0:01:29 > 0:01:36they see improvements in service. The report also criticises the
0:01:36 > 0:01:40Government, for trying to increase services, as well as introducing new
0:01:40 > 0:01:43trains and getting rid of the guards, leading to strikes. The
0:01:43 > 0:01:48report says the Government didn't know about a lack of drivers, or the
0:01:48 > 0:01:54state of the infrastructure.I think this report shows the incompetence
0:01:54 > 0:01:57and the dogma of the DLT and the Government and seeking to put the
0:01:57 > 0:02:01blame on the trade unions when they knew they were going to cause this
0:02:01 > 0:02:04issue is a false premise and seeking to blame the companies who are
0:02:04 > 0:02:09forced to bid for what they put out there is a false premise. If this is
0:02:09 > 0:02:12dogma, the dogma has to change.The Government says unions are main
0:02:12 > 0:02:16cause of the problems. .When I took over as Secretary of State I was
0:02:16 > 0:02:19clear in saying the situation on southern was unacceptable, the
0:02:19 > 0:02:24service level was terrible and we had to sort it out. There was there
0:02:24 > 0:02:28were a number of things we did. Things have got better we changed
0:02:28 > 0:02:32the way the railway operates on day-to-day basis, we are spending
0:02:32 > 0:02:35money on the infrastructure. The report I I commissioned said very
0:02:35 > 0:02:40clearly, that it was the unions who were primarily to blame.The report
0:02:40 > 0:02:44does say reliability on the services is improving, but it wants the
0:02:44 > 0:02:49Government to learn lessons, when it sets up other franchises.
0:02:49 > 0:02:50when it sets up other franchises.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52Around 200 people have been evacuated from their homes
0:02:52 > 0:02:55in Westminster because of a gas leak. Many spent last night
0:02:55 > 0:02:58in hotels but the cause of the leak still isn't known.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01Westminster City Council has set up a rest centre in a nearby sports
0:03:01 > 0:03:03centre and residents are being escorted back to their
0:03:03 > 0:03:04homes to pick up belongings.
0:03:04 > 0:03:14A number of streets around Horseferry Road remain cordoned off.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18People in Essex will find out later whether a controversial merger
0:03:18 > 0:03:20of three hospital trusts will go ahead.
0:03:20 > 0:03:21Managers from Southend, Basildon and Broomfield Hospitals
0:03:21 > 0:03:23are meeting expected to approve the plan at a meeting
0:03:30 > 0:03:34This meeting is due to start in round half an hour's time. The
0:03:34 > 0:03:38recommendation will be put to the trust board that the three hospitals
0:03:38 > 0:03:42should merge. So what does that mean? Well, it means the trust could
0:03:42 > 0:03:48have a new name, it will have one budget instead of three, and staff
0:03:48 > 0:03:51and patients could have to move between hospital, that is something
0:03:51 > 0:03:57that campaigners are worried about. One of the main concerns is if with
0:03:57 > 0:04:01have one hospital with three site it is easier for the hospital to
0:04:01 > 0:04:05transfer departments away from one site, we may find ourself in a
0:04:05 > 0:04:11situation where we haven't got an A&E 24/7 at one or more of the
0:04:11 > 0:04:16hospitals that can take blue light ambulance emergencies.Together the
0:04:16 > 0:04:22trusts are losing round 49 million a year, that is round 100,000 a day,
0:04:22 > 0:04:28it is argued that something needs to be done. The hospitals say by
0:04:28 > 0:04:32reducing costs they can re-invest the money. We asked these people
0:04:32 > 0:04:36what they think. Can't think it makes a big problem,
0:04:36 > 0:04:41apart from transport for people between the hospitals. I have had
0:04:41 > 0:04:45difficulty getting here today, because two buses have been taken
0:04:45 > 0:04:54off.It is busy enough. There is too much, without joining two other
0:04:54 > 0:04:59hospitals and sending more patients. Depends how they merge them. If it
0:04:59 > 0:05:07means we don't get the number of departments here, that would be not
0:05:07 > 0:05:13so good. This is not the only merger going on, Ipswich and Colchester
0:05:13 > 0:05:16hospitals are joining together and the mental Health Trust in Essex
0:05:16 > 0:05:22have also merged but a survey by Bristol University looked at 102
0:05:22 > 0:05:27hospital mergers and found waiting times and deficits increased. So
0:05:27 > 0:05:29staff here are hoping with better planning this will be more
0:05:29 > 0:05:31successful.
0:05:31 > 0:05:32successful.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35A bit of London history was recreated today at St Pancras,
0:05:35 > 0:05:37as part of the station's 150th anniversary celebrations.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39A Young's brewery horse-drawn dray took us back to 1868
0:05:39 > 0:05:42when the station got its reputation for being 'built on beer'.
0:05:42 > 0:05:51Jim Wheble has more.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Often when we go to a train station we just see it
0:05:54 > 0:05:57as place to go from A to B, but the history involved
0:05:57 > 0:06:00as a place to go from A to B, but the history involved
0:06:00 > 0:06:02in somewhere like St Pancras is absolutely incredible.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04And to mark their 150th anniversary today, there is a rather
0:06:04 > 0:06:07large clue behind me as to what was the foundation
0:06:07 > 0:06:08of this station.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10I am with Josie Murray, the senior heritage adviser
0:06:10 > 0:06:12here at St Pancras, what is this clue?
0:06:12 > 0:06:16It relates to the fact that in effect St Pancras was built on beer.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18The ground level, the undercroft where the shops are today
0:06:18 > 0:06:21and the arcade, was a massive beer storage warehouse for beers brought
0:06:21 > 0:06:31down on the Midland railway line from Burton on Trent.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35And that introduced bitter to London.
0:06:35 > 0:06:36That is right.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39It was at the time people mostly drank stout, heavy beers,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42whereas the Burton beers were much lighter, the IPA, and Bass
0:06:42 > 0:06:49were one of the first Burton brewers to transport that.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Hence the horse and cart, which would have taken it
0:06:52 > 0:06:54to the pubs and places all round where it
0:06:54 > 0:06:55would have been drunk.
0:06:55 > 0:07:00I suppose when we talk about St Pancras, we must talk
0:07:00 > 0:07:03about Sir John Betjeman, at the end of the 60s,
0:07:03 > 0:07:05because a lot of people say if it wasn't for him,
0:07:05 > 0:07:07perhaps this place wouldn't be here right now.
0:07:07 > 0:07:08Absolutely right.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11We owe him and all those other passionate people who cared deeply
0:07:11 > 0:07:14for St Pancras a great debt that they saved it from demolition.
0:07:14 > 0:07:15Thank you very much Josie.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18If you want to sample a bit of St Pancras's history,
0:07:18 > 0:07:20they have a special 150th anniversary IPA, which you can have
0:07:20 > 0:07:30in the pub next to me.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Now let's check on the weather with Kate Kinsella.
0:07:39 > 0:07:44Good afternoon. We have had calm of days of very grey skies, we started
0:07:44 > 0:07:48the day in a similar fashion. But fairly south-westerly especially for
0:07:48 > 0:07:53parts of south London, west London we started to see just a bit of blue
0:07:53 > 0:07:56sky appearing, an this afternoon, we can expect more of it. The cloud,
0:07:56 > 0:08:04the rain the drizzle from earlier is moving northwards so we should see
0:08:04 > 0:08:10sunny spells. So, sunny spell, the wind fairly light as well. As a
0:08:10 > 0:08:15result, the temperature is just a bit milder. We are looking at a
0:08:15 > 0:08:20maximum later on, nine, maybe 10C by the end of the afternoon. Overnight
0:08:20 > 0:08:29tonight I am afraid this cloud of rain is likely to sink back south.
0:08:29 > 0:08:34Notice this yellow triangle. The Met Office has a weather warning.
0:08:34 > 0:08:40Anywhere could see a bit of mist and Fognini and it is going to be
0:08:40 > 0:08:43stubborn, the minimum temperature between two and four, so a misty
0:08:43 > 0:08:49murky start tomorrow, so that is going to linger in the west. When it
0:08:49 > 0:08:56lifts it will be into cloud. So another grey day, we are back to
0:08:56 > 0:08:59that maximum temperature. Further through the week into Friday,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02similar condition, overnight mist and fog likely to develop and a
0:09:02 > 0:09:06murky start for Friday morning, but we are hanging on to the cloud for
0:09:06 > 0:09:11the next few days and also the temperatures. Night I some time
0:09:11 > 0:09:14temperatures staying above zero.
0:09:14 > 0:09:15That's about it from me.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Riz Lateef will be here with our 6:30 evening programme.
0:09:17 > 0:09:27But for now, from us all, a very good afternoon.