THE government has been warned to stop dithering and delaying over its Crossrail plans for Kingston.

Cllr Tricia Bamford, executive member for transportation and sustainable development, has written to the Chancellor Gordon Brown, Minister for London Tony McNulty and chief executive of Crossrail Sir Christopher Benson urging them to support the Crossrail proposals in full, including its development in Kingston.

She has also urged the Mayor of London to throw his weight behind Kingston's cause.

Recently there have been rumours that the government is considering axing Kingston from the Crossrail 1 plans. The line may now finish instead at Richmond or Turnham Green.

Crossrail 1, which is a £10 million joint venture between Transport for London and the Strategic Rail Authority, will create a brand new network of services linking areas to the east and west of London. It would give Kingston a direct rail link to Heathrow and Paddington for the first time if it comes to the royal borough.

Cllr Bamford said: "Crossrail is vital to Kingston's future. We are currently the second biggest retail centre in London, but we will need Crossrail to maintain our economy and tackle congestion in the years ahead.

"It would be shocking if these rumours are true, and the government is thinking of excluding Kingston from the Crossrail project. The loss to Kingston would be incalculable."

She concluded: "The government have dithered and delayed for too long. They need to commit themselves to Crossrail and commit themselves to Kingston. They must not leave us out in the cold again."

Transport Minister Alistair Darling has been expected to make an decision about the future of Crossrail for months.

Kingston's Town Centre Manager Graham McNally said: "We have brilliant bus services but compared with other towns of a similar size such as Croydon, the number of trains and carrying capacity is well down.

"If we get a link like Crossrail it will be really helpful our overall transport policy- otherwise we are just left with the motor car."

He said it is important for Kingston to be included in Crossrail as it is not just a retail centre, but has a large numbers of offices and a major university. He said they were disadvantaged by poor public transport links.

A spokesman for Transport for London said this week that an announcement was expected but they did not know exactly when.