Caroline's news

Caroline Pidgeon AM was delighted to join local Lib Dem Councillors and the Mayor of Kingston at the official opening of the Tolworth Greenway project. The project is an innovative design of the pavement and cycle ways linking up Tolworth station with the shopping high street, making the area much safer to get around across the busy A240 roundabout.

"Previously local residents and shoppers only had underpasses to get around this dangerous junction, but now they have a wonderful bright and inviting green walkway with wonderful planting and light" commented Caroline Pidgeon AM.

"Other Boroughs are already interested in this innovation and I hope that this will really help to bring more shoppers to the Tolworth High Street" added Caroline.

After a lengthy campaign by Ealing Liberal Democrats and Caroline Pidgeon, the Mayor has announced at December's Mayor’s Question Time that Piccadilly line trains will stop properly at Turnham Green once modernisation work is complete. Although this may be a number of years off, he has made a commitment that tubes will stop all night when the Piccadilly line becomes part of the “Night Tube” in 2015.

Caroline Pidgeon and Tom Brake have called on Transport for London (TfL) to get an Oyster reader installed and working immediately at the entrance to the new step-free path at Hackbridge.

The work on the new step-free path from London Road to platform two at Hackbridge train station has been completed but, according to Rail Network, the opening has been held-up by the delay in the delivery of the Oyster card reader.

Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on the proposed recommendations from Sir Howard Davies on expanding airport aviation, said:

“For the Davies Commission to advocate a third Heathrow runway in its proposed options means that it lacks any credibility in going forward.

“There is a great deal of spare aviation capacity in London and the South East. By showing so little interest in an intelligent use of this spare capacity the Davies inquiry has totally lost its way.”

As Transport for London claimed contactless payment on buses has been a success despite missing its target usage figures, Caroline Pidgeon told the MayorWatch website:

"Contactless technology has not really caught on with passengers in London. A year after its roll out on London’s 8,500 buses it seems each bus is typically seeing just four fares every day being paid with a bank card.