Caroline's news

Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on the Mayor’s admission made today at City Hall that substantial improvements in capacity on the Jubilee Line will only be completed by the Autumn, said:

“Passengers will find it truly unbelievable that there is yet another delay to when the Jubilee Line will be operating at full capacity, seven days a week.

“Today’s admission is the fourth broken promise made by the Mayor as to when improvements to the Jubilee Line will finally be completed.

Caroline Pidgeon has sharply criticised Southeastern's plans to scale back local train services during the 2012 Games. Commenting on Southeastern's proposals to reduce the frequency of some train services and to even remove some stations from their timetable, Caroline said:

"Ensuring more people can get into London to visit Olympic venues will of course create challenges for Southeastern, however Southeastern's approach to tackling these challenges is completely wrong. Putting on extra carriages and extra staff at stations is the best way to ensure that the needs of local commuters and visitors are both met, while ensuring a reliable service is also maintained.

"Southeastern must listen to the outrage they have created amongst residents in Greenwich and Deptford and back down over their completely daft proposals."

A promise made by the Mayor of London and Transport for London that an improved timetable and increased capacity will be seen on the Jubilee Line from early July will not now happen, according to new documents discovered by Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group.

As recently as the 28th April Transport for London issued a press release stating that a new timetable will be introduced on the Jubilee Line to increase capacity and reliability from 24 to 27 trains an hour “from July”, with the clear suggestion that the improvements would start from the very beginning of the month.

However, only last week, papers tabled at an internal TfL meeting showed that the new timetable was actually planned to only start on 31st July 2011, in effect a month later than promised.

The London Assembly Transport Committee today launches an investigation into how the Tube is performing, looking line by line at what the upgrade programme has delivered, compared to what it promised.

The Tube is now busier than ever in its history, but the timetable for the upgrade programme - which is has a target of a 30 per cent increase in overall capacity by 2020 - has slipped, particularly on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines.

Caroline Pidgeon AM and eight other former Southwark Councillors were honoured on Saturday 7th May. At St George’s Cathedral, Borough the former councillors were given the title of Honorary Aldermen or Women.

Caroline was the first person to become an Honorary Alderwoman of Southwark, a title now allowed due to a change in legislation last year.

“It was a great honour to be recognised for my service as a local councillor for 12 years. It was fun to catch up with former colleagues from all parties and for the Newington Lib Dem Team of 12 years to be reunited again!” commented Caroline.

The London SE1 website has a report and photos on Southwark's civic award ceremony, which recognised people who have contributed to the borough's life in many fields.