Caroline's news

The Harrow Observer, the News Shopper and the Docklands24 papers all report on the revelation that the Jubilee line upgrade works have led to up to £12m in lost ticket revenue, as Boris Johnson admitted when responding to a question from Caroline Pidgeon.

In the News Shopper, Caroline says:

The upgrade of the Jubilee Line has turned out to be a case study in exactly how not to upgrade the tube.

There is now overwhelming evidence that carefully planned blockades of short sections of the tube for two or three weeks would be a far better way to upgrade the tube than the expensive fiasco of literally years and years of weekend closures.

You can read full coverage in the Harrow Observer, the News Shopper and at Docklands24.

Caroline Pidgeon AM joined Cathedrals Ward Councillors David Noakes and Geoffrey Thornton to visit the new Blackfriars Station, to hear about progress to date on the new station which will span the Thames, and to hear what the construction team is doing to help with noise issues affecting some Bankside residents.

The site visit allowed the team to see how the materials are shipped in along the Thames, and how the team are working on one side of the Bridge, before shifting over the Christmas period to start the same process on the other side.

“It was amazing to see the works on this new station, part of the Thameslink programme. Ultimately though, unless the next phases of the Thameslink programme are secured, the increase in capacity for passengers won’t be realised” commented Caroline Pidgeon AM.

Caroline spoke at a fringe meeting at Lib Dem Conference in Liverpool hosted by Transport for London.

Caroline highlighted the unique challenges in the capital with a growing population and ageing infrastructure and the need for the investment through Crossrail and the tube upgrades to keep London moving.

Caroline also expressed concern about accessibility improvements being cancelled due to budgetary constraints. TfL spent £20 million on Step-free access projects at Amersham, Greenford, Ladbroke Grove, Newbury Park, Osterley and West Kensington stations. These have now been halted before the work has been completed.

Caroline met with Islington Liberal Democrat Council Group on 4th October, to discuss important issues in Islington as well as across the capital.

Caroline Pidgeon AM recently joined Lib Dem Cllr Gwyneth Deakins at South Woodford station to highlight the closure of their ticket office by the Mayor of London.

Cllr Deakins and Caroline have been trying to find out the rationale for the cut in hours at the ticket office which will see South Woodfood ticket office on the Eastbound platform closed completely whilst on the Westbound platform it will be open for a couple of hours or so each day.