London-wide + Southwark stories

The Bermondsey seat saga continues

Caroline Pidgeon, the leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, has received further excuses from Transport for London about their controversial decision to remove seating from Bermondsey station.

Following questions to the Mayor of London it had already been confirmed that Transport for London have no plans to remove similar seating at Wood Lane tube station. Now this week Caroline has been informed that the decision to remove the seats at Bermondsey station was a decision by a sub-contractor to Tube Lines.

Commenting on the new development, Caroline Pidgeon said:
“The Bermondsey seat saga continues. The Mayor and Transport for London are being totally inconsistent in how they have dealt with this issue. They claim the initial seats were inaccessible at Bermondsey station, which is why they had to be suddenly removed, yet they are quite happy to leave exactly the same seats at the new Wood Lane tube station.

16 October 2010 - 7:27pm

Jubilee line upgrade cost up to £12m

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.

16 October 2010 - 7:22pm

Visiting Thameslink works at Blackfriars and Bankside

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.

10 October 2010 - 11:01am

Just what is the real cost of the Jubilee Line upgrade fiasco?

After years of disruption on the Jubilee Line further evidence has now come to light revealing some of the real costs from years of weekend closures on the tube line.

Following extensive questioning by Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, the Mayor has admitted that Transport for London has already lost between £10 to £12 million in ticket revenue due to the saga of continual weekend closures. Incredibly the Mayor is unable to even estimate what the final bill in lost ticket revenue will reach before the upgrades are ultimately completed.

8 October 2010 - 6:43pm

Questioning the Mayor on cycle hire glitches

The BBC reports on the Mayor's responses to questioning from Caroline Pidgeon AM, the London Assembly Lib Dem leader, revealing the impact of glitches in the launch of the cycle hire scheme.

Question: Has any money been returned to Barclays since the start of the scheme for any reason?

Answer from the Mayor: The Barclays Cycle Hire sponsor agreement does incorporate measures to reflect the success of the scheme. The precise details however are commercially sensitive.
 
 

2 October 2010 - 9:00pm

Why is the Mayor paying £500 a second for celebrity bike videos?

The BBC report on their website that written questions from Lib Dem London Assembly leader Caroline Pidgeon forced the Mayor to admit that TfL has paid celebrities £5,000 each for 10-second appearances in videos to promote the cycle hire scheme.

Caroline says:

It is scandalous that the Mayor is splashing out our money on frivolous celebrity videos, paying them £500 a second, when Londoners are facing huge hikes in fares.

The Mayor needs to get a grip.

Read the full article here.

2 October 2010 - 7:07pm

Transport for All’s protest against ticket office closures

Caroline joined members of Transport for All outside City Hall on Wednesday 8th September as they protested against the proposed cuts to staff at tube stations. The Mayor is looking to reduce ticket office opening hours by around 7500 hours every week across the capital, and up to 800 staff may lose their jobs.

“For many people with disabilities and those with other mobility issues, the idea of reduced staffing at stations is simply unacceptable. The suggestion that machines can substitute someone in a ticket office when, for example, you might have a problem with your Oyster card, or need a boundary ticket, is just wrong. I am very supportive of flexible staff who can be out in the ticket hall helping passengers and then go into the ticket office to issue a ticket and help with fares advice as needed. The Mayor and TfL need to rethink their plans now” commented Caroline Pidgeon AM.

11 September 2010 - 11:17am

Passengers and London’s economy pay a heavy price for unnecessary strike

Speaking ahead of the industrial action starting later this evening on the London Underground network, Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group and Deputy Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, said:

“This is a strike that should not be taking place. Both London Underground and the unions are guilty of failing to put passengers first.”

“For too London Underground have tried to claim that most ticket offices provide no useful purpose and that many stations sell fewer than 10 tickets an hour. In reality this only applies to eight stations. The savage reduction of office opening hours at 90% of ticket offices on the Tube network will inconvenience many passengers, especially disabled people and visitors to London. Some vulnerable people might even be deterred from using the tube.

“However the TSSA and RMT unions are failing to make their case to Tube passengers. Strike action will not help keep ticket office hours open. By striking they are just throwing away a great deal of goodwill from the traveling public.”

6 September 2010 - 8:37pm

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