Caroline recently took part in a meeting with Transport for London over their controversial decision to close the lifts at both Bermondsey and Canada Water tube stations for the next three months.
Local Liberal Democrats have already written to Boris Johnson expressing their concern about the impact this will have on local residents and have urged the Mayor to reopen at least one lift to enable disabled people and parents with young children to be able to access the Jubilee Line without having to go all the way to London Bridge.
At the meeting, attended also by Simon Hughes MP and Councillors Anood Al-Samerai and David Hubber (pictured), TfL defended their policy of simultaneously closing both lifts but have promised to take active steps to publicise the sudden closure of both lifts, including providing extensive information on electronic notice boards on the Jubilee Line and possibly on local buses.
After the meeting Caroline Pidgeon said:
"It is a great shame that the Mayor and Transport for London have shown so little imagination and have failed to ensure that one lift is kept open at all times."
"I also find it incredibly disappointing that TfL have had to be chased to merely ensure that disabled people are kept informed about such important decisions."
"We clearly have a very long way to go before TfL properly meets the needs of disabled people."
Caroline has also raised questions with the Mayor about these closures?
Question by Caroline Pidgeon:The lift between the ticket hall and the street at Canada Water Station is to be closed from the 5th March until mid June. Why will it take three months to repair one lift? Furthermore, why was the decision taken to carry out work on the lift at Bermondsey station at the same time? How do you respond to local residents who rely on these lifts to access the public transport network and will be cut off for a number of months?
Answer by Boris Johnson: The lifts at both Bermondsey and Canada Water stations require extensive refurbishment in advance of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in order to ensure their optimum reliability and ability to meet demand during the Games. Work was scheduled to take place at the earliest opportunity and, whilst work at neighbouring stations would always normally be co-ordinated to minimise disruption to customers, in this case the need to complete the work before the Games has meant this was not possible.
I am sorry for any difficulties this causes. TfL is advising passengers affected by the lift works to use the fully accessible alternative local bus services to London Bridge station, where lifts will continue to be available.