The Evening Standard today quotes Caroline Pidgeon's criticism of the £6m that Transport for London under Boris Johnson has paid out in redundancy money to senior staff:
When TfL are facing such difficult financial challenges it is incredible that they are offering such generous redundancy payments to senior staff.
Making redundancies is never easy but such incredibly large pay-offs are neither justified or necessary.
The Romford Recorder covers Transport for London's abolition of a Havering-based forum for local users of its Dial-a-Ride service, which provides buses for the disabled and infirm.
Caroline Pidgeon, who has been following Dial-a-Ride issues closely, is quoted saying:
I seriously question how many people Dial-a-Ride have listened to and I suspect the real reason for the regional forums is because they are more convenient for Transport for London.
Lib Dem London Transport Spokesperson Caroline Pidgeon AM, joined Bermondsey and Old Southwark MP Simon Hughes with Southwark Lib Dem Leader Cllr Anood Al-Samerai, Cllr Wilma Nelson and other local supporters on a trip up and down the new London Overground line which opened on Sunday 23rd May.
The team started at Surrey Quays and went up to Dalston Junction in Hackney, before having a café break in Hoxton going south. The team finished up in Crystal Palace.
“The new service is really impressive. However, not all of the trains had any air cooling systems working which on such a hot day meant the trains were rather hot – something I’ll be taking up with the Mayor!” commented Caroline.
Lib Dem London Transport Spokesperson Caroline Pidgeon AM joined Harrow East Lib Dem campaigner Nahid Boethe at Stanmore station in the run up to the General Election to look at the serious issue of step free access. Harrow Liberal Democrats were collecting signatures for a petition to make the station properly step free. Despite the station being described as 'step free' the reality is that at Stanmore Tube station wheelchair users not only face a very long journey to access the ramp but they also face a step between the platform and the trains.
"It is just disgraceful that at present there are no plans to improve access at Stanmore tube station until 2016 at the earliest. This situation is totally unacceptable, especially as the station is widely used by patients from across London who need to visit the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital" commented Caroline Pidgeon.
A key meeting next week will probably be the final chance to secure funding for Surrey Canal Road station on the East London Line. This week Boris Johnson confirmed to Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, that funding of the station will be one of the key issues on the agenda of a meeting being held next week (Thursday 27th May) between the Mayor of London and Philip Hammond MP, the new Secretary of State for Transport.
Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly transport spokesperson, today received an assurance from the Mayor that following the end of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for London Underground he will now “look at all options” over how to upgrade the Northern Line.
Caroline Pidgeon, who has been a long-standing advocate of the use of temporary blockades to complete the upgrades, said:
Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, commenting on the Mayor’s newly published Transport Strategy, said:
“While there are some very worthwhile elements in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy such as improving river transport and more integrated fares and ticketing, overall his strategy falls far short of what Londoners need. There also remain a number of serious contradictions in the Mayor’s overall approach to transport.
Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, commenting on the Mayor’s plans to end PPP for the London Underground, said:
“I welcome the end of the PPP deal, which has proved to be a huge mistake for both the taxpayer and travellers.
“More details are now desperately needed. Instead of warm words the Mayor must now step up to the plate with a detailed plan as to how he will deliver on tube improvements.
In an Evening Standard article on the reopening of the East London Line, Caroline Pidgeon points out that the future of South London Line services has still not been guaranteed:
Phase two is wonderful but ultimately the problem is people were promised it in addition to the South London line, not instead.
It will give great connections out to Clapham Junction but people want that as well as routes into Victoria and London Bridge.
In an Evening Standard article on Boris Johnson's failure to meet his election pledge to extend Tube opening hours on Friday and Saturday nights, Caroline Pidgeon comments:
Extending Tube opening hours across the whole underground on Friday and Saturday nights was one of the most high-profile promises that Boris Johnson made to Londoners to secure his election. Yet so far he has not added a minute to the opening hours of even one line.