Caroline's news

Make Ealing Broadway station fit for purpose

Caroline Pidgeon has joined Ealing Liberal Democrats to launch a petition to get the Council and the Mayor of London to make a commitment for a fully integrated public transport interchange at Ealing Broadway.

The present station is no longer fit for purpose, say the Lib Dems. Rebuilding it for Crossrail is a once in a lifetime opportunity to make it a proper interchange we can be proud of, with step-free access for passengers to move freely between trains, tubes, buses and taxis.

Assembly Transport Committee will review bank card payment plans

The London Assembly Transport Committee is reviewing TfL’s plans to make London the first city in the world where contactless payment is available on the entire transport network – starting with buses from spring next year.

The Committee will assess the benefits and the risks of using contactless bank cards to pay for travel, both for passengers and for Transport for London. TfL expects contactless cards will be cheaper to operate than Oyster, but the Committee will investigate security concerns that have been raised.

Chair of the Transport Committee, Caroline Pidgeon AM, said:
“Transport for London has big plans for the future of ticketing in the capital, but any changes must be geared towards increasing convenience and value for passengers.

“Security is also an issue. The use of contactless bank cards will be seen as a step forward by some people, but others may be reluctant to flash their debit or credit card at a ticket gate.

“We will review the benefits and risks of TfL’s short and long-term ticketing plans to ensure they are right for London.”

Extraordinary that Met officers accepted News Of The World hospitality

In a Metropolitan Police Authority meeting yesterday, Paul Stephenson admitted that - as revealed by Liberal Democrats through Freedom of Information enquiries - senior members of the Met accepted lunches and dinners from News International executives, including the former executive editor of the paper, who is under arrest on suspicion of phone hacking.

Caroline Pidgeon told ITV's London Tonight:

It seems extraordinary to me that senior members of the Met would have lunches and dinners with newspapers.

They give their reasons why it is "reasonable" - I don't think it is, and I don't think it looks it to the public.

You can see ITV's video report here - and also read the BBC's coverage here.

Tube managers must be respectful in sensitive situations

Responding to the shocking news that a suicide victim's body was left in a Tube station cupboard and discovered by shocked staff, Caroline Pidgeon said:
"For London Underground to claim that its standard procedures have been followed in this horrific incident simply highlights that its procedures are totally inadequate.

"Combining respect for a dead body with keeping LU operating must be a tough challenge on some occasions but it can and must be done."

Caroline will be raising concerns about London Underground's handling of the tragedy with the Mayor.

TfL begins work to reduce Oyster overcharging

Following Caroline Pidgeon and the London Assembly Liberal Democrats' sustained campaigning on the issue of passengers being overcharged on their Oyster cards for "incomplete" journeys, Transport for London have now formally recognised the issue and begun work to improve the situation.

In response to a Freedom Of Information request from the London Assembly Lib Dems, TfL stated:

We recognise that more can be done and are working to further improve Oyster and the service provided to customers, including improved journey history information and work on a technological solution which we hope to introduce later this year to tackle the issue of incomplete journeys.

Read TfL's full response here.

Speaking on this issue, Caroline Pidgeon told the London24 website:

The current level of overcharging is totally unacceptable. There is something very seriously wrong when each and every week of the year Londoners are ripped off by more than £1 million.
It is vital that TfL and the Mayor find a solution to stop so many passengers being ripped off.

You can read London24's coverage here.

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