London-wide + Camden stories

‘Mayor throws a spanner in the works for Cross River Tram' – Caroline Pidgeon AM

Commenting on the news that Mayor Johnson will not be committing further funding for the Cross River Tram proposals, Caroline Pidgeon AM, the Liberal Democrats' transport spokesperson at the London Assembly, says: “Given how much work and money has already gone into this and given his transport strategy is still under review, it’s staggering the Mayor would say this when he’s not fully reviewed the case.

“The Transport committee will next week be reviewing the case and how the tram can be funded and will put this to the Mayor as a matter of urgency.”

Action on dial-a-ride services

Over many months, Lib Dem Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon received serious complaints about the dial-a-ride services provided by Transport for London. On 3rd September Caroline met Paul Blackwell, General Manager of dial-a-ride, to discuss the many issues that had been raised by dial-a-ride users and to hear about what TfL are doing and have put in place to improve the service.

“It is quite clear that the centralisation of the service has caused huge problems, particularly in certain parts of London, and that their computer system has had real problems. I am trying to get to the bottom of how much the computer system has cost Londoners” commented Caroline.

“I have requested further statistics, going back as far as possible, so that I can really get a clear picture of the maximum length of time users are having to hold on the telephone before speaking to someone. We also need to know how often dial-a-ride are unable to provide a service.

Lessons from Croydon for the Cross River Tram

Caroline Pidgeon AM, the Liberal Democrat deputy chair of the London Assembly’s transport committee, has made a fact finding visit to the now well-established Croydon Tramlink along with a delegation from the transport committee.

Caroline says: "We can learn a lot from the Croydon tram experience and this will ensure the Cross River Tram is even more successful."

Commenting on the plans for the new tram to link London across the river she says:

Cross River Tram plans under review

The future of the Cross River Tram is under threat, as revealed by questioning from London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon.

Boris Johnson stated that he will be reviewing the transport, economic and environmental implications of the Cross River Tram because there is no Government funding in place for the scheme.

Caroline Pidgeon, Transport Spokesperson for the London Assembly Liberal Democrats, said:

Lib Dems pledge early delivery of cross river tram

Cllr Caroline Pidgeon, Lib Dem GLA candidate for Lambeth & Southwark, today joined mayoral candidate Brian Paddick, Camden & Barnet GLA candidate Nick Russell, Simon Hughes MP, the leaders of Southwark and Camden councils, Cllr Nick Stanton and Cllr Keith Moffit, and Lib Dem supporters on Waterloo Bridge to show their commitment to the early delivery of the Cross River Tram.

By-election fever in London


Caroline has been out and about supporting excellent Lib Dem candidates in two important by-elections in London.

The first is for the Haverstock Council by-election in Camden, where a team from Southwark went to help Matt Sanders and the team recently.

And now, we have a parliamentary by-election in Ealing, where the Lib Dems are in a strong second place, with local candidate Nigel Bakhai standing for the seat.

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