Passengers are being overcharged more than £1 million a week when using Oyster, with overcharging occurring at every tube and train station across the capital, new figures obtained by Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group leader, have revealed.
The top ten stations where passengers were ripped off last year were:
| Waterloo | National Rail | £2,452,000 |
| London Bridge | National Rail | £2,300,000 |
| Liverpool Street | National Rail | £1,615,000 |
Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on the Mayor’s announcement today about crime statistics on public transport and his claim to be providing extra policing on to the transport network said:
“The Mayor should take great care when boasting about crime statistics on London’s transport network, especially as the overall fall in crime seems to hide some very disturbing rises in bus crime in about a third of London boroughs.
Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, today called on the Mayor of London to look at whether Transport for London could take over the running of certain rail routes serving Londoners.
Following her questioning of the Mayor at City Hall she said:
“There is a chasm between what the Mayor promised train commuters before he was elected and the harsh reality facing so many commuters each and every day.
Crossrail's latest design proposals for Ealing Broadway station would delay the station completion by at least two years and downgrade the planned station by removng the three planned escalators and two new footbridges planned across the tracks.
Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the London Assembly Liberal Democrat Group and Vice Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee came to Ealing Broadway last week to see for herself what this could mean for Ealing Broadway station.
The Telegraph covers the advice by the 2012 Olympics organising committee that commuters should stay at home and avoid public transport during the Games, despite polls showing that 80% of Londoners plan to be in the city as normal.
Caroline Pidgeon comments:
Instead of relying on many commuters staying at home or avoiding London we need assurance that plans are in place and the transport network will be able to cope to prevent gridlock across the capital.
I fear travel will not be as easy as they hope.
You can read the full article here.
Caroline Pidgeon AM was the guest speaker at Ealing Liberal Democrats auction and dinner evening near Ealing Broadway on Saturday 27th November.
“It was fantastic to see lots of Lib Dem members and our fantastic council group and to catch up on local issues and news. I look forward to working closely with the Ealing team to try to get some improvements to local bus routes and tube services” commented Caroline.
More than one in 10 Londoners are excluded from large sections of the public transport network because buses, trains and stations are not accessible to people with reduced mobility - and the situation is set to get worse, says a new study from the London Assembly Transport Committee.
The detailed study reveals that there far more needs to be done to introduce step-free access and other accessibility measures, and points out that by 2031, more than a million Londoners will have reduced mobility
In particular:
Speaking on the first day of the judicial review into the decision by Newham Council to allow 50% more flights a year from London City Airport, Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, said:
“I wish the campaigners every success with their legal action. The aviation industry has a long record of exaggerating their economic importance while denying the true impact they have in terms of noise, disturbance and harm to the environment, and this is especially the case in relation to City Airport.
Commenting on Transport for London’s plans to close several tube lines serving central London on Remembrance Sunday - when only three tube lines will provide a "good" service - Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, said:
“Thousands of veterans and their families will wish to come into central London to take part in the Remembrance Sunday events at the Cenotaph.
“It is simply disgraceful that so many tube lines will be closed on this very important day, making access difficult if not impossible for veterans, their families and others wishing to honour our armed forces.”
“I know that many Londoners will wish to show their appreciation to veterans and honour those who have fallen in combat. The Mayor and Transport for London need to rethink their plans."
If the Mayor is serious about his plans to see an extra million journeys made on foot in the capital every day, he needs to push for bigger, bolder pedestrianisation projects alongside smaller initiatives to get people walking, a new report by the London Assembly says today.