London-wide + Lambeth stories
Time for honesty over Jubilee line fiasco
28 January 2012 - 10:25pm — AdministratorAs news emerges that TfL has had to pay £25m to the company that owns Canary Wharf in compensation for the major delays to the Jubilee line upgrade, Caroline Pidgeon commented:
"Users of the Jubilee line have faced years of misery as the upgrade programme over-ran. To learn now that millions of pounds has been shelled out to Canary Wharf Group, while passengers have not been compensated, adds insult to injury.
"It is time the Mayor and TfL were honest with Londoners over the real cost of this long-standing fiasco. We are entitled to know the details of every penny that has been spent."
You can read full coverage in the Evening Standard and the Docklands & East London Advertiser.
Good news on Waterloo ex-Eurostar platforms - but we need more
12 January 2012 - 11:50pm — Administrator
Speaking as the government announced that one of Waterloo's former Eurostar platforms can be used from May 2013 for commuter services, Caroline Pidgeon said:
"It is clearly good news that at least one platform is now to be brought back into use to help relieve overcrowding.
"We now need to see a timetable for when the other platforms will be open."
Read the South London Press's coverage here.
Caroline Pidgeon and Brian Paddick call for communities to stand up to criminals
10 January 2012 - 11:02pm — Administrator
London Liberal Democrat Mayoral candidate Brian Paddick today revealed how he would offer Londoners the chance to reclaim the streets from criminals and work with police to help reduce rising levels of crime.
Brian and his candidate for Deputy Mayor, London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon, spoke to residents in Vauxhall about a recent spate of muggings in the area and their concerns about safety in the community.
Reopening of former Eurostar platform at Waterloo is a welcome step
23 December 2011 - 9:23pm — Administrator
Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport spokesperson, today welcomed the announcement by Transport Secretary Justine Greening MP that passengers on some lines serving commuters on a number of the busiest rail routes from south west London into Waterloo are set to benefit from extra carriages to ease overcrowding, and that one platform at the former Waterloo International Station is to be reopened for commuter services.
Commenting on the decision, Caroline Pidgeon said:
River Thames is a great opportunity for transport
23 December 2011 - 8:55pm — Administrator
The River Thames is a forgotten highway, a tube line effectively, across the centre of London and yet under-resourced in terms of transport.
In January, the London Assembly Transport Committee is looking into river transport services - so Caroline and other Committee members spent a chilly morning in early December out and about on the river with Thames Clippers from Putney to Erith, looking at the challenges and opportunities to really expand river transport services for Londoners.
Out and about in Streatham
28 October 2011 - 9:09am — Administrator
Caroline Pidgeon AM and Brian Paddick, Lib Dem London Mayoral Candidate joined Streatham Lib Dem Councillors on Wednesday 19th October on an extensive walkabout on Streatham High Road.
The team met local residents and traders who had been affected by the riots, and met campaigners outside Streatham Police Station who are fighting to keep the front counter open to the public. They also saw the half completed upgrade to the central reservation which has gone on and on for years.
The team collected signatures outside Streatham Station campaigning for Thameslink trains to continue to go beyond Blackfriars once the new Thameslink timetable comes into operation.
Caroline joins Brian Paddick and Nick Clegg at Lambeth crime reduction charity
26 October 2011 - 9:41pm — AdministratorCaroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrats on the London assembly, joined Lib Dem candidate for London Mayor, Brian Paddick, for his first official campaign visit with Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, in which he called for a more robust approach to payback sentencing.
Boris Johnson's bus route changes bring more overcrowding to South London
5 October 2011 - 9:30pm — AdministratorTwo key bus routes which run from Lewisham, through Southwark, Lambeth and into Westminster are set to become far more crowded, predicts Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly transport spokesperson.
The Mayor and Transport for London are now planning huge changes to the timetable for the 436 and 453 bus routes, when new buses replace the current bendy buses.
Through detailed research Caroline Pidgeon has revealed that the new bus routes will cause a serious reduction in bus capacity (the number of people who can sit, or safely stand on a bus) on the 436 bus route of:
Getting the Northern Line extension right
11 August 2011 - 6:49pm — Administrator
Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, is calling for a number of key assurances from the Mayor, Transport for London and the developers Treasury Holdings over the proposed extension of the Northern Line to Nine Elms and Battersea.
In a detailed submission to the public consultation, Caroline Pidgeon sets out Route 2 as the preferred option, due to the benefits it would bring for people living around the Nine Elms area, while also reducing pressure at Vauxhall station and on the Victoria line.
Yet while backing Route 2, Caroline sets out a number of concerns which must be addressed:
Jubilee Line fiasco costs more and more
5 August 2011 - 7:48pm — AdministratorAfter years of disruption on the Jubilee Line new evidence has come to light revealing some of the real costs of the years of dragged out weekend closures.
Following extensive freedom of information requests Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, has now discovered that the costs of the weekend closures since April 2007 on the Jubilee Line include:
- 32 million passengers being affected by the weekend closures, leading to a loss in ticket revenue of a staggering £15.7 million
- Transport for London having to spend £13 million on replacement buses
Commenting on these immense figures Caroline Pidgeon said:
“A year ago the Mayor and Transport for London admitted that the upgrade programme on the Jubilee Line would slip once again. After years of disruption to passengers, communities and businesses they announced a further year of weekend closures which has only just finished.
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