London-wide + Lambeth stories

Time for honesty over Jubilee line fiasco

As 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, the Docklands & East London Advertiser and the Wharf website.

Good news on Waterloo ex-Eurostar platforms - but we need more

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

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

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

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

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

Caroline 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.

Accessibility of London's transport network still falls short

The London Assembly Transport Committee has published a report in response to TfL’s new proposals on transport accessibility, showing that step-free access and other accessibility measures fall far short of the growing need for them, with half of bus stops, two thirds of rail stations, and three quarters of tube stations, not fully accessible to people with limited mobility.

The report argues for a range of measures, including low-cost steps such as allowing manual ramps, upgrading pedestrian crossings, providing better training for bus drivers, and improving online and paper maps.

Boris Johnson's bus route changes bring more overcrowding to South London

Two 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:

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