London-wide + Lewisham stories

Caroline joined members of Transport for All outside City Hall on Wednesday 8th September as they protested against the proposed cuts to staff at tube stations. The Mayor is looking to reduce ticket office opening hours by around 7500 hours every week across the capital, and up to 800 staff may lose their jobs.

“For many people with disabilities and those with other mobility issues, the idea of reduced staffing at stations is simply unacceptable. The suggestion that machines can substitute someone in a ticket office when, for example, you might have a problem with your Oyster card, or need a boundary ticket, is just wrong. I am very supportive of flexible staff who can be out in the ticket hall helping passengers and then go into the ticket office to issue a ticket and help with fares advice as needed. The Mayor and TfL need to rethink their plans now” commented Caroline Pidgeon AM.

Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group and deputy chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, commenting on the news that talks have broken down between London Underground and the unions with a series of strikes now expected to start on Monday, said:

“There are legitimate concerns about TfL's plans to slash the opening hours at so many ticket offices across the Tube network, but taking strike action is not the way forward. The unions are running the risk of losing all public sympathy on this issue.

Research by Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, has revealed London Underground are planning to close ticket offices across the underground by 7458 hours every week.

Responding to London Underground’s defence of the reduced hours and their repeated claim that all tube stations with a ticket office will continue to have one, Caroline Pidgeon said:

“London Underground and the Mayor are playing with words when they keep peddling the claim that no ticket office will actually close. The harsh reality is that if you can’t access a ticket office for most hours of the day it is effectively closed.

“Ticket office staff carry out many tasks to help customers, with their duties going far beyond just serving tickets. If staff numbers are severely reduced at 9 out of 10 stations it will become far more difficult for staff to help disabled and vulnerable customers and other people who need assistance including visitors.

“London Underground's simplistic portrayal of many ticket offices being quiet places where few tickets are actually sold overlooks the vital service and safety that staffed ticket offices provide. If the plans were to allow ticket office staff to go in and out of the office, depending on the needs at a station, and without a reduction in staff numbers that would help to improve customer services. But to simply cut ticket office hours and take away so many frontline staff makes no sense. In the end it is passengers who will lose out.”

In an article for the Liberal Democrat Voice website, Caroline Pidgeon warmly welcomes the new London bike hire scheme as a "tremendous idea", while pointing out that Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone are eager to take more credit for it then they deserve:

Despite its launch being associated with quite a number of problems – including a highly complex registration process, and a number of cyclists being overcharged – no one can deny that the scheme is proving incredibly popular. And let’s be realistic, no major scheme ever starts without at least some minor teething problems. Of course I will be chasing hard until these glitches are resolved, and they certainly must be, but the bottom line is that the bike hire scheme is a tremendous idea. Especially if the scheme is expanded it has the potential to help reduce congestion and pollution as well as making it easier for Londoners, visitors and tourists to get around the capital at very little cost. Most significantly it could play a vital role in transforming the status of cycling...