Caroline Pidgeon AM hosted a recent meeting with Lib Dem Roding Ward councillors Gwyneth Deakins and Ian Bond and representatives of Transport for London (TfL) to discuss the plan to run the Central Line through the night on Fridays and Saturdays, from September 2015.
A number of residents had raised concerns about the plans and the implications of all-night running for people who live alongside the Epping-bound line in this area.
The Lib Dem Team were informed that the service is being brought in to meet much increased demand for public transport at night, as shown by the numbers using the night buses; there will be three trains in each direction per hour, i.e. six per hour in total; TfL are holding discussions with local Councils for the areas affected, including Redbridge, and has a number of internal working groups looking at issues such as noise and public communications; and that they will have rules to prevent 'unnecessary' noise at stations and are ensuring that track vibration and noise is kept to a minimum.
Ian, Gwyneth and Caroline probed TfL on several potential problems and received a commitment from TfL that they would:
- consider direct communication by letter with residents along the line, wherever possible, to inform them of what is going to happen
- consider the potential noise nuisance caused by announcements on the trains when stationary between stations, as well as at stations
- inform us of the current coverage and usage of night buses in our area
We shall be keeping a close eye on developments and will push TfL to keep their promises on this issue over the coming months.