Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, has welcomed the commitment by TfL to review the potential provision of Visitor Information Centres at both London Bridge and Waterloo underground stations.
Following the closure of all tickets offices at all London Underground stations the provision of new Visitor Information Centres is planned for just a few locations across London, such as Victoria, King’s Cross St Pancras and Paddington.
Commenting on the commitment to review both London Bridge and Waterloo Stations as “potential candidates” for Visitor Information Centres in the future, Caroline Pidgeon said:
“I have always said that removing the ticket offices at both these underground stations was a step too far, so the fact that consideration will be given to them having Visitor Information Centres is obviously welcome.”
“Both Waterloo and London Bridge have a huge number of visitors and tourists due to the extensive range of tourist attractions within walking distance of them. It is vital that the many visitors passing through these stations, who are unfamiliar with using the Tube, get the same level of service and support as at places such as Paddington and Victoria.”
Caroline Pidgeon is also seeking assurances from TfL that improvements will be quickly delivered to TfL’s Oyster Online facility. The Mayor has recently admitted that last year the website facility was not operating for a total of 222.5 hours, including 121 hours of unplanned closures. The length of time that the website facility was unavailable during 2014 was almost three times higher than the previous year.
Highlighting the need for the reliability of the website facility to rapidly improve Caroline Pidgeon further added:
“Over the last year the Oyster online facility was unavailable for the equivalent of 10 full days. It is simply not acceptable for Oyster Online to be unavailable to the public for such long periods of time. Before any ticket offices start to close TfL must ensure that a far more reliable website service is being provided.”
You can read more at the London SE1 website.