Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, today called on the Mayor of London to look at whether Transport for London could take over the running of certain rail routes serving Londoners.
Following her questioning of the Mayor at City Hall she said:
“There is a chasm between what the Mayor promised train commuters before he was elected and the harsh reality facing so many commuters each and every day.
“Instead of using his staff to work on the pie in the sky idea of a new airport in the Thames the Mayor would do everyone a favour by dusting down his transport manifesto and honouring the specific pledges he made to improve railway transport.
“With so many train franchises approaching the end of their contracts there is now a great opportunity to ensure a better deal for train users. At the very least we must ensure that franchises are jointly awarded by the Mayor and the Government. However, I would go much further and urge the Mayor to ensure that train routes that merely serve Londoners, such as the Hayes line, are directly run by Transport for London.”
You can watch the recorded webcast of Caroline questioning the mayor on the London Assembly website (starting at 57 minutes).