London-wide + Croydon stories

Mayor cannot ignore disturbing rise in bus crime

Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on the Mayor’s announcement today about crime statistics on public transport and his claim to be providing extra policing on to the transport network said:

“The Mayor should take great care when boasting about crime statistics on London’s transport network, especially as the overall fall in crime seems to hide some very disturbing rises in bus crime in about a third of London boroughs.

26 February 2011 - 12:38am

Mayor should honour his pledge to deliver a better train service for Londoners

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.

29 January 2011 - 6:13pm

Olympic transport will not be as easy as the organisers hope

The Telegraph covers the advice by the 2012 Olympics organising committee that commuters should stay at home and avoid public transport during the Games, despite polls showing that 80% of Londoners plan to be in the city as normal.

Caroline Pidgeon comments:

Instead of relying on many commuters staying at home or avoiding London we need assurance that plans are in place and the transport network will be able to cope to prevent gridlock across the capital.

I fear travel will not be as easy as they hope.

You can read the full article here.

17 January 2011 - 7:26pm

Why are Southeastern repeating the same mistakes again?

Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on the widespread failure of Southeastern to provide accurate information to its passengers over the last two days of snowfall, including many of its information boards at its stations not even working, said:

“Back in January during the two days of snow Southeastern passengers faced a double whammy of a much reduced train service combined with an appalling lack of useful information being provided by the train company.

5 December 2010 - 8:51pm

Thameslink go-ahead is a great day for commuters

Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on today’s confirmation that Thameslink will go ahead in its entirety, virtually doubling the number of north-south trains running through central London at peak times said:

“This announcement is a great day for commuters and London’s economy.

“Firstly Crossrail and now the confirmation that the Thameslink project will go head in full means that train capacity across the whole of London will be greatly increased within an decade.

“At a time of such tight public finances and when difficult short term decisions are having to be made in so many areas it is excellent news that long term plans to improve transport in London have not been compromised.”

29 November 2010 - 9:30pm

One in ten Londoners cannot access public transport

More than one in 10 Londoners are excluded from large sections of the public transport network because buses, trains and stations are not accessible to people with reduced mobility - and the situation is set to get worse, says a new study from the London Assembly Transport Committee.

The detailed study reveals that there far more needs to be done to introduce step-free access and other accessibility measures, and points out that by 2031, more than a million Londoners will have reduced mobility

In particular:

19 November 2010 - 11:14pm

Why do we still not know how noisy London has become?

Speaking on the first day of the judicial review into the decision by Newham Council to allow 50% more flights a year from London City Airport, Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, said:

“I wish the campaigners every success with their legal action. The aviation industry has a long record of exaggerating their economic importance while denying the true impact they have in terms of noise, disturbance and harm to the environment, and this is especially the case in relation to City Airport.

18 November 2010 - 9:53pm

Remembrance Sunday tube closures are an insult to veterans

Commenting on Transport for London’s plans to close several tube lines serving central London on Remembrance Sunday - when only three tube lines will provide a "good" service - Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, said:

“Thousands of veterans and their families will wish to come into central London to take part in the Remembrance Sunday events at the Cenotaph.

“It is simply disgraceful that so many tube lines will be closed on this very important day, making access difficult if not impossible for veterans, their families and others wishing to honour our armed forces.”

“I know that many Londoners will wish to show their appreciation to veterans and honour those who have fallen in combat. The Mayor and Transport for London need to rethink their plans."

28 October 2010 - 11:19pm

TfL and unions must both put passengers first

Caroline Pidgeon has backed a recent House of Commosn motion tabled by Martin Horwood MP, the co-chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee on Transport, denouncing the recent tube strikes and highlighting the inconvenience suffered by commuters. Martin has criticised both the unions and the Mayor of London’s office for not doing enough to reach an agreement between all parties, and encouraged the Mayor of London to bring the current talks to a settlement.

20 October 2010 - 10:06pm

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