Passengers are being overcharged more than £1 million a week when using Oyster, with overcharging occurring at every tube and train station across the capital, new figures obtained by Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group leader, have revealed.
The top ten stations where passengers were ripped off last year were:
| Waterloo | National Rail | £2,452,000 |
| London Bridge | National Rail | £2,300,000 |
| Liverpool Street | National Rail | £1,615,000 |
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.
Caroline Pidgeon AM and Cllr Ashley Lumsden met local residents in Clapham Old Town to discuss their concerns with part of the Council and TfL's plans for the local environment.
Part of the plans would see a massive wall of bus stands next to local residents' homes, blocking the view of the common and making it dangerous for families to cross the road to the paddling pool and common.
"I have written to Peter Hendy, the Commissioner for Transport for London, asking him to review the plans. A small change moving the bus stands to Rookery Road in the Common would make such a difference, as well as some other tiny tweaks. This would ensure the community fully back the scheme and do not lose out from this £3million investment" commented Caroline.
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.
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.
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.
The Independent and the Daily Mail have both covered the Mayor's admission, in response to questions from Caroline Pidgeon, that £11.6m has been spent so far on rail replacement bus services during the Jubilee Line upgrade works.
Caroline said:
The delayed upgrades to the Jubilee Line has been bad enough for passengers and businesses, who have had to put up with terrible disruption and closures for far too long. It is now rubbing salt into the wound to discover that farepayers are picking up another huge bill.
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.”
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:
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.