Caroline Pidgeon AM, London Assembly Liberal Democrat lead on transport, commenting on Transport for London's Ten Year Business Plan, published today, said:
“It is staggering that schemes such as the Cross River Tram, the Croydon Tramlink Extension, East London Transit, Greenwich Waterfront Transit and plans for an Oxford street tram appear to have been scrapped with nothing in their place apart from, perhaps, a few more polluting diesel buses.
Commenting on Mayor Johnson’s pledge to intervene on the issue of the possible closure of South West Trains’ ticket offices, Caroline Pidgeon AM, the transport spokesperson for the Liberal Democrat Group at the London Assembly, says: “I’m extremely disappointed to see Mayor Johnson hasn’t personally got involved in this matter when he quite clearly said he would.
“Getting his minions at TfL to do his work simply doesn’t have the same impact as if the Mayor of London gets involved. I want to see the Mayor sticking to his promises.”
Over many months, Lib Dem Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon received serious complaints about the dial-a-ride services provided by Transport for London. On 3rd September Caroline met Paul Blackwell, General Manager of dial-a-ride, to discuss the many issues that had been raised by dial-a-ride users and to hear about what TfL are doing and have put in place to improve the service.
“It is quite clear that the centralisation of the service has caused huge problems, particularly in certain parts of London, and that their computer system has had real problems. I am trying to get to the bottom of how much the computer system has cost Londoners” commented Caroline.
“I have requested further statistics, going back as far as possible, so that I can really get a clear picture of the maximum length of time users are having to hold on the telephone before speaking to someone. We also need to know how often dial-a-ride are unable to provide a service.
On 24 June Caroline and other London Assembly members went on a site visit in Shoreditch to look at how work is progressing on the East London Line Extension Phase 1, and to look at the area where one of the new bridges had slipped during its installation near Liverpool Street station.
"The works were very impressive and progress to date seems to be fast and effective. I look forward to funding being agreed for the phase 2 of the East London Line joining up Camberwell, Peckham, Clapham High Street and Clapham Junction" said Caroline Pidgeon.
Boris Johnson has agreed to seek an urgent meeting with the Department for Transport over funding for Phase 2 of the East London Line extension, following questioning from Lib Dem Caroline Pidgeon at Mayor’s Question Time this week.
The Mayor also stated his priorities to securing proper funding from Government for Crossrail and Tube upgrades.
Transport Spokesperson for the London Assembly Liberal Democrats, Caroline Pidgeon commented: