London-wide + Wandsworth stories

Save the South London Line

Lib Dems Caroline Pidgeon AM and Simon Hughes MP joined politicians of all parties at a Save the South London Line campaign event at Clapham High Street station on 28th July.

The event was to highlight the future plans to axe this vital service between Victoria and London Bridge stations, via stations such as Clapham High Street, Peckham Rye and South Bermondsey.

"When we were promised the extension of the East London Line to Clapham Junction, it was never in place of our existing South London Line service. We need both services to meet the demand for transport in South East London and for the hospital workers and visitors who go between Guy's Hospital at London Bridge and King's or the Maudsley down in Denmark Hill. I do not want to see any of the stations on this route left with a worse service" commented Caroline Pidgeon.

28 July 2010 - 10:01pm

Poorest children in London must not be penalised by new Oyster fees

Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Leader and transport spokesperson, commenting on the Mayor’s plans to introduce a one-off £10 fee for Zip Card concessionary travel for children, teenagers and students, said:

”I understand that TfL have to look at cost savings but any change needs to be fair. Given that two fifths of children across London live in poverty TfL should exempt this charge to children and young people who are entitled to free school meals."

The MayorWatch website covers the story here.

25 July 2010 - 6:56pm

Are plans to get Londoners walking on the right track?

The Mayor has declared his intention to make 2011 the ‘year of walking’ and allocated millions of pounds to the cause, but will his proposals see more Londoners making their journeys on foot?

Caroline Pidgeon AM will lead an investigation on behalf of the Assembly’s Transport Committee to assess the effectiveness of current plans to get people walking and look at what more could be done.

Almost a quarter of all journeys in the capital are made on foot – nearly 6 million trips every day – making up nearly a third of the total time Londoners spend travelling. The Mayor’s Transport Strategy states that he wants to see the share of all journeys made on foot increase to 25 per cent by 2031 – an extra million journeys a day.

To help meet this target, the Mayor and Transport for London have allocated over £200 million over the next three years to ‘Better Streets’ - which includes schemes ranging from de-cluttering streets to pedestrianisation - and ‘Better Green and Water Spaces’ to improve access to London’s parks, rivers and canals.

Caroline Pidgeon AM said:
“The Mayor wants 2011 to be the ‘year of walking’ but to encourage more Londoners to make their journeys on foot he will have to carefully tailor his proposals and investment.

25 July 2010 - 6:25pm

Mayor's cuts to Tube ticket offices - "an absolute sham of a consultation"

Caroline Pidgeon, commenting to the Evening Standard, has sharply criticised the Mayor's plans to drastically reduce ticket office services at Tube stations, costing up to 450 jobs and leaving many stations with ticket office staffing for most of the day.

Caroline said:

The Mayor was elected on a clear commitment to keep ticket offices open. His plans to have many closed for most of the day flies in the face of his election commitment. This is an absolute sham of a consultation. If the Mayor really thinks he is consulting Londoners he obviously needs to look up what the word actually means in the dictionary.

You can read the full story at the Evening Standard here.

19 July 2010 - 10:34pm

Caroline chairs World Sickle Cell Day event

Caroline Pidgeon AM chaired a special Sickle Cell Society event to celebrate World Sickle Cell Day on Friday 18th June.

Held near Westminster, the event had a number of superb speakers talking about the development of awareness of Sickle Cell and services for those with the condition, as well as hearing about the work of the Sickle Cell Society.

“I was honoured to be able to help out by chairing this important event. The work of the Sickle Cell Society is very important in raising awareness of this condition that affects many Londoners” added Caroline.

Photo: Caroline Pidgeon AM with Dr Philip Nortey and other members of the Sickle Cell Society at the celebrations

10 July 2010 - 4:23pm

Dial-A-Ride service is still inconsistent and unreliable

As the London Assembly's Transport Committee publishes its report on the shortcomings of TfL's Dial-A-Ride service for people with disabilities, the committee's deputy chair, Caroline Pidgeon AM, has commented:
"It cannot be right that Dial-a-Ride is providing fewer journeys than it did eight years ago but is spending 70 per cent more on the service.

"The improvements to some aspects of the service are welcome, but it’s disappointing that people are still experiencing some of the same old problems with the booking system.

"People rely on Dial-a-Ride and are entitled to expect a consistent and reliable service. I urge Transport for London to take the necessary steps to make this a reality."

2 July 2010 - 9:11pm

Caroline visits Met Specialist Training Centre

On Friday 25th June, Caroline joined other members of the Metropolitan Police Authority on a visit to their specialist firearms training centre in Gravesend.

The Centre includes two mocked up towns with housing, shops and businesses, as well as a train carriage, to allow police officers to be trained in all aspects of incidents which may involve the use of firearms. There are also several ranges for testing skills and for mocked up incidents, as well as a high tech interactive system.

“The level of intensive training that Met Police Officers receive in order to become firearm officers is incredibly high. The day at the centre really showed me how quickly officers have to assess situations and make decisions on how best to act” commented Caroline Pidgeon.

2 July 2010 - 8:42pm

Caroline highlights 300 unsafe pedestrian crossings

Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrats in the London Assembly, writes in a letter to the Evening Standard:

Anyone reading your story on the trial of countdown indicators at pedestrian crossings might think that crossings routinely allow more time than necessary for pedestrians to cross. The reality is often very different ...

Read the full letter here.

29 June 2010 - 10:53pm

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