In his first year of office Boris Johnson has broken numerous promises he made to Londoners to improve rail services and has overseen huge delays in extending Oyster to overground train services, says Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson.
Commenting further, Caroline said:
"A year ago Boris Johnson promised to champion the cause of rail passengers by negotiating with Train Operating Companies (TOCs) and delivering Oyster to all overground stations within a year.
"In his transport manifesto he stressed the importance of holding an 'emergency' train summit with the TOCs to ensure that Oyster was available at every train station. Within weeks of being elected he promised that the summit with the TOCs would be held before the summer and that Oyster would be rolled out across the whole London rail network by May 2009.
"One year later the harsh reality is that no train summit has been called and every promise the Mayor has made about Oyster extension has been delayed again and again. Quite frankly Boris Johnson has seen more train delays than Reggie Perrin."
Commenting on the reply Boris Johnson gave at yesterday at Mayor's Question Time, Caroline added:
"This week the Mayor conceded that no permanent contracts have been signed between any TOC and TfL over the extension of Oyster Pay As You Go. In addition, his transport Statement of Intent published this week suggests the rollout of Oyster won't be completed until March 2010.
"As for the Mayor's claim that a deal will be reached with the TOCs by the end of this year, I only hope that this will be the very last delay to the extension of Oyster. However, all the evidence so far is that this is highly unlikely."