Five-point plan for a better Northern Line upgrade

Caroline Pidgeon, Lib Dem chair of the London Assembly's Transport Committee, has proposed a five-point plan to get the Northern line upgrade completed with the minimum possible disruption to residents and businesses who rely on the line.

In a letter to Ed Fordham, the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn, Caroline makes these proposals:

  1. All current upgrade plans be immediately suspended for 3-4 months, allowing a full consultation to be conducted, enabling local residents and businesses to have their views heard.
  2. Replace months of early evening and weekend closures with short, sharp bursts of work on sections of the Northern line (blockades lasting several weeks).
  3. Keep the Northern line open when the London Overground rail network or the Jubilee Line are closed for upgrade work.
  4. Run an express bus service on the closed sections of the route and ensure that detailed information, maps and staff are available to passengers to ensure they can get from A to B as quickly as possible, including offering nearby alternative transport methods as an option.
  5. Ensure that TfL offers a fair compensation package to passengers affected by the upgrade work, such as offering Travelcard holders an extension to their Travelcards for the amount of days that they are affected by closures.



Caroline has also put pressure on Boris Johnson at Mayor's Question Time, asking him to urge TfL and Tube Lines to rethink their plans:

I recently met with businesses and traders in Camden Town, Belsize Park and Hampstead to discuss the proposed Northern Line closures programme. They are seriously concerned about the devastating impact early evening and weekend closures will have on their local economies. Will you urge London Underground and Tubelines to think again about these plans?



Cartoon by Max Calo - http://maxs-stuff.blogspot.co.uk/