As news emerges that the Northern Line extension to Nine Elms and Battersea, scheduled for 2020, will not be completed until late in 2021, Caroline Pidgeon has expressed concerns that TfL is not able to successfully manage major infrastructure projects.
Caroline told ITV:
Caroline Pidgeon has expressed the continuing frustration of Londoners at the delays to the opening of Crossrail, and the poor and evasive communication around them.
After a meeting with the Mayor and the TfL Commissioner, Caroline said:
“It is very frustrating that despite a long meeting, with summonsed documents, the Mayor and the TfL commissioner speaking at length, we’re still far from understanding who knew what and when.
After Transport for London released documents relating to the delay in Crossrail, it is becoming very clear that the Mayor knew of the delay in July - but key materials still have not been released.
Caroline Pidgeon said:
“It is now clear that the Mayor was told on July 26 that Crossrail’s opening date was at “high risk”.
On the BBC's Sunday Politics, Caroline discusses the Mayor's bus service changes, which are not delivering the promised improvements in outer London, while taking services away from areas with no alternative transport, and making life harder for passengers with limited mobility.
Writing for the OnLondon website, Caroline explains the statistics around deterioriating response times to 999 calls - as well as the way the Mayor has used the statistics to obscure the worrying underlying problems.
Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat Londonwide Assembly Member, has responded to Transport for London’s Central London Bus Service Review, with a very clear message that the RV1 bus route should be saved.
Responding to the consultation, Caroline highlighted that TfL’s own figures show passenger usage has actually increased on the bus route between April and August of this year (August's are the most recent figures that TfL were able to produce).
Highlighting the importance of retaining the RV1 bus service, Caroline said:
At the London Assembly, Caroline raised with the Mayor and Met Commissioner the problems with the time taken for the Met to respond to emergency calls - including calls about incidents in London that were diverted to Hampshire Police!
Caroline said:
Caroline is calling for the Mayor to go further in defending grassroots football clubs, such as Dulwich Hamlet FC.
Responding to the consultation on the Mayor’s draft Sport Strategy, Caroline highlights how grassroots clubs are often at the centre of local communities, yet often have to fight to retain their grounds against the threat of speculative developers. In recent years Edgware Town, Hendon and Enfield Town football clubs have all lost their historical homes.
As Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, Caroline Pidgeon has written to the Mayor expressing great disappointment at the lack of transparency around the delay in opening Crossrail, with board meetings held in secret instead of being forthcoming with the public.
We accept the assurances you have personally given to the Assembly that you did not know the specific details of the delay until two days before the announcement.
