Transport articles

The Jubilee Line deserves later opening hours

The Mayor has been urged to deliver on his pledge to Londoners to extend the tube’s opening hours on Friday and Saturday nights, starting with the Jubilee Line, at today’s Mayor’s Question Time (Wednesday 17th March).

Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, reminded the Mayor of his specific election pledge to extend the opening hours of the whole tube network for one hour later on both Friday and Saturday nights.

Speaking after her question to the Mayor she said:
“The Mayor was elected promising to extend the opening hours of the whole tube network. It is now time he honoured his pledge, starting with the Jubilee Line, where the upgrade works be completed this year.

“Everyone who uses this line has already faced months of inconvenience and many traders that rely on weekend and evening business have been hit for six. If there is one line that deserves to benefit from longer hours it must be the Jubilee Line.

21 March 2010 - 6:28pm

The tube needs to be modernised as quickly and painlessly as possible

Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, commenting on the final ruling on the cost of the second phase of Tube Lines contract upgrading the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines, said:

“This announcement signals the need for a complete review of how the tube is upgraded.

“A serious look is needed into short block closures of a few stations, where the upgrade work is completed over a few weeks.”

15 March 2010 - 10:01pm

Boris's broken promise will make travel less safe

Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport spokesperson, commenting on London Underground's plans to reduce the opening hours of a number of tickets offices, said:

"Boris Johnson was elected promising to defend ticket offices and stop any planned closures that the previous Mayor was proposing across the London Underground network. Today's announcement is a breathtaking breach of that key commitment he made to Londoners. It's a complete U-turn.

15 March 2010 - 10:00pm

Brent poorly served by four of London’s worst bus routes

Caroline Pidgeon's questioning of the mayor has revealed that almost half of the capital's worst bus routes run through Brent.

The 79, 114, 226 and 228 – all of which run through Brent – all fell within the ten worst performing routes in London, Boris Johnson admitted in a written answer to Caroline.

The routes were identified based on the length of time people have to wait over and above the published, expected frequency of service.

15 March 2010 - 9:36pm

Mayor’s contradictory statements over Thames Estuary Airport cannot be explained away

Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, commenting on the Mayor’s statement on BBC’s Question Time that he has no plans to build an airport in the Thames Estuary:

“No attempt at spinning by the Mayor’s office can explain away the totally contradictory statements that the Mayor has made over the Thames Estuary Airport in the last 18 months.

5 March 2010 - 10:40pm

South West Trains agree to fix Vauxhall signage

Incorrect zone signs at Vauxhall train station will now be changed by South West Trains, following intervention by Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson and Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee.

After being contacted by a local resident Caroline contacted South West Trains to inform them that despite Vauxhall station being a Zone 1 / 2 station the new signs at the station were stating that the station is exclusively a Zone 1 station.

Explaining why correct signage is important Caroline said:
“Vauxhall train station is a Zone 1 / 2 station which means passengers travelling from the outer zones into central London can often pay a lower fare if they change from rail to the tube at Vauxhall, instead of travelling through to Waterloo.

4 March 2010 - 9:40pm

Boris's island airport is dead in the water

Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, commenting on the opposition from the world’s leading airlines to Boris Johnson’s plans for a Thames Estuary Airport, said:

“This must be the final nail in the coffin of Boris Johnson’s ridiculous proposals for an airport in the Thames Estuary.

“Boris Johnson has managed to create the most incredible coalition opposed to this airport stretching from David Cameron and the world's leading airlines right through to all the political parties in Kent and environmental groups such as the RSPB.

“It is time that he listened to the voices of all sensible people on this issue and just admitted once and for all that the Thames Estuary Airport is dead in the water.”

1 March 2010 - 9:31pm

Oyster passengers overcharged £500,000 a month

In an article for the Lib Dem Voice website, Caroline Pidgeon describes how anomalies in the Oyster card system result in Londoners being overcharged by £500,000 a month when they travel on National Rail services:

This week at City Hall I was accused by Boris Johnson of being a “negative Liberal Democrat” when I dared to question him over some of the problems that have happened as a result of the extension of Oyster Pay as You Go to national rail services across London.

Well I stand by my questioning of the Mayor as there is no doubt that a huge number of Londoners are not getting the best deal that Oyster could deliver. There are serious anomalies in how the system operates, and the full benefits of the technology are simply not being delivered. Most significantly many people using Oyster on the trains, whether they are Londoners or visitors, are being overcharged, sometimes by quite large amounts. This January alone it is estimated that 32,000 passengers were overcharged a total of half a million pounds.

Read the full article here.

1 March 2010 - 9:27pm

Caroline backs court challenge over Heathrow third runway

Caroline Pidgeon has backed a High Court action launched by local authorities, green groups and residents' groups, challenging the government's decision to approve a third runway and sixth terminal at Heathrow Airport.

The coalition’s lawyers will be claiming in court that the consultation process was fundamentally flawed, that the decision to expand Heathrow is at odds with the UK’s overall climate change targets, and that the number of measures introduced to pass the plans through Parliament mean the expansion is fundamentally different to the proposals on which the Government consulted the public in 2007. The Transport Department’s lawyers are now claiming the new measures were not part of the decision to expand Heathrow.

If the coalition wins, the decision to proceed with the runway may be overturned.

24 February 2010 - 9:38pm

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