Havering + London-wide stories
Crossrail is vital but needs to learn lessons
24 February 2010 - 9:15pm — AdministratorThe London Assembly Transport Committee has launched a new report, questioning the sums Londoners are paying for the Crossrail project, and criticising the way compulsory purchases of businesses and homes have been handled.
In the report, 'Light at the end of the tunnel', the Committee recognises the value of the £16bn rail link project, which will bring an extra 10% capacity on London’s overcrowded rail and Tube network, thousands of new jobs and a massive boost to the national economy.
However, it questions the fairness of Londoners contributing the majority of the funding, when 8 of the 37 stations are outside Greater London, and the project is expected to generate £22bn for central government over the next ten years. It also points out Crossrail's poor handling of displaced businesses and residents whose premises are compulsory purchased to make way for construction work, especially in Soho.
Video: monitoring the Crossrail project
12 February 2010 - 9:43pm — AdministratorFrom the site of the station redevelopment at Tottenham Court Road, Caroline Pidgeon explains how the London Assembly Transport Committee will be monitoring the Crossrail project to ensure it is on time, on budget and delivers the extra transport capacity that London urgently needs.
Keeping track of Crossrail
22 December 2009 - 10:49am — Administrator
Caroline went on a site visit on Friday 18th December to look at works at Tottenham Court Road for Crossrail and the upgrade of the London Underground Station.
London press covers Dial-a-Ride failures
13 October 2009 - 6:53pm — AdministratorThe London press has given wide coverage to the failures of TfL's Dial-a-Ride service, revealed by Caroline Pidgeon's questioning of the Mayor.
Caroline commented then that:
“Three years ago Transport for London promised disabled Londoners a far better deal from Dial-a-Ride. They specifically promised that the number of refused trips would halve in just two years. Yet instead of falling the number of refused trips have actually gone up by more than 50%. It is simply appalling every day of the year more than 400 trips are now refused to Dial-a-Ride users."
The story has been covered in:
Dial-a-Ride failures in Havering revealed by Caroline's questioning
2 October 2009 - 9:56pm — AdministratorThe Romford Recorder reports on the failure of TfL's Dial-a-Ride service to meet elderly and disabled residents' needs in Havering.
Caroline is quoted saying:
It is time that Boris Johnson stopped making excuses over Dial-a-Ride and instead honestly admit that its service falls a long way short of what is necessary for some of the most vulnerable people in London.
Both the Tube and Crossrail are essential for London
18 May 2009 - 8:31pm — Administrator
On Friday 15th May, Caroline attended an event to witness the start of the construction of Crossrail with the Mayor of London and Prime Minister.
When it is completed in 2017, Crossrail will go from Maidenhead in the West through to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the East, taking in Heathrow, Paddington, Farringdon and Stratford in between. (You can see a map of the route here.)
Oyster passengers overcharged £500,000 a month
1 March 2010 - 9:27pm — AdministratorIn 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.
Rail companies must improve their response to snow
19 February 2010 - 9:06pm — AdministratorFollowing the chaos on London's railways during this winter's snow, the London Assembly Transport Committee has written to the Secretary of State for Transport, asking for a national review of the rail industry's performance in bad weather to cover:
- Rail operators’ and Network Rail’s contingency plans
- Modification of trains and tracks so they can cope in icy conditions, for example using 'third rail' technology
- Better information and compensation arrangements for passengers, with a consistent and transparent industry-wide standard
Every Londoner now owed £5 by embassies evading the Congestion Charge
12 February 2010 - 9:25pm — AdministratorCaroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly transport spokesperson, has revealed that each and every Londoner is now owed £5 by embassies that evade paying the Congestion Charge. For the first time ever the total unpaid bill for non-payment of Congestion Charge and Penalty Charge Notices now exceeds £40 million.
Through repeated questioning, Caroline Pidgeon has obtained figures from the Mayor showing that the amount owed by embassies soared during 2009 by more than 40%, with the unpaid bill rising by £1 million every month. At the very start of the 2010 the total unpaid bill from embassies stood at £39 million, compared to an unpaid bill of £26 million at the same time last year.
Commenting on these new figures, Caroline Pidgeon said:
"It is shameful that a minority of embassies continue to evade paying the Congestion Charge. British diplomats respect the law of other countries and it is only right that diplomats do the same in this country.
London Assembly calls on Mayor to guarantee the future of London's buses
25 January 2010 - 8:48pm — AdministratorThe London Assembly Transport Committee has launched a report, The Future Of London's Buses, setting out a number of questions to the Mayor about how he will guarantee the future of the capital’s world-class bus service despite large cuts to the bus subsidy.
The report captures a range of views expressed at a seminar hosted by the Committee to debate both the benefits of the bus service and how any changes to it would impact on Londoners.
Buses are by far the most popular mode of public transport in London, catering for nearly two billion journeys each year. However, despite a growing population, and for the first time in several decades, the bus network is not anticipated to expand at all between now and 2012. Over the next eight years, the bus subsidy will be cut by a third, from £700 million in 2008/09 to £450 million in 2017/18.
Published and promoted by Matthew Hanney on behalf of Caroline Pidgeon, both at Unit 6 Hermes House, 59 Josephine Avenue, London SW2. Printed (dispatched) by Tsohost Ltd, 3 The Meadows, Worlington, Suffolk IP28 8SH.
