Caroline's news

Caroline Pidgeon is backing a campaign by Vince Cable MP to reroute the 110 bus route through Whitton. Caroline has already received a huge petition of over 2000 signatures from local residents which she will present at Mayor's Question Time in May. In the meantime, she has also written to the Mayor urging him to consider extending the bus route.

Vince Cable has also this week met a delegation from Transport for London to persuade them of the case for the extended bus route.

The London SE1 website has an article on the calls by Simon Hughes MP and Caroline Pidgeon AM for the subway at Bricklayers Arms to be closed down, following recent muggings in the underpasses.

You can read the full story here.

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.

Caroline joined fellow Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidates at a visit to Edgware on Thursday 1st April to see the upgrade works for the Northern line trains. Run by private partner Tubelines, the delegation talked to Tubelines staff about the problems with the proposed closures to the Northern line whilst it is upgraded and discussed other options such as closing smaller bits of the line for a week or two at a time to get the works done quickly and without damaging business for many traders as well as local residents.

“It was very interesting to see the upgrade works to the trains, in particular the huge amount of cabling that is hidden behind the walls of the trains! I hope that Tubelines and Transport for London will get together and find a way forward so that we can get the upgrades done as quickly and painlessly as possible for the sake of Londoners” added Caroline.

Caroline joined Southwark Liberal Democrats, Simon Hughes MP and special guest Theo Paphitis, from Dragon’s Den fame and former Chair of Millwall Football Club, to launch the Southwark Liberal Democrat campaign for the Council, and Simon Hughes's re-election campaign for Bermondsey and Old Southwark.

“It was wonderful to see so many local members and residents who came to support Simon and the team, as well as to meet Theo” said Caroline.