Caroline Pidgeon with local Lib Dem campaigners outside Leyton Station.

Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor pictured campaigning outside Leyton Underground Station with local activists.

Lib Dem candidate for London Mayor calling for half price fares

Half Price Fares before 7.30am – join the campaign

Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor, Caroline Pidgeon, and London North East Lib Dem candidate Terry Stacy have set out plans for half price fares for journeys that start by 7:30am.

Lib Dem plans would offer half price fares on Underground, Overground and TFL Rail Services for people travelling by 7.30am. This plan builds on the Liberal Democrats pioneering work developing a one hour bus ticket.

Terry Stacy said:

This would help some of Waltham Forest’s lowest paid workers who often have to work unsocial hours. A half price fare scheme would also help to tackle overcrowding by encouraging home people to start their journeys earlier in the morning.

Drop-in sessions at stations from Gospel Oak to Barking ahead of eight month phased closure

• Network Rail and Transport for London will be holding drop-in sessions at stations to answer questions
• Work to install new infrastructure will require a phased programme of closures from June this year
• Journeys on the route to be improved and capacity doubled with new four-carriage electric trains from early 2018

Customers and local residents are being reminded that major upgrade work to the London Overground route between Gospel Oak and Barking will start from June 2016 as part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan. An eight month closure of the railway is needed to carry out this vital work.

Ahead of the closure, staff will be holding a series of drop-in sessions from Monday 18 April to Thursday 5 May. Staff will be at a different station every evening peak (16:00-19:00) to meet passengers, answer questions and explain the works and what benefits they will bring, as well as details of alternative travel arrangements.

Network Rail is delivering the project, which is funded by the Department for Transport and Transport for London (TfL). The project will see TfL introduce new four-carriage electric trains to replace the existing two-carriage diesel trains from January 2018, helping to meet growing passenger demand.

Network Rail will be carrying out major work to electrify the line in two phases. From Saturday 4 June to Sunday 25 September 2016 there will be no service between South Tottenham and Barking. Trains will run on weekdays between Gospel Oak and South Tottenham, however not at weekends. TfL will be providing rail replacement buses which will operate along the route.

From Monday 26 September to February 2017, a full closure from Gospel Oak to Barking is required.

Network Rail’s route managing director, Richard Schofield, said:

We know this is a big change for people as we carry out the improvements and that’s why we wanted to get out and have staff at every station to meet passengers and local residents and answer any questions they may have. We’ll also explain the complexity of the work and the need for an eight month closure.

This investment will transform the service on this route, doubling capacity with cleaner, quieter electric trains and is a key element of our wider Railway Upgrade Plan.

Mike Stubbs, TfL’s Director of London Overground, said:

This work will allow us to run new longer walk-through trains on the line from January 2018, doubling capacity along the route. We recognise that there will be disruption to customers while the upgrade work is carried out and I’d like to thank them for their patience in advance. We will continue to work closely with Network Rail to see if the timescales they set out can be reduced.

In addition to these drop-in sessions TfL will provide detailed station specific advice to help get customers around throughout the closure. Information will be made available via email alerts, Twitter @LDNOverground, posters and announcements in stations.

In order to electrify the railway, overhead wires and structures to support them need to be installed as well as the construction of three new switching stations. To make room for this new infrastructure, four sections of the track will be lowered, four bridges will be rebuilt and a further six modernised. TfL will also be lengthening platforms and enhancing stations to accommodate the longer trains. Network Rail has already started work on the foundations for the structures that will carry the overhead wires.

From February 2017 onwards further works to have the line ready for electric trains will take place during evenings and weekends only and will be completed by the end of June 2017.

Latest news from the Barking – Gospel Oak Line User Group (BGORUG)

New electric trains on order

At a recent meeting representatives of BGORUG urged Transport for London (TfL) to take steps to ensure that the commencement of full electrification of 4-car electric trains is not subject to extended delays.

For full details see: BGORUG-mtgdoc-CLASS315s- Final

The Liberal Democrat candidate to be the next Mayor of London, Caroline Pidgeon says:

London is a great place. But violent crime is up 66% in the last 8 years. That’s not good enough.

If we’re going to cut crime then we need more police on the streets. That’s why I’m proposing an extra 3,000 police on the streets if I’m elected Mayor – 10% more than we currently have.

Can you support my petition for more police? 

Please follow this link to sign petition:

http://www.londonlibdems.org.uk/3000_more_police​

Every signature makes it easier to win this argument.

It’s particularly important to get more police on tubes, buses, bus stops, trains and stations where crime is already too high. Police don’t just catch criminals – we know that they are a powerful deterrent to crimes and anti-social behaviour.