Boris Johnson U-turns on pledge to run Tube an hour later at weekends (Newham Borough Liberal Democrats)

Newham Borough Liberal Democrats <info@libdems.org.uk>

Boris Johnson U-turns on pledge to run Tube an hour later at weekends

April 13, 2010 12:10 PM
In Evening Standard
Originally published by London Assembly Liberal Democrats

Boris Johnson's pledge to run Tube trains an hour later on Friday and Saturday nights has been shelved.

Londoners were promised that services would be extended to around 1.30am at weekends but the Mayor has now admitted that they will have

to wait.

Union dissatisfaction and ongoing problems and delays with upgrading the Jubilee and Northern lines is stopping it, he says.

Mr Johnson had promised the later Tube travel before he was elected in 2008, saying it would make life easier and safer at weekends. "We are going through a laborious process of upgrading the Tube and it isn't possible to do it at the moment," he said.

"It is very difficult to deliver it now when we are in the middle of incredibly important upgrades of the Tube. I think that that most people would want to see the improvements in capacity delivered first. The previous mayor [Ken Livingstone] got into this particular mayor's nest, made that promise and found that it invoked all sorts of union difficulties and they got very stroppy.

"But as long as we have two huge upheavals and difficulties we have with the union then it is difficult for me to promise that I can deliver this."

Last month a member of the London Assembly attacked Mr Johnson's U-turn on the extended Tube times. Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green assembly members also highlighted further "broken promises" the Mayor had made.

They said Mr Johnson promised to protect ticket offices, but then announced plans to remove 450 ticket office posts and reduce opening hours this year.

Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat London Assembly transport spokesperson, added: "Extending Tube opening hours across the whole underground on Friday and Saturday nights was one of the most high-profile promises that Boris Johnson made to Londoners to secure his election. Yet so far he has not added a minute to the opening hours of even one line.

"Of course the Mayor claims he is still willing to consider extended opening hours after upgrade work has been completed on a line.

"I can't think of a better place to start than the Jubilee Line where work should be completed this year after months of immense disruption for both users and businesses along the line."

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23823952-boris-

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