Boris condemns commuters to another 1% rise in fares next year

The Mayor of London has today (Thursday) announced another 1% rise in fares from January 2016. The latest fares hike means that since he was elected in 2008 fares will have gone up by 42%, which is 13% above inflation, by the time he stands down next year.

Alongside the fares hike the Mayor also announced the extension of free travel for under 11s to include rail services in the capital, currently travel is only free on TfL run buses, tubes and overground lines. The policy comes after Val Shawcross AM called for its introduction earlier this year.

As a result of the Mayor’s announcement fares from next year will rise as follows:

-          Bus and Tram Pay as You Go – up 67% to £1.50 – a £0.60 rise since 2008

-          PAYG TfL Rail Services Zone 1 – up 60% to £2.40 – a £0.90 rise since 2008

-          Zone 1-2 monthly travel card – up 34% to £124.50 – a £31.50 rise since 2008

-          Zone 1-3 monthly travel card – up 34% to £146 – a £36.90 rise since 2008

-          Zone 1-4 annual travel card – up 34% to £178.60 – a £45.70 rise since 2008

-          Zone 1-6 monthly travel card – up 33% to £227 – a £55.70 rise since 2008

By increasing adult fares yet again Boris Johnson has dealt a parting blow to Londoners who have already had to contend with astronomical fare rises during his mayoralty. We’ve witnessed astonishing levels of hypocrisy from a Mayor who once said he’d lower fares in the long term, but has bumped them up by over 40% during his time in office.

Commuters in the capital will be left bewildered as to why they have seen their fares rise year after year whilst there has been so little investment in the transport projects that London actually needs. Prices may have gone up but our buses remain overcrowded and the Tube upgrade is lagging significantly behind schedule.

Boris Johnson has repeatedly brushed off calls to freeze fares, and by doing so has subjected hard pressed commuters to years of rising travel costs with absolutely no respite. Whilst the extension of free travel for under 11s is welcome it will do little to help hard pressed commuters in Brent and Harrow.

 

ENDS

 

Notes

 

-          Val Shawcross AM called for free travel to be extended to children using the train network in August 2015 – full details available here. At the time Train Operators welcomed the proposals and said they would work with the Mayor to consider the scheme.

 

-          Full details of the Mayor’s fares announcement are available here.

-          A TfL map showing which above ground London train routes allow free travel for 5 -10 year olds is available here.

Mayor disregards Harrow-on-the-Hill petition

By Navin Shah AM

I am extremely disappointed’ by the Mayor of London’s response to the 500-signature strong petition submitted last March regarding the lack of accessibility at Harrow-on-the-Hill station.

The petition I submitted at the London Plenary meeting in March, stated that residents and visitors to Harrow want the Mayor of London to restore funding, previously agreed with the former Mayor and TfL, to make Harrow-on-the-Hill fully accessible and integrated with Harrow Bus Station.

Over 500 residents signed the petition.

 

The response to the petition, sent by Deputy Mayor for Transport, Isabel Dedring, said: “The Mayor recognises that there is more to do to further enhance the accessibility of London’s transport system.

“Harrow-on-the-Hill has been identified in this plan as being in an area for the LU network which should be considered for additional step-free access provision.”

I will continue to lobby the Mayor about this as residents really need and want Harrow-on-the-Hill station to be accessible for them. I am extremely disappointed with the Mayor’s decision, as I’m sure those who signed the petition will be as well.

The £25 million of investment for regeneration and step-free access to Harrow-on-the-Hill Station that the Mayor of London cut in 2008 is desperately needed to make this station a viable transport hub.

One in ten Londoners are excluded from large parts of the transport network because of mobility issues and in Harrow only 4 tube and rail stations out of 14 have step-free access. This is not good enough.

Cllr Sue Anderson, lead petitioner, said: “I was really disappointed to find that despite the campaign to get step-free access for Harrow-on-the-Hill promised to us by the Labour Mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone, Boris hasn’t made any such commitment.”

Tube ticket office opening hours slashed in Brent

Hypocrisy in Action

Today, as the changes come into effect, I condemn Boris Johnson's decision to slash ticket office opening hours in Brent. Ticket offices in the borough were cut by 574 hours and 15 minutes a week  on Sunday.

The changes come despite Mayor Boris Johnson's election promise to "defend local ticket offices" and "stop the planned ticket office closures". In his 2008 election manifesto, the mayor said he would ensure "there is always a manned ticket office at every station". Instead in Brent:

• 14 stations times are changing
• Significantly reduced weekend opening times at a number of stations
• 51% average reduction of opening hours at affected stations
• No ticket offices open after 7.30pm on a weekday or weekend (apart from Wembley Park)
• Sudbury Town will be open for 15 hours 45 mins a week only (reduced from 38 and a half hours) (60% reduction)

 Across London opening hours are being cut by 30 per cent  - or 5,290 hours a week.

The mayor was elected on a clear promise to keep ticket offices open yet here he is cutting far more than anything that was planned before. Passengers will feel less safe and more vulnerable in the daytime and late at night as a direct consequence of the mayor's broken promises.

Transport for All, a charity who campaign on behalf of disabled passengers, have warned that the changes will make stations even less accessible.

Transport trade unions say the cuts will turn stations into a "criminal's paradise", making them more dangerous and leaving passengers - especially female passengers - more vulnerable to crime and anti-social behaviour. The TSSA union recently pointed to an assault which allegedly took place on an unmanned station.

TfL announced last March that 450 ticket office jobs would be cut as a result of the proposed changes. Negotiations over the job losses are on-going and one of the unions involved has accused the mayor of "jumping the gun" by pressing ahead with the ticket office cuts while the dispute is unresolved.

You can find out about the changes at your station in the table below:

Ticket office	Mon-Fri Current	Mon-Fri Proposed	Saturday Current	Saturday Proposed	Sunday Current	Sunday Proposed
Alperton	0630-1400 & 1530-2000	0645-1115	0730-1830	1045-1415	0900-2100	1100-1200
Colindale	0645-1900	0645-14-00 & 1715-1830	0800-1800	0900-1545	0900-1800	0930-1530
Dollis Hill	0630-1900	0700-1000	0800-1800	1215-1315	0930-1800	1130-1400
Kilburn	0600-2200	0645-1930	0700-2200	0845-1800	0730-2200	0945-1715
Kilburn Park	0630-2000	0700-1315 & 1515-1830	0800-2030	0830-1900	0900-2000	0945-1600
Kingsbury	0630-1400 & 1530-2000	0645-1030	0900-1430	1045-1230	10000-1830	1100-1300
Neasden	0600-1430 & 1530-2000	0645-1030	0700-1900	0900-1300	1000-1900	1000-1400
Northwick Park	0615-1930	0730-1015 & 1530-1815	0800-1600	1000-1345	0930-1630	1000-1200
Preston Road	0600-2000	0645-1130	0800-2000	0930-1445	0830-1830	1115-1245
Queensbury	0630-1300 & 1530-1930	0645-1015	0800-1430	1000-1100	1000-2100	1000-1130 & 1700-1800
Sudbury Hill	0630-1230 & 1600-2000	0715-0915	0800-1530	1130-1230	0900-2100	1100-1300
Sudbury Town	0630-1130	0700-0945	0800-1400	1130-1230	0930-2200	1000-1100
Wembley Park	0530-2330	0615-2300	0630-0000	0630-0000	0800-2330	0745-2315
Willesden Green	0600-2200	0615-1930	0630-2200	0830-1845	0730-2300	0930-1900

 

How are the changes affecting you? Please let me know by contacting me here.

Tube ticket office opening slashed in Harrow

Hypocrisy in Action

Today, as the changes take effect, I condemn Boris Johnson's decision to slash ticket office opening hours in Harrow. Ticket offices in the borough were cut by 224 hours and 15 mins a week (57% of opening hours at affected stations) on Sunday.

The changes come despite Mayor Boris Johnson's election promise to "defend local ticket offices" and "stop the planned ticket office closures". In his 2008 election manifesto, the mayor said he would ensure "there is always a manned ticket office at every station" and he visited the borough to sign the petition at North Harrow. Instead in Harrow:

• 8 stations times are changing
• 57% average reduction of opening hours at affected stations
• Pinner station will only be open for 15 hours and 45 mins a week (as opposed to 54 hours a week) – a 70% reduction

Across London opening hours are being cut by 30 per cent  - or 5,290 hours a week.

The mayor was elected on a clear promise to keep ticket offices open yet here he is cutting far more than anything that was planned before. Passengers will feel less safe and more vulnerable in the daytime and late at night as a direct consequence of the mayor's broken promises. 

Transport for All, a charity who campaign on behalf of disabled passengers, have warned that the changes will make stations even less accessible.

Transport trade unions say the cuts will turn stations into a "criminal's paradise", making them more dangerous and leaving passengers - especially female passengers - more vulnerable to crime and anti-social behaviour. The TSSA union recently pointed to an assault which allegedly took place on an unmanned suburban station, West Finchley.

TfL announced last March that 450 ticket office jobs would be cut as a result of the proposed changes. Negotiations over the job losses are on-going and one of the unions involved has accused the mayor of "jumping the gun" by pressing ahead with the ticket office cuts while the dispute is unresolved.

You can find a table of the changes below:

 

Ticket office	Mon-Fri Current	Mon-Fri Proposed	Saturday Current	Saturday Proposed	Sunday Current	Sunday Proposed
Harrow & Wealdstone (East)	No change
Harrow & Wealdstone (West)	No change
Harrow-on-the-Hill	0600-2215	0615-2030	0700-2200	0815-2015	0745-2200	0845-2000
North Harrow	0630-1030	0700-1000	1000-1400	1200-1300	1100-1600	1100-1200
Pinner	0630-1130 & 1600-1930	0715-1000	0900-1630	1100-1200	1000-2000	1300-1400
Queensbury	0630-1300 & 1530-1930	0645-1015	0800-1430	1000-1100	1000-2100	1000-1130 & 1700-1800
Rayners Lane	0600-2030	0645-1315 & 1615-1845	0800-2000	0930-1515	0900-2030	0930-1430
South Harrow	0630-1300 &1600-1930	0715-0945	0900-1600	1100-1300	0930-1930	1115-1330
Stanmore	0615-1930	0645-1330 & 1530-1915	0800-1900	0830-1830	0900-1900	0845-1830
West Harrow	0715-1030	0715-1000	closed	closed	closed	Closed

   

 

The Metropolitan Line: Higher Fares: Stagnant Service

 If, like me, you rely on the Metropolitan Line to commute into London, you may have become increasingly frustrated at the reliability of the service this winter.

The final straw for me came on Wednesday January the 19th, when delays due to a power failure involving a new S-stock train at Uxbridge made me late for a Plenary meeting of the London Assembly called to question the Mayor and his Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy, on Transport for London's performance. I was seething by the time I arrived!

There are apparently rumours circulating that that delay, was due to the new rolling stock being "too heavy" for the gradient leaving Uxbridge. I received a very fast response from TfL when I put this to them:

"There is absolutely no truth in it whatsoever.  The failure at Uxbridge was caused when a new train hit a lineside obstruction, knocking the ‘shoe gear’ off the train. The ‘shoe gear’ is what picks up current from the live rail.  The train then came to a halt and couldn’t pick up power.  We got a second S stock to tow the damaged train out of the way and removed the obstruction, so the new trains are now happily running along that branch in regular service."

Happily they may be running, but the Uxbridge incident came two days after a huge signal failure at Baker Street caused chaos on the Met and the Jubilee could go no further north than Willesden.

By this time I had already put some questions into the Mayor about the large number of delays (415 in total!) in December. While an increase was to be expected, given the bad weather, I was surprised to note many more were due to mechanical and human failures (see table below).

Cause	Incidents
Severe Weather	24
Signalling Equipment Failures	63
Train failure in service	84
Train failure in depot	47
Other Operational Reasons	16
Staff Absence or Shortage	88
Staff Industrial Action	2
Customer Actions	26
Track & Civils Defects	19
Staff Errors	32
External Causes	7
Defective Station Equipment	4
Security Alerts	3
Total	415

 This table only confirms my belief North West Londoners pay more and more in fares for a stagnating service. After the two years of weekend closures on the Jubilee, combined with intermittent works on the Metropolitan and Bakerloo line, it is difficult to believe the long-term gains in service justify the not so short-term, ongoing inconveniences.

I would urge all affected passengers to contact Transport for London for a refund. Not only are you entitled to it but as delays begin to cost Transport for London money, we may see effots to minimise these delays. TfL will refund all journeys with a delays over 15 minutes that are inside of their control, i.e. not weather or security related or caused by an external party. So 381 of December's delays would be eligible!

You can apply online for a refund here.

Who "independently assessed" the slope at Stanmore?

While the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, maintains that the steep slope at Stanmore station legally constitutes "disabled access", the independent assessment of this is increasingly under fire.

Last June, you may have seen an interview in the Harrow Observer with Justin Frishberg, a member of the London Wheelchair Rugby Club which trains at ASPIRE's facility in Stanmore. Justin detailed his experiences of Stanmore illustrating it is not just the ramp but the whole environment that is difficult for wheelchair users.

As Alex Rankin of ASPIRE said in that interview:

 "It's incredibly misleading to have that wheelchair symbol sign on Stanmore station.

"The wheelchair accessible ramp just isn't accessible for wheelchair users. It's far too long, the road is in such a poor condition and it's exposing people to danger. It is frustrating for anybody coming up to use Aspire or the hospital."

I'm of little doubt the issue at Stanmore illustrates the difficulties around a legal definition of 'disabled access', as first defined in the Disability Discrimination Act and now guided by the Equality Act 2010. Accessible in law doesn't necessarily equal accessible for all in practise, yet Transport for London's assessment is based on compliance with the law. We need a shift to focus on user's needs, not the bare legal minimum.

But the gradient of the slope is not the only problem at Stanmore. As users know, the car park is not open during the day time, and the disabled spot often used. I put these problems to the Mayor in a recent question:

Thank you for your response to Question No: 3660 / 2010. As you stated: “It should be noted that there is already a step-free route to and from the platforms at Stanmore using a ramp (which has been independently assessed as complying fully with British Standards) via the car park.” Unfortunately, the car park is closed during the daytime so step-free route is completely useless. Would you agree for a TfL representative to meet me at the station to fully discuss the options as soon as possible?

Answer by Boris Johnson

TfL is of course more than happy to meet you at Stanmore station to discuss the current accessibility arrangements in place and I understand that this meeting has now been set up.

 

It is true that, because Stanmore car park is heavily used, there are occasions when the NCP attendant responsible for the car park may temporarily prevent access for cars for a limited period during the day in the event of all the spaces already being taken. This is to prevent unnecessary congestion in the car park.

 

However, access for pedestrians requiring a step-free route is still available at all times. In addition, the car park should always remain open for mobility impaired customers to be dropped off or picked up even when the car park is full. If you are aware of any incidents when this has not been the case, please pass the details on to TfL who will investigate and take appropriate action.

 

What strikes me most about this response is the lack of imagination at Transport for London. No mention is made of interchange, it is presumed passengers with access issues will get to Stanmore by car, and Transport for London do not admit that the long walk from the bus stop to the car park entrance only compounds difficulties for those with mobility issues. A meeting has been set up between Transport for London, the Stanmore Society, ASPIRE, the Disability Foundation, the RNOH, the local MP, myself and consituents who have contacted me about access to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. I will of course report on the  outcome here.

In the meantime, you can find Transport for London's step-free access guide, which contains more information on Stanmore and all legally denoted 'step-free' stations, here (opens PDF).