Boris Says No To Piccadilly Line Stop

New Mayor tells local councillors “It’s not going to happen”

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has told Lib Dem Councillors that the Piccadilly Line tube to stop at Turnham Green station would not happen.

His response came to a written request from Cllr Gary Malcolm. Along with other party members and local Parliamentary candidate Jon Ball, Cllr Malcolm spent the day outside Turnham Green station asking commuters to sign a petition to get the Mayor to change his mind.

Cllr Gary Malcolm, Lib Dem Transport spokesperson said, “Many residents told me they voted for Boris Johnson as Mayor as they thought he would change things like getting the Piccadilly line tubes to stop here. It is very sad he has failed to deliver on this issue.

“When I wrote to Boris Johnson I suggested that to avoid any problems with signalling and timetabling issues they would not have Piccadilly line tubes stopping at Turnham Green where it is busier and not at Barons Count, where it is less busy. I will continue to fight for residents on this important issue.”

Explaining the situation earlier this year, Head of Transport for London Borough of Hounslow Chris Calvi-Freeman said, “The problem is simply that the signalling system won’t cope with a stop at Turnham Green during normal periods of operation (Monday-Sunday daytimes and right through until mid evening most nights) without compromising an already at-capacity service. It’s not primarily about end-to-end travel times but rather about service reliability - a stop at Turnham Green takes away any chance for the operators to bring the service back under control if there are any delays anywhere. A small peak-hour delay can spiral out of control as each train is delayed a few more seconds as passenger numbers build up on the platforms along the line.

“Hounslow Council and local residents’ action groups have discussed this issue at some length with London Underground’s Tim O’Toole and although clearly sympathetic to our case, at present he is bound by business case requirements and, as noted above, the simple fact that the signalling system won’t currently support a stop."

June 26, 2008