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Peter
Eversden Denies Campaign over Turnham
Green is over.
Peter
Eversden is the Secretary of the Chiswick
Protection Group and the London Forum
of amenity societies. He has been actively
campaigning for improvement to transport
links in West London for many years and
is a co-opted member of the Chiswick Area
Committee.
The
campaign to improve the Underground service
is by no means dead, despite the negative
tone of the article
and editorial in the Brentford, Chiswick
and Isleworth Times on 16th March.
Our
MP has put across the excuses she had
from London Underground management last
week but not the full story. We had the
same arguments from transport executives
at our meeting with them on 9th February.
The difference is that we are seeking
ways of improving the service with the
people in the GLA who will control the
Tube in future, whereas Ann Keen thinks
we should wait over ten years for the
improvements LUL now thinks can be made.
The
editorial last week claimed that the District
Line is fast and convenient. On the contrary,
local residents have had to raise the
problems on that line with London Underground
staff who have admitted that the scheduled
service has not been achieved since 1998.
This is due to defective track and signals
causing speed restrictions in various
areas. The problem now is that LUL managers
estimate it will take up to five years
more to complete repairs and restore the
frequency.
The
project timescales and plans of London
Underground are based upon their present
limited resources and budget, after decades
of under-investment by Governments in
the Tube infrastructure. Bob Kiley and
his team and Transport for London are
determined to change this situation and
must be given all our support.
The
Mayor's draft Transport Strategy includes
refurbishment and replacement of trains
on the District Line in 2005. It calls
for identification of immediate priorities
for addressing the deficiencies of the
infrastructure. This is encouraging.
LUL
claims that to stop a Piccadilly Line
train at Turnham Green station would reduce
the frequency from 30 trains an hour to
20. In fact, that would be the worst case
and only if they stop every train on the
Piccadilly Line platform and with no re-scheduling.
During the current engineering works,
LUL has been stopping some Piccadilly
Line trains on the District Line platforms
at peak times and allowing other trains
on the same line to pass through on the
fast tracks. They have proved that they
can offer an improved service without
extra trains and new signals. They should
continue to do so.
Mr
Rob Mason proposed that it would cost
£30 million to upgrade our service
fully and offered to consider it between
2010 and 2015. He and Philip McKenna of
LUL have made it seem that we are being
selfish in requesting all this just for
a better service at Turnham Green. In
fact, that money will have to be spent,
anyway. The draft Transport Strategy for
London contains planned upgrades in capacity
for the Piccadilly Line of 25 per cent
by 2015, with a first stage completion
by 2004. The current overcrowding on the
line will require more trains to be purchased
and signals to be replaced as part of
that scheduled work. Our local service
can be improved during the upgrades of
the Underground but passengers all over
London need extra capacity now.
Our
campaign is to ask the GLA to give priority
to the stopping of Piccadilly Line trains
at Turnham Green station as part of those
plans
and to achieve the earliest dates.
As
a member of the Government's Treasury
department, the best thing Ann Keen could
do is to urge Gordon Brown to allow the
handover of the Underground to our London
Mayor and his new team. Then we should
see real investment and management. She
could ask the Chancellor also to hand
back to the GLA the money withheld for
the cost of the Jubilee Line overspend.
Then more transport improvements can be
achieved in less time.
I
can assure you that nothing we have heard
so far "finally dashes the hopes
of campaigners" as the article suggested.
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