Category Archives: Transport

Sarah Teather’s long-standing campaign for local people to be compensated for years of weekend closures on the Jubilee Line has been backed by Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group and chair of the London Assembly transport committee.

Caroline Pidgeon, Sarah Teather MP and Cllr Ann Hunter campaigning for passenger compensation outside Willesden Green tube station

Caroline Pidgeon recently visited Willesden Green tube station to hear from the local MP, councillors and residents about the impact that the weekend closures has had over the last few years.

Following the visit from City Hall’s transport expert, Brent Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson Cllr Daniel Brown said:

After the fiasco of so many delays in completing the upgrades the Mayor of London must provide local people with a full apology. Some form of compensation is now necessary to recognise the disruption and misery that so many residents and small businesses in Brent have faced. While the misery of the engineering works might be coming to an end it will be a very long time indeed before the pain they created is forgotten.

Commenting further Caroline Pidgeon said:

The true cost of the fiasco of the Jubilee Line upgrades has been staggering. Due to the upgrades dragging on for so long Transport for London has been forced to spend £13 million on replacement buses due to so many weekend closures taking place. Over the same period there has also been £16 million lost in ticket revenue.

However the biggest cost has actually been paid for by local people and small businesses in Brent. It is time Boris Johnson, who is chair of Transport for London, ensured local residents were compensated in recognition of the huge price they have had to pay. Either he should provide a week’s free travel for regular commuters on the Jubilee Line, or at least deliver on his long-standing promise to run the tube for longer at the weekends. Delivering on at least one of these things is the least the Mayor can do to apologise to local residents.

Local Liberal Democrat councillor Ann Hunter added:

Many Brent residents use the tube at weekends to get the Central London for family and cultural events. We want our weekends back.

Boris Johnson’s 2008 transport manifesto, Getting Londoners Moving, stated: “I want the Tube to open for one hour later on Friday and Saturday nights, so Londoners can get home safely late at night.” Transport manifesto page 5 [PDF].

The freedom of information answer from London Underground below shows that lost ticket revenue on the Jubilee Line during weekend closures has been £15.7 million over the four-year period from April 2007 to March 2011.

We are committed to providing customers with information so they can plan their journeys in advance. We advertise closures at stations and via the TfL website so that customers can check before they travel and consider alternative routes when their normal route is affected by planned engineering work.

The lost number of passengers is calculated as 45% of the people affected by line closures and 18% of the people affected by station closures. For Apr 2007 – March 2011 the number affected by line closures on the Jubilee Line at weekends was 31.89m and 0.29m were affected by station closures. Therefore the estimated lost number of passengers on the Jubilee line over the 4 years is 45% of 31.89m + 18% of 0.29m which gives an estimation of 14.4m due to closures.

The average revenue per journey at weekends is £1.09, therefore the estimated loss in ticket revenue is 14.4m x £1.09 which is £15.7m.

A separate freedom of information answer below shows that the cost of replacement bus services during engineering works reached £13.13 million for the five-year period from April 2007 to March 2012.

Cost of replacement bus services during engineering works