Boris Johnson breaks his pledge to run Tube trains later at weekends - Evening Standard
 

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Boris Johnson breaks his pledge to run Tube trains later at weekends

by Martin Robinson 13.04.10

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.”

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