Simon Hughes backs Turnham Green campaign
Only mayoral candidate to give support to Piccadilly stop
The Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor, Simon Hughes, has made a bid to capture the Chiswick vote by coming out in support of a Piccadilly service at Turnham Green.
Alistair Reed, policy and information officer for the Liberal Democrats said, 'Simon Hughes and the Liberal Democrats are in favour of the Piccadilly Line stopping at Turnham Green. Especially now that there are alternative and faster routes to Heathrow from Central London, the extra delay cause by stopping at Turnham Green is no longer such an issue.'
One local resident who contacted each of the eight mayoral candidates said that all but Hughes gave him 'polit speak' when asked about Turnham Green Tube.
The current Mayor Ken Livingstone has been criticised by some local campaigners for allegedly reneging on a commitment to review the Turnham Green issue on taking control of the tube. In the event no review took place. One local resident said, 'The statement that Ken made on this issue was a recycled response to the question that London Underground made a few years before. It contained technical inaccuracies that had previously been pointed out to them.'
Chiswick 4x4 owner Louise Harris said, "It's not very pleasing to be branded an idiot by the Mayor when he won't even take the time and trouble to consider whether this common sense proposal for improving local public transport is worth looking into."
An estimated 10,000 passengers use Turnham Green tube on a work day. It is reported that usage of the station has increased following rule changes that allows people to use a travelcard on buses outside zone 2 at no extra charge. This means they are connecting at Turnham Green which is the first station inside zone 2 on the District Line.
June 4, 2004