It's getting hot in here...

Written by Graham Tope and published in North West London Newspaper Group on Thu 17th Jul 2003

Tuesday 15 July: on the streets of London, people sweltered in temperatures above 30c. Underground on the Tube system, it was even hotter. Passengers had to cope with conditions in which it would be illegal to transport animals. Lines ground to a halt. Stations had to be closed.

It was a fairly typical day for passengers! But in the history of the world's oldest underground railway, it was a momentous day. Passing from the control of the government into the hands of Mayor Ken Livingstone and his transport authority, the people of London finally got some control over their Tube. The city that it serves now has a say over how it is run.

The transfer should have happened a long time ago. However, this important step in improving services was held up by the Mayor's legal attempts to prevent the Government introducing a private public partnership for the Tube. It was further delayed by the Government's stick-in-the-mud attitude towards giving up control over the Underground's operation.

But now it is time for the Mayor to get on with running the Tube network. Londoners want a well-run system, and that is what we want to see him working towards. So the London Assembly Liberal Democrat Group has set Ken Livingstone a challenge: in the ten months before the next Mayoral election, start making a difference to the Tube.

We have suggested five goals for him to aim for. Firstly, to introduce more frequent trains – we have calculated that 35 trains an hour could be run on some lines. This could help achieve the second goal, to reduce overcrowding and also to cut delays. He should also aim to improve personal safety on the Tube and, finally, ensure that trains and stations are better cleaned.

These goals match what Londoners have said in passenger surveys were their most pressing concerns. Achieving these goals will undoubtedly be a difficult task, thanks in part to the PPP contracts, but it is not an impossible one. We certainly are not asking for the moon! Other subways achieve such targets and the Mayor would do well to follow their examples.

Here at the London Assembly, we will keep an eye on how he's getting on with our challenge. If the service does not show some improvements in the short term, and significant gains over a longer timescale, we shall demand to know why Londoners are still not getting the tube they deserve.

But the final say rests with those passengers who will remember last Tuesday not for the Tube handover but for the unbearable conditions in which they had to travel. When his time is up, they will go to the ballot box and tell Ken Livingstone how effective he has been at meeting our Tube challenge!