Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER Published: 18 April 2008
Mayor Ken Livingstone reaffirmed his manifesto pledge for the Freedom Pass to operate 24 hours a day on London’s buses, Tube and rail network and trams. At present it cannot be used until 9am.
Arriving soon: better rail links, promises Ken
LONDON mayor Ken Livingstone sported his Freedom Pass when he met commuters at Highbury Corner as part of his re-election campaign.
The 62-year-old incumbent mayor was promoting the North London line, which he said would have new trains and run at double the capacity next year.
He added: “The new trains are really comfortable and will start coming at the end of this year or early next. We’re also building a new link between the North and East London lines. “By 2011 three-quarters of the orbital rail link will be complete and people will be able to get on at Highbury and Islington and go straight down to Crystal Palace or West Croydon.”
Improving signs on bus stops is another target. The current system was designed when there were only 5,500 buses, but now there are 8,500.
He added: “We are ordering a new system that will be more accurate and can be accessed from home over mobile phone or computer, which will allow passengers to see where the next bus is and how long they need to get to their bus stop. There will also be announcements for blind and partially sighted people.”
Mr Livingstone said that London was the first city in the world to achieve a 5 per cent shift of people out of their cars and onto public transport.