'Record Breaking' Response to Turnham Green Tube Consultation
Over 14,000 people gave their views about Piccadilly line stop
The recent consultation held by Transport for London (TfL) into the Piccadilly line service at Turnham Green tube station has received over 14,000 individual responses. This is one of the highest levels ever seen by TfL and is believed to be a record for a consultation about a single local issue as opposed to one concerning a whole line or even the entire network.
The response is even more surprising given that TfL devoted a relatively small publicity budget to the survey leading some people involved in the campaign to suggest that they were hoping to see a low level of participation. A consultation earlier in the year on the Central London Congestion charge received just 2,700 responses.
A Piccadilly line train speeds through Turnham Green
The massive number of responses has increase optimism about a positive outcome and prompted local MP Mary Macleod to write again to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to push the case for an improved tube service in Chiswick. The 14,000 people responding to TfL's survey are in addition to 4,000 signatures garnered by Mary’s online and hard-copy petition which she hand-delivered to City Hall last month.
Commenting, Mary said, ‘The huge positive response from my residents on this campaign has been fantastic and has really proven that improving the Piccadilly line service in the Chiswick area will make a huge difference to the lives of local people and businesses. Barely any Piccadilly line trains at all stop at Turnham Green under the current arrangement, so TfL could even try stopping Piccadilly line trains at the station at non-peak times in the short term. If the Mayor and TfL can come up with a solution to change the current situation at Turnham Green, they will make their mark and improve the lives of so many local people.’
Mayor Boris Johnson said, ‘I want to congratulate Mary for her tireless and determined campaigning for her constituents in Chiswick to have more trains stopping at Turnham Green station.’
The level of service from the Piccadilly is likely to increase whatever the outcome of the consultation as the new 24 hour tube service due to start in 2015 will serve Turnham Green.
It is believed that the full results of the consultation will be published before the New Year. We contacted TfL to ask if they could confirm the date of publication and whether the consultation was a record for its kind.
November 23, 2013