Laura slams government for Northern line misery (Islington Liberal Democrats)

Islington Liberal Democrats <Islington_ld@cix.co.uk>

Laura slams government for Northern line misery

January 17, 2001 12:00 AM

Cllr Laura Willoughby, the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Islington North, is to propose a motion to Islington Council calling on the Government to fund the Underground system properly. Users of the Northern Line recently suffered a two-month complete closure of the Northern Line between Camden Town and Kennington after 9.15pm on Saturdays to Thursdays. Commenting on the closure, Laura Willoughby said ìLabour came to power four years ago, and since then the Tube has got worse, not better. Liberal Democrats have clear ideas about how to increase funding for the Tube, and know exactly how we want to do it. Just think what a difference the 750 million wasted on the Dome would have made to the Underground system.î The closure caused disruption, inconvenience and loss of income to Islington residents. It also affected local businesses over the Christmas period when they should have been at their busiest. Laura Willoughby has also recently highlighted other problems with the Underground, including constant escalator breakdowns at several stations in Islington, and major problems with the new ticketing system at Finsbury park station. Liberal Democrats were the first to call for a bond issue to increase funding for the Tube, and Liberal Democrat members of the GLA are continuing to push for their consideration.