• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 23 May 2007

Let me bring in a station other than Earls Court. Putney Bridge - which you and I had a discussion about three or four years ago - and at that time you interceded, after my request, with the station manager, and the volume level was turned down, but that was on the old system. I had a grateful resident thanking you and me for having dealt with the matter, which you did under your Noise Strategy by the way. Subsequently there has been refurbishment there and the new sound system has gone in, and he is back on the case...

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 23 May 2007

I think the reliance on the PA system comes from the signage. We do not have the countdown there telling us which platforms to go to and when, to move between different District Lines. I think once that is done it would solve the problem considerably. I just hope the signage is not listed, because that would stop that improvement whilst they are happening at the moment. I just want to be sure that that is going to happen sooner rather than later.

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 23 May 2007

I have just quoted what you said to me in November 2006 that London Underground has agreed to look at its PA systems at all stations concerning sound levels. My question to you was what action has come out of that promise that you made me here in this Chamber?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 23 May 2007

I represent people who live on the north side of the Blackwall Tunnel who have to put up with some of the consequences of the congestion there, and I regularly drive though it myself, and I am aware of the challenges here. When I first heard the announcement I was reasonably understanding of it, but I have been lobbied enormously since then and there have been some pretty thoughtful questions thrown at me about the decision making. I think people would be more reassured if there was a transparent accountability for how this decision was made, and a willingness to...

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 23 May 2007

Can I just push that a little bit more then? You have not really directly answered the question about the public exercise of these arguments and opened this to representations from parties affected by it, including the boroughs, because there are some very strong feelings about this. There has been, I think, a lot of suspicion. I have had a lot of emails suggesting it is a covert way of introducing a congestion charge, for example, which I do not think is the case.

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 23 May 2007

The effect of it, of course, is that something which has operated for the better part of 30 years suddenly ceased operation on 48 hours notice as far as members of the travelling public and the vast majority of stakeholders were concerned. That makes it very difficult for members of the public to have much confidence in the decision. Even if the police are right - and I am not going to enter into that debate now - why was it that the issue was not raised with the affected London boroughs and with people generally when the matter first...

• Question by: Mike Tuffrey
• Meeting date: 23 May 2007

So you are saying that it was the police who ended it, not yourself, and you were not consulted by the police before that took place?

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 23 May 2007

Chair, I have two quick points. I am very concerned, as the Assembly Member covering the area of Rotherhithe, because there is incredible dependency on that tunnel in my community over in Rotherhithe, which is almost like an island. Rotherhithe suffers from access difficulties anyway. Dependency on the Rotherhithe Tunnel will increase when the East London Line works are underway and the tube tunnel is closed for a very long period of time - about 18 months - so sadly there will be an increase in traffic through the Rotherhithe Tunnel. I therefore make a very strong plea to make...

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 23 May 2007

Are you willing to publish the report, make sure it is all in the public domain, so we can see what alternatives were looked at exhaustively before the ultimate sanction of closure was undertaken?

• Question by: Mike Tuffrey
• Meeting date: 23 May 2007

We have probably spent more on the tunnel than on every other issue put together, but it is a really important issue. Can I just be absolutely clear; who took the decision to suspend the tidal flow, and were you involved in that decision in any way?