• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 21 March 2007

Yes.

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 21 March 2007

What are you doing to try and get an agreement as quickly as possible?

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 21 March 2007

I have to say that that minimalist answer - I appreciate it is the train operators who are refusing information - but I think it demonstrates that there is not any degree of coordination between the Mayor's Office and the Labour Assembly Group on answers, because had I had a chance to write your reply, Mayor.

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 21 March 2007

The ATOC (Association of Train Operating Companies) statement at the end of January was welcomed, but in fact it was only a support in principle for delivering the pay as you go Oyster system which Londoners get so annoyed about. One of the biggest issues for Londoners is that they cannot use their Oyster card on the overground services. Can you tell me when this is now going to be implemented, in view of the delay?

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 21 March 2007

Would you agree that in fact as Mayor you have a right to be very angry about the fact that train operating companies do so little in terms of providing ticket gates and enforcement on revenue protection? You referred earlier to the fact that you have got enormous partnership working with the train operating companies to put safety systems, CCTV and that you are funding BTP (British Transport Police) police for the rail system. These are not your responsibilities: a) they should be sharing information with TfL when TfL has been such a generous partner to the train operating companies...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 21 March 2007

It is not just an issue about the loss of revenue - which I agree, I think they are losing massive revenue - but I think my experience has been that there is a link, and there has always been a link, between lines of communication - I will not just say transport - and crime. I think there is clear evidence in areas like Peckham, for example, when there is revenue enforcement taking place on occasions on the train station at Peckham Rye, there is a reduction in the local crime rate. We are keen, the police are keen...

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 21 March 2007

am glad to hear that, but when are we going to have the actual use of the Oyster cards on those train journeys to the airports? It is clearly something which many Londoners would do and would encourage a lot more of them to use those services.

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 21 March 2007

The reality is that on the Heathrow Express you have the business classes, those on business executive flights, they can claim it on the expenses, and ordinary Londoners are not using it because the cost is so high. Something like this would be very useful, would bring in a whole set of customers that they do not have at the moment, and it is almost as though they do not really want to serve ordinary Londoners going to their airports.

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 21 March 2007

Obviously your life story will be entitled `Confessions of a Bus Spotter'! The point is that there are a small group of elderly people, without access to private cars, maybe their kids in other parts of London will drive you to and from the supermarket and do things for you, but people want independence, and these services are, for them, a lifeline. I think there is a fear out there, in the case of the 953 people were given the service two years ago, now it is being rearranged. It took years to build up local knowledge that there was...

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 21 March 2007

But possibly the reason it reaches that point is because you have gone down to one service a week, you change the day on which it operates. I found, for example, that on one of those routes it chooses whether or not to go down a particular road depending on whether they have been told the day before there might be people waiting for it there! That does seem a rather strange way to operate a service that people who are particularly vulnerable want to rely on as part of our community.