Local London Assembly Member, Unmesh Desai AM, has presented the new Deputy Mayor for Transport, Heidi Alexander, with a petition from Barbican residents calling for an end to excessive tube noise.
Mr Desai met with the Deputy Mayor this week (Wednesday) to urge Transport for London (TfL) to take immediate and urgent action to implement measures to mitigate the excessive noise and vibration emanating from tube services running through Barbican stations.
Over the last few months, Barbican residents have provided Mr Desai with testimonies of the level of distress and disruption that they have been subjected to. After hearing the concerns of constituents, Mr Desai visited Barbican residents’ homes to witness the scale of the problem first-hand.
TfL have also visited residents’ homes to find that noise levels generated by tube services could exceed 50 decibels, a level considered detrimental to people’s health by the World Health Organisation. However, local people have raised concerns that no action plan has been put in place to effectively tackle this issue.
During the meeting, Mr Desai raised these grievances, gaining assurances from the Deputy Mayor that she will be taking this up with TfL directly.
Local London Assembly Member, Unmesh Desai AM, said:
“Barbican residents have had their lives disrupted by excessive tube noise for too long. It is a matter of urgency that the Deputy Mayor for Transport closely listens to the concerns of local people, and ensures that stringent action is taken to resolve this issue.
“However, it is positive that the new Deputy Mayor has met with me to discuss this matter only a few weeks into her role. This shows that tackling the blight of tube noise is high on her agenda, and I am confident that with her oversight, we will begin to see some robust solutions.
“In the meantime, I would encourage any of my constituents to get in touch with local transport issues, so I can raise them directly with TfL”.
ENDS
Notes
- A copy of the petition can be found attached;
- TfL visited residents’ homes to find that noise levels generated by tube services could exceed 50 decibels, a level considered detrimental to people’s health by the World Health Organisation;
- Unmesh Desai AM is the London Assembly Member for City and East (covering Tower Hamlets, Newham, Barking and Dagenham and the City of London).
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