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Sign our safer stations petition
20th February 2006
Emily Thornberry is asking Islington residents to sign a petition calling for stations in Islington to be staffed during all opening times. The signature drive will begin with Emily and supporters of the campaign collecting signatures at train and underground stations in Islington.
Emily said:
‘People don’t feel safe at our overground stations. I am glad that Ken has promised more police on the line and that he will be taking control of the North London Line from Autumn 2007. I hope all Islington residents will support my campaign for safer stations and sign the petition. For 94 hours a week, there are members of the public using stations in my constituency where there are no staff. This is not good enough.
Concerned local resident James Murray said:
‘I constantly feel threatened using the North London Line late at night – there’s never any staff around and I’m always anxious. At least the Tube has staff, but on the NLL stations there’s no one in the evenings. It’s the route I take to visit my family but I dread using it late at night, and want the security to be sorted out. I’m glad to hear that Ken’s going to be taking over the line next year – Silverlink have done nothing about security at the stations – and so I think we need our MPs to work with him to make it safe for us to use.’
Barnsbury and Caledonian station is unstaffed at the following times (when the station is open):
- Weekdays: station unstaffed from 1pm to 11.50pm.
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Weekend: station unstaffed all day
- 1st train on Saturday is at 6.22am and last is at 11.50pm
- 1st train on Sunday is 9.40am and last is at 11.16pm
Essex Road station is unstaffed at the following times:
- Weekdays: – 8.30pm – 9.55pm.
This adds up to 94 hours a week of unstaffed station time in Islington South and Finsbury.
The safer stations petition is organised by London’s Labour MPs who have been campaigning for the staffing of all stations. Emily joined fellow London MPs last week to officially launch the petition (see photo). The issue has been covered extensively in The Evening Standard.
Safer Stations Petition
To the House of Commons, the petition of London residents declares that many overland rail stations in London are not properly staffed at night. The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the government to ensure that all overland rail stations are properly staffed during the whole of their hours of operation after dark. And the Petitioners remain, etc.
Editors’ Notes:
Photo shows Ann Keen MP, Joan Ruddock MP, Emily Thornberry MP, Rudi Vis MP, Dawn Butler MP, Andy Love MP and Sadiq Khan MP.
Ken Livingston’s press release on taking control of the North London Railway: http://www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release.jsp?releaseid=7147
Station staffing times are based on National Rails information that can be found by searching here http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/.
Train Times:
http://www.silverlink-trains.com/timetables/dec2005/North%20Woolwich-Richmond.pdf
http://www.silverlink-trains.com/timetables/dec2005/Richmond-North%20Woolwich.pdf
http://www.wagn.co.uk/wlive/WAGN%20(GN)%20DL%20Timetable.pdf.
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