Green mayoral candidate Sian Berry today welcomed the news that the government is transferring to Transport for London the responsibility for inner suburban rail services operating mostly or wholly within Greater London.
She said: “This move will improve life for very many commuters. It will allow TfL to gradually take control over some suburban services as the current franchises fall due for renewal over the next few years. As such it’s a long-awaited step in the right direction.
“For far too long, suburban rail passengers have endured overcrowding, frequent cancellations and massive disruption to services at holiday periods, while the companies who run those trains make fat profits. It’s an obvious improvement to bring those routes under the control of TfL, which doesn’t need to make a profit and will focus on reinvestment not rewarding shareholders.
“My Fair Fares policy for London would make things even better for passengers served by those rail lines, by flattening the zones so that everyone in London eventually pays the same to get to work, and by introducing the one-hour ONE Ticket across all modes of transport, so that changing from train to Tube costs the same as changing from one Tube line to another.”