Deputy mayor’s late starts blamed on trains
LONDON’S deputy mayor for transport avoids early starts because she relies on Southern trains to get to work, emails have revealed.
The revelation was made in an email from Val Shawcross’s office when trying to set up a meeting, which said: “Val actually is a morning person but has to use Southern trains to get in to the office so we try not to have too many early starts.”
The email, released under the Freedom of Information Act, suggested that “after 10am would be best” for a meeting between Ms Shawcross and Steve Mcnamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA) to discuss ride-hailing app Uber.
The train operator, which runs services from London to Kent, Sussex and Hampshire, has been hit with industrial action, causing huge problems for travellers. The mayor’s office said the email had been sent on Sept 4, in the middle of strike action by members of the RMT and on the same day as a signal failure caused further disruption.