So Who Won The £100K 'Cool Tube' Competition Mr. Livingstone? - Hughes

5.53.35pm GMT Mon 23rd Feb 2004

Commenting on the report A Breath of Fresh Air Underground that shows the level of comfort on the Tube has decreased and that there are no plans by LU to look at improving air quality, Liberal Democrat London Mayoral candidate Simon Hughes today challenged Mr Livingstone to reveal the winners of the Cool Tube competition that he announced in July 2003.

Simon Hughes said:- "When in-car entertainment and comfort has continued to improve, the Tube must do the same to encourage passengers to use public rather than private transport."

"Under the flawed PPP deal it is improvements like this that can be done immediately. Efforts should be made to make travelling on the Tube a better experience for passengers for the price they pay."

"In July the Mayor offered £100,000 in his contest to improve ventilation on the Tube. Nine months later we are still waiting for the announcement of a winner. Even Blue Peter competitions can announce a winner quicker than the Mayor."

"The huge delay in announcing any winner begs the question, was this competition simply a publicity-seeking gimmick devised by his spin-doctors?"

ENDS

Notes to editor

• The report was prepared by Fereday Pollard, specialist transport architects and consultants.

• An EU Directive sets a recommended maximum temperature of 30°C (with 5°C tolerance depending on the outside temperature) for the transport of live animals - there are no similar Tube directives.

• London Underground ran a competition to see if anyone can come up with an innovative and workable solution to keeping the Tube cool. There is a total prize fund of £100,000 available if such a solution can be found. The closing date was the 12th September 2003

<http://tube.tfl.gov.uk/content/faq/ac_100K.asp>