Underground winner
Modernising the network to successfully meet the needs of increasing numbers of passengers has earned London Underground the coveted National Rail Awards Passenger Operator of the Year title. ANDY COWARD reports
How a modernisation programme helped London Underground to the coveted NRA Passenger Operator of the Year title.
London Underground is a complex railway network that is often taken for granted by the millions of passengers who rely on it to get them around the capital city and its suburbs.
Comprising a mixture of sub-surface running lines and a complicated network of tunnels beneath the city streets, LU is an everpresent feature of London, and widely used by commuters, residents and tourists. There is no other railway network like it anywhere in the UK.
LU is operated by Transport for London, which over the past few years has invested heavily in modernising the network, with new trains introduced, stations refurbished, track renewals, new signalling systems installed, and work under way on an extension of the Northern Line to Nine Elms and Battersea.
LU is working hard to modernise the network to make it more suitable for the needs of the 21st century passenger, while still recognising and celebrating the Victorian heritage of much of the Underground network.
It is this work, along with the general tide of positive energy, which stood out to the judges
of RAIL’s National Rail Awards, who bestowed the coveted Passenger Operator of the Year Award to LU at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on September 21.
Few categories are so hotly contested as Passenger Operator of the Year, the award every passenger operator wants to win.
With standards across the industry generally improving each year, it is an unenviable task for the NRA judges to narrow down the entries and then select a winner. To be chosen as the winning entry is recognition that the company has achieved the highest possible standards and can rightly claim to be an industry leader.
London is certainly a thriving city that continues to experience unprecedented levels of population growth. More than 8.4 million people live in the city, and this figure is expected to exceed ten million by 2030. It is this level of growth, as well as recognising the need to invest heavily in maintaining the network, that has led to such widespread modernisations of the network.
Regular users of the LU network have had to contend with a lot over the past few years - a huge programme of refurbishments and modernisations has taken place, with few areas of LU unaffected by the work. However, no matter how inconvenient some of this work is, it is viewed as a short-term pain for a longer-term gain.
Without the modernisation works, the LU network would have become unreliable and outdated, rather than
a transport system that is admired by many other cities who would love to have such a public transport network at their disposal.
While those pioneering Victorian engineers provided London with an iconic transport network, one that has been expanded further over the intervening years, it would not be the success that it undoubtedly is without widespread investment.
LU has some 270 operational stations across the network. More than half of these stations have now been modernised, with stations repainted, passenger information displays and help points installed, tactile paving fitted, and improved CCTV cameras and lighting helping to create a safer and more positive environment for passengers. Where possible, many stations have also been provided with step-free access to make the network accessible to all users.
To improve capacity, major modernisation projects are currently under way at four key stations - Victoria, Tottenham Court Road, Bond Street and Bank.
At Victoria, a new entrance has opened on Victoria Street. This has helped passenger flow through the station, which is the fourth busiest station on the network (accounting for more than 82 million passenger journeys each year). At Bank, two new entrances are being provided to increase capacity by 40%.
The introduction of the new S-Stock trains on the Metropolitan, Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines has led to a marked improvement in journey quality and capacity, with these trains now in service across the entire sub-surface network of LU lines. They are the first to be fitted with walk-through gangways, which helps with passenger capacity and flow during peak periods, as well as security for passengers, who are now able to walk through the entire length of the train.
Another advantage of the S-Stock trains is they are fitted with air-conditioning. LU has been keen to introduce air-conditioning and air cooling onto its train fleets where possible, to help make the environment more comfortable for passengers during periods of warmer weather.
Older train fleets are still in use on the Tube networks, and many of these trains are receiving comprehensive refurbishments and overhauls to ensure that they can remain in service until such a time as they can be replaced.
Plans are in place to create a single train design that can be used to replace the rolling stock on the ‘Deep Tube’ Piccadilly, Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City lines. All feature trains that are aged between 25 and 45 years - the 1972 stock in use on the Bakerloo Line are the oldest trains still in regular use with LU.
A total of 250 new trains are due to be built for these lines, with the first expected to enter
While those pioneering Victorian engineers provided London with an iconic transport network, one that has been expanded further over the intervening years, it would not be the success that it undoubtedly is without widespread investment.
service on the Piccadilly Line from 2023. These new trains will also feature walk-through connections between the coaches, and have air cooling in the passenger saloons. The introduction of another new fleet of trains will help to increase capacity on the network, and improve reliability. And having a single design train in use across the four lines will generate maintenance benefits.
Modern signalling systems have also transformed journeys on lines that have been fitted with new signalling. First installed on the Jubilee Line, plans are in place to install more automatic signalling systems, which allows automatic train operation. While the trains are effectively self-driven, a driver is always on board the train in case they need to take over.
One of the main aims of the modernisation of the Piccadilly, Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City lines is to increase capacity. When the new signalling systems and new trains are in service it is expected that capacity on the Piccadilly Line will increase by 60%, the Waterloo & City by 50%, and the Bakerloo and Central by 25% each.
LU’s continued investment in the network has paid dividends in terms of passenger satisfaction, which is now at its highest ever level since passenger satisfaction measures were introduced.
Performance on the network is also continuing to improve, assisted greatly from the investments that have been made to reduce journey times and to help increase capacity and reliability. Performance is measured on a monthly basis, and in Period 10 for 2017, a total of 89 million passenger journeys were made across the network (an increase of 3.6 million compared with the corresponding period in 2016). Also during Period 10, more than six million kilometres were operated across the network, equating to 96.3% of the total scheduled kilometres for the period.
Obviously, a network the size of LU is not immune from failures and operational problems, but overall the system is now much more reliable.
However, it hasn’t always been plain sailing for LU. The controversial decision to close ticket offices across the network caused widespread outrage from a number of people and organisations, including the unions.
LU’s argument at the time was that additional ticket machines would be fitted wherever they were required, and that staff would be brought out from behind the ticket office windows into the ticket halls to assist passengers with ticketing and general enquiries, thus putting high-quality customer care at the forefront of the initiative.
Despite the protests, LU proceeded with its ticket office closure project. There have been a few teething problems along the way, but in 2016 a report from London Travelwatch stated: “If the recommendations [of this report] are implemented, London Underground can effectively meet passenger needs without the need for a comprehensive network of ticket offices.”
LU is implementing a number of measures to make it easier for passengers to purchase their tickets. More options for making payments include online services, and as WiFi coverage is increased contactless card payments will be rolled out.
Face-to face-interaction with passengers, especially the thousands of visitors to London who are unfamiliar with the Tube network, has proved to be extremely successful. And having staff on hand to assist passengers using ticket machines inevitably reduces the time that is spent by people trying to make themselves familiar with the machines.
Station staff have also received additional customer service training, and have been
More than 1.3 billion passenger journeys are now made each year on LU, and the network is essential to keeping London on the move every day.
equipped with handheld devices that are loaded with information to help passengers get around the network.
They also receive accessibility training to help them in assisting disabled passengers - much of this training has been designed by disabled users, who can use their experiences to help staff understand some of the issues that they face when using LU.
A partnership with Virgin Media has also resulted in WiFi access being provided at more than 250 LU stations. Customers from the main five mobile providers are able to access WiFi for free as part of their plan, while a daily, weekly or monthly WiFi pass can be purchased if they are not with one of the main networks.
Another initiative that was also initially controversial, but which has subsequently become very popular, has been the introduction of an all-night service on parts of the LU network on Friday and Saturday nights, helping to achieve London’s aim of being a 24-hour city with a transport network to match the aspiration.
The Night Tube began in September 2016 and now operates each weekend over the entire length of both the Victoria and the Jubilee lines, as well as over large portions of the Central, Northern and Piccadilly lines.
Late-night Tube usage has increased at double the rate of daytime trips, with more than half a million passengers using the services after 2200 on Friday and Saturday nights. TfL states that the Night Tube is helping to boost London’s night-time economy by some £ 360 million, and is helping to support almost 2,000 permanent jobs.
LU has arguably been vindicated for standing firm on its proposals, both with Night Tube services and the ticket office closures. Both moves have resulted in an improved service for passengers, when it would have been easier for the operator to have relented in the face of fierce opposition.
LU is also very much part at the forefront of new rail developments, and the opening of the new Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) in 2018 will also have an effect on the Tube network.
Additionally, work is now under way on construction of an extension to the Northern Line, with two new stations at Nine Elms and Battersea due to open in 2020.
The area to be served by the extension is on London’s South Bank, within an area that is currently undergoing a huge regeneration. An independent report on the economic impact of the extension has shown that it could generate substantial benefits to the area - up to 25,000 jobs and 20,000 new homes could be created in the areas of Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea when this regeneration of the area has been completed. The project is supported by the Mayor of London, and by Wandsworth, Lambeth and Southwark councils.
More than 1.3 billion passenger journeys are now made each year on LU, and the network is essential to keeping London on the move every day. The work done by LU and its staff in introducing improvements and increasing
capacity is helping to future-proof the network for a rapidly growing population who expect the highest possible service with minimal delays and disruptions.
While there is still a long way to go before the entire network has been modernised, LU is arguably in a better state now than it ever has been. And its initiatives have ensured that it is a worthy recipient of the Passenger Operator of the Year award.