Examination of Witnesses (Questions 60-65)
MR BOB
CROW, MR
TONY DONAGHEY,
MR GERRY
DOHERTY AND
MR MIKE
KATZ
8 DECEMBER 2004
Q60 Clive Efford: Do you feel that there
is a need for that sort of forum?
Mr Crow: Definitely. It is one
opportunity where we can talk to all the industry about safety.
Q61 Chairman: When can passengers expect
to see some late night operation of tube services on Friday and
Saturday evenings?
Mr Crow: You are okay this year
because it is New Year's Eve, but beyond that I do not know.
Q62 Chairman: What about other Fridays
and Saturdays—other than New Year's Eve?
Mr Crow: We have not got a problem
working later on New Year's Eve; the Mayor has a particular problem,
which he can speak for himself. He is doing a consultation exercise
at the moment because the figures that came back said that if
you keep the Underground running an extra hour at night it will
perhaps attract an extra 140,000 people to the Tube, but the Tube
will have to start an extra our later in the mornings for the
maintenance to be done, and 40,000 key workers might not be able
to get to work. So nurses and doctors that rely on the early trains
in might not be able to come in. And we would say that if it comes
to the crunch between the key workers getting to work or people
coming home from their cocktail parties or wherever they want
to go, key workers getting to work is far more crucial.
Q63 Chairman: But as you and I know,
Mr Crow, there are people who work late at night who are still
essential workers.
Mr Crow: No, they are still essential
workers, but what I am saying is that the majority of shift patterns
start at 11 o'clock or they start at six in the morning, or seven,
in that period. What we would like to see is the trains running
an hour later at night and also to start at the same time in the
morning. We do not have a problem at all with the trains running
later at night, providing a service to the travelling public,
and then we are happy with that.
Q64 Chairman: Is the Underground being
run efficiently with value for money?
Mr Crow: The London Underground?
Q65 Chairman: The Underground system
as a whole. I am not specifying the London Underground
company, but is the whole system being run with value for money
or not?
Mr Crow: I do not know if it is.
I have not been one to believe everything you read in the Evening
Standard, but on the front page of the Evening Standard today
it was saying they are actually buying parts off e-Bay because
they cannot get the parts. Now, is that efficient? That is the
nonsense that we are getting into. It is not me writing that story,
but I know you must believe it because it is in the Evening Standard.
But as far as we are concerned the Railways run a service and
probably 70% to 80% of the operations they are being run efficiently,
but it can be more efficient. We are all in favour of efficiency,
and from our point of view instead of four train and hour we want
five trains an hour. That is the sort of efficiency we want.
Chairman: You have been very helpful,
gentlemen; thank you very much indeed. Could we have our next
witness, please?
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