Memorandum by Tube Lines (LU 01)
PERFORMANCE OF LONDON UNDERGROUND
1. ABOUT TUBE
LINES
1.1 Tube Lines is the infrastructure and
asset management company responsible for maintaining and upgrading
the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly Lines, under a 30 year partnership
with London Underground, which commenced on 31 December 2002.
1.2 Tube Lines is responsible for 320 km of
track, 251 trains, 100 stations, 2,395 bridges and structures,
71 lifts, 227 escalators and 2 passenger travellators.
2. INVESTMENT
PROJECTS
2.1 Over 60% of Tube Lines' work is taken
up by infrastructure projects: that is, upgrades to track, stations
and other assets. The remaining 40% of our work is involved in
maintenance of the current network.
2.2 Over the first seven and a half years
of our contract, Tube Lines is investing £2.2 billion in
these projects, in line with our plans. We are currently investing
approximately £30 million per month, a tripling on the rate
of investment committed by London Underground prior to transfer.
We are not under spending on our investment commitments.
2.3 Progress with these projects is proceeding
on time and to budget. Tangible results will begin to be seen
in the near future, as outlined below.
2.4 We are adding a 7th car to every Jubilee
Line train and four additional trains to the fleet. The first
"shells" of these trains have been completed, and they
will all be put into service at the start of 2006.
2.5 We have recently completed the first
stage of testing of the equipment required to replace completely
the signalling on the Jubilee and Northern Lines. The upgrade
will be applied to the Jubilee Line by 2009 and the Northern Line
by 2011 and work on this is ahead of schedule. The upgrade on
the Jubilee Line, together with the additional cars and trains,
will increase passenger capacity by over 40% and reduce average
journey times by over 20% and the upgrade on the Northern Line
will increase capacity by roughly 30% and reduce average journey
times by about 18%. Both of these upgrades will allow speedier
and more efficient transport of passengers by 2012 and are essential
components of London's Olympic bid transport package.
2.6 Our programme to modernise or refurbish
97 of the 100 stations is well under way with engineers on site
at 15 stations. The first modernisation will be completed by the
end of the year. In the new year we will start work on a new site
every two weeks.
2.7 In 2004-05, we are replacing or refurbishing
36km of track, a fourfold increase on the amount of track renewed
in 2003-04.
2.8 We are also on target with a number
of additional projects. We are undertaking major works to increase
the capacity at Wembley Park station so that it can accommodate
37,500 passengers an hour rather than the current 22,000. This
is on track for completion in September 2005, well in advance
of the reopening of the Stadium for the FA Cup Final in May 2006.
We also completed the new eastern exit at Canary Wharf station
earlier this year, two and a half months ahead of schedule and
ahead of budget.
3. MAINTENANCE
OF THE
PRESENT NETWORK
3.1 Most of the focus of attention on Tube
Lines in the first 22 months has, understandably, centred on the
current network and how it is performing, although as noted above,
this constitutes less than 40% of our work.
3.2 There have been some misconceptions
about current levels of performance. Current levels of performance
are ahead of target (see below): the figures on missed targets
widely reported in the media are not an indicator of our current
performance, since they applied to the year to December 2003.
3.3 In the first year, there were some considerable
advances. Graffiti at stations and on trains has been almost completely
eliminated and no train goes into service with graffiti. There
has also been a 12-fold increase in the day-to-day cleaning of
trains and the frequency of thorough, so-called "deep cleans"
of trains has also increased.
3.4 Performance has consistently increased
during the course of 2004. The last quarter was the most successful
since we took responsibility for the assets: we hit all four of
our contractual targets. Broken down by four week period, we hit
target on 10 counts out of a possible 12.
3.5 On availability, a measure of reliability,
we were ahead of target on all three lines in the last quarter
and have seen significant progress since last year. Breaking results
down by line and by four week period, we hit target seven out
of nine times in the last quarter. In addition, we have had four
successive periods of increasing availability.
3.6 On the Northern Line, our most problematic
line, the two most recent four week periods for which we have
figures have seen dramatic improvements. It does, however, remain
our single biggest challenge in achieving a consistent performance.
3.7 The improvements in performance have
been acknowledged by TfL and London Underground. In his report
to the TfL Board on 27 October, Bob Kiley noted that "The
most recent 4-week period has seen the best train service performance
results for over seven years, with 96.3% of scheduled kilometres
operated, together with the lowest excess journey time for six
years."
4. INNOVATION
4.1 In addition to the investment in infrastructure
projects, Tube Lines is investing in a variety of innovations
to improve performance further.
4.2 We are taking steps to reduce the time
taken to refurbish escalators, by ensuring that more work is completed
off site. The current time taken to a refurbish an escalator is
26 weeks, and we are seeking to reduce this to 10 weeks. This
is being trialled at Green Park.
4.3 We are seeking to increase the amount
of work which is carried out during the day, as opposed to during
night-time engineering hours, in order to reduce the amount of
time needed to deliver improvements. We have agreed with London
Underground a trial programme of work to carry out painting, cleaning
and the provision of increased signage at Leicester Square station.
4.4 We are also stepping up our programme
of works to reduce delays on the Northern Line. These include
the introduction of a dedicated team of engineers to replace essential
components on the signalling equipment.
4.5 As part of our strategy to ensure that
we retain and recruit employees of the highest calibre, we are
taking steps to tackle skill shortages in certain areas of the
business. We are investing £7.5 million in constructing a
training school in Stratford for signalling engineers and others.
This will open during the course of 2005.
4.6 We have invested £30 million in
integrating hundreds of processes and IT systems which the company
inherited from London Underground, to create a single system which
facilitates more efficient asset management, business planning
and maintenance of the network. This programme is almost complete.
5. SAFETY
5.1 Tube Lines is committed to building
upon London Underground's existing safety record. We operate under
London Underground's safety case, which has been accepted by the
Health and Safety Executive and are investing in various initiatives
to improve safety across the network.
5.2 We are undertaking a £20 million
programme to replace the axles and axle boxes on all of the carriages
on the Piccadilly Line. This programme is roughly 60% complete.
5.3 We are in the process of developing
a vehicle which will enable us detect faults on the network ultrasonically
much more quickly than the current system, where engineers walk
along the track with a handheld device.
6. CONCLUSION
6.1 We believe that, through our improvements
in performance, innovation and infrastructure enhancements, we
are beginning to make the transformations necessary to reverse
decades of under-investment and deliver a better railway for London.
6.2 In addition, our 30 year contract allows
us to take the type of long-term, fully-planned approach which
has been impossible in the past. We are committed to embodying
this long-term approach in all of our work: investment, innovation,
safety, infrastructure upgrades and performance, and we believe
that this will guarantee continuous improvements over the next
three decades.
6.3 We look forward to giving oral evidence
to the Committee on 8 December.
November 2004
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