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Subject: and the Future for Rail in

Report to: Transport Committee

Report of: Executive Director of Secretariat Date: 13 February 2013

This report will be considered in public

1. Summary

1.1 This report proposes that the Committee agrees to gather oral and written evidence for its work on Crossrail and rail in London and provides some background information on issues the Committee may wish to cover.

2. Recommendation

2.1 That the Committee agrees to the approach outlined in paragraphs 4.10 and 4.11 for its meeting on 7 March 2013 on Crossrail and the future for rail in London.

3. Background

3.1 The Committee will use its meeting in March to follow up its previous work on Crossrail, and to discuss the future for rail in London. This meeting follows several pieces of work the Transport Committee has carried out on rail services in London in recent years, including its 2010 report on the construction of Crossrail, Light at the end of the tunnel. The Committee’s last meeting on Crossrail and was held in February 2012, when Members received an update from Crossrail representatives and discussed a series of rail issues including rail franchising, capacity on the and major capital projects with other stakeholders.

3.2 The Committee will also seek to gather written information from stakeholders and rail user groups to inform its work on the future for rail in London.

3.3 The information gathered in this meeting and in writing could be used to inform questions on rail at the Committee’s Question and Answer meeting in April with the Transport Commissioner. The Committee may also wish to use its findings to write to the Mayor on any issues relating to the strategic future for rail in London. The Mayor is expected to launch shortly his vision for 2020; therefore the Committee may wish to highlight any strategic rail issues the Mayor should take into account. Members may also wish to highlight any issues arising from the implications of ’s Strategic Business Plan 2014-19 for London.

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3.4 The Committee’s previous work on rail includes:  Responses to franchise consultations, September 2012. The Committee submitted responses to the ’s consultations on the combined , Southern and Great Northern franchise, and the , highlighting the important role both franchises play for London rail passengers.  Response to rail decentralisation consultation, June 2012. The Committee wrote to the Secretary of State in response to its consultation on devolving decision-making on passenger rail services in London, reiterating its support for the Mayor and (TfL) to have greater control over rail franchising.  Response to review on fares and ticketing, June 2012. The Committee responded to the Department for Transport’s initial review of fares and ticketing, drawing on its Future of Ticketing report, published in November 2011.  Update on Crossrail and rail issues, February 2012. The Committee held an update meeting to with Crossrail to hear about the project’s progress, and it heard from other rail industry representatives to discuss the Overground, franchising and Network Rail’s High Level Output Specification programme.  The Future of Ticketing report, November 2011. In this report the Committee examined TfL’s plans to introduce ‘Wave and pay’ ticketing on its services. It called for guarantees the system would provide the highest possible level of security, and that no passengers would miss out on the cheapest fares.  Response to the Initial Industry Plan, November 2011. The Committee responded to the Initial Industry Plan, drawing on its previous work on investment in rail services.  Route Utilisation Strategy – London and South East, March 2011. The Committee’s response to the consultation supported Network Rail’s plans for providing extra trains on services into London, Thameslink and the continued electrification of rail lines, whilst raising concerns that Network Rail would be restricted by poor economic conditions and funding constraints.  Letter to the Mayor about improving London’s orbital rail network, July 2010. The Committee wrote to the Mayor highlighting concerns that passengers might not yet be experiencing all the benefits of improvements to the orbital rail network, nor being given sufficient opportunity to contribute their views.  Letter to the Government on disruption to rail services caused by snow, February 2010. The Committee wrote to the Secretary of State setting out findings about the train operating companies’ services during bad weather, drawing on information provided by the companies and their passengers.  Light at the End of the Tunnel – The construction of Crossrail report, February 2010. This report welcomed the 10 per cent increase in capacity the rail link will generate, but raised concerns over the fact that London was contributing more than half the funding for the £16bn programme. The Committee requested more information on the targets for skills and employment opportunities, and the environmental impacts of Crossrail both during construction and once it is in operation.  The Big Squeeze – rail overcrowding in London report, February 2009. This report mapped the 20 busiest routes into London, along with ‘pinch point’ stations on the routes. It warned against reductions to services during the recession, calling for sustained investment in view of forecast passenger growth, and recommended that the Mayor produce a multi-pronged approach in his Transport Strategy to reduce overcrowding.

4. Issues for Consideration

4.1 This section sets out some of the issues the Committee could cover in its follow-up work on Crossrail and the future of rail in London, building on its previous work on rail.

Crossrail update

4.2 The Committee could use the first part of its meeting to hear from Crossrail representatives to receive an update on a range of issues. These may include construction progress, the budget, skills and employment, health and safety, and accessibility. This follows the Committee’s previous work on Crossrail including its 2010 report Light at the end of the tunnel and subsequent updates in February 2011 and 2012. Members could explore construction developments and upcoming project milestones. In the past twelve months, tunnelling has begun between Royal Oak and Farringdon, along with preparatory tunnelling work at the Limmo Peninsula site in east London, which Members of the Committee visited in November 2012. Furthermore, Members may wish to receive an update on Crossrail’s response to allegations of blacklisting practices among some of its contractors.

4.3 The Committee could also use this opportunity to discuss the implications that future strategic rail projects – such as HS2 and – may have for Crossrail. Over 2012 the Mayor and TfL have continued to develop proposals for Crossrail 2 (including work with London First) and an announcement is expected in spring 2013 on the Mayor’s preferred route for Crossrail 2.

The future for rail in London

4.4 The second part of this meeting could provide for a discussion with a range of guests on future rail investment in London. Members could put a series of questions to guests about the next developments for rail in London, covering topics including the London , rail decentralisation, and fares. This meeting is timely because TfL has recently completed the new London Overground orbital network following investment in the opening of a new link between Clapham Junction and Quays, and this meeting presents an opportunity to explore TfL’s future plans for the Overground. Furthermore, the Mayor is expected to launch a 2020 vision in spring 2013, a strategic plan encompassing transport goals. Members could use this meeting to investigate the role for rail within the Mayor’s 2020 vision, and the investment that may be required to realise it. Network Rail’s Strategic Business Plan 2014-19

4.5 Network Rail has developed its Strategic Business Plan on the basis of the Department for Transport’s High Level Output Specification (HLOS) and statement of funds available for rail investment for the period 2014-2019. The plan sets out a number of objectives for London, including increasing morning peak time seats into London by 115,000 – or 20 per cent – by 2019; restoration work at Paddington; a new interchange at Farringdon connecting Thameslink, Crossrail, and Underground services; and the redevelopment of station. The plan also identifies a number of London stations – London Bridge, Victoria, Liverpool Street and as critical congestion hotspots which currently experience poor performance. The Office for Rail Regulation (ORR) is currently consulting on this plan. It will publish the results of the consultation in June 2013, and Network Rail will publish its final delivery plan in March 2014. Questions to Network Rail could include factors that will determine its ability to increase in capacity over the period; the impact of new capacity on overcrowding; and further information on its plans to relieve the most congested London stations. London Overground

4.6 In December 2012, TfL completed the London Overground orbital rail link, opening the final section of the network between and Clapham Junction. TfL has reported this section of the

route to have carried 1 million people in its first month and that London Overground is the most punctual UK rail service. This meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss the challenges TfL faces in operating popular London Overground services, and how its services will meet future demand. Following the success of London Overground, the Committee could discuss the future for rail services in London, including any plans TfL has to further develop the London Overground network. Questions could also examine current and future cost pressures on the London Overground, TfL’s work to make the Overground run more efficiently (and do its part to reduce the efficiency gap between continental and UK rail operators identified in the McNulty Value for Money Study), and how its experience of running the service is informing its approach to bidding to take control of further suburban rail services. Rail decentralisation

4.7 The Mayor outlined his objective for TfL to run selected inner suburban rail services in The Mayor’s Rail Vision: Investing in Rail Services in London (February 2012) which would see TfL providing commuter routes into London suburban rail franchises in London. The Assembly supports the Mayor’s objective for TfL to take responsibility for these franchises, arguing that devolving these services to the Mayor and TfL could help to both improve service levels and make services more consistent for passengers. The Committee could ask stakeholders about the implications of the government’s recent reviews of rail franchising, and progress of negotiations between TfL and the Department for Transport on the future franchising timetable. Thameslink

4.8 An update on the could include progress with station redevelopment at London Bridge, the impact of the withdrawal of the , and changes to timetables on some services using affected areas parts of . Pressure from rail groups and others has resulted in some changes to original proposals put forward by the Department for Transport. For example, the Department announced in January 2013 that the proposed termination of the ‘Wimbledon Loop’ at Blackfriars (from completion of the Thameslink programme in 2018) would no longer go ahead, promising to safeguard the service. Other issues

4.9 Other issues that could be explored include fares, programmes that are currently unfunded, and rail operators’ approach to dealing with extreme weather conditions.  The Committee could examine questions around the implications of future investment for fares, the impact for passengers and lower income groups in particular. The Committee responded to the Department for Transport’s consultation on fares and ticketing in June 2012. It noted specific concerns in relation to rail fares, noting that new regimes for peak rail fares should not be used as a means of reducing overcrowding and managing demand. Questions in this session could also follow up recommendations in the Committee’s Future of Ticketing report published in November 2011.  TfL has called for Treasury funding to electrify the to Barking Line. Electrification of the line, which would provide 3-car trains, would both improve current capacity on the line (currently served by 2-car diesel trains) and help to improve air quality. Questions from the Committee could explore the future of this project and what needs to happen for it to be taken forward.  The Committee wrote to rail operators in January 2013 on their work to improve how they prepare and deal with extreme weather conditions, such as snow. Members may wish to discuss the progress made to minimise disruption in recent years, and what further improvements are needed.

Approach

4.10 The Committee would gather both oral and written evidence to inform its work on Crossrail and the future of rail in London. It is proposed that the Committee invites selected guests including representatives from Crossrail, TfL, and Network Rail to give oral evidence at its meeting on 7 March 2013; using the first part of the meeting to discuss Crossrail, followed by a wider discussion on the future of rail in London in the second part of the meeting. The Committee may also wish to use part of its meeting on 17 April 2013 with the Transport Commissioner and others to follow up some of the rail issues raised in March.

4.11 The Committee would invite written information from Crossrail, TfL and Network Rail, along with a wider group of rail stakeholders and interested rail user groups, including ATOC, the Office for Rail Regulation, London Travelwatch and rail user groups. This would provide an opportunity for groups to raise any issues and to inform the topics that the Committee may wish to consider at its meeting on 7 March 2013.

5. Legal Implications

5.1 The Committee has the power to do what is recommended in this report.

6. Financial Implications

6.1 There are no financial implications to the GLA arising from this report.

List of appendices to this report: None.

Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 List of Background Papers: None

Contact Officer: Jo Sloman, Assistant Scrutiny Manager Telephone: 020 7983 4942 E-mail: [email protected]