Contact: Dominic Millen Team: Traffic & Transportation Direct: 020 8379 3398 email: [email protected]
PUBLIC TRANSPORT CONSULTATIVE GROUP
5 February 2019 7.00pm
MEETING NOTES
Councillors (Italics denotes absence):
Daniel Anderson (Chair), Dinah Barry, Chris Bond, Yasemin Brett, Chris Dey, Lindsay Rawlings, Edward Smith, Mahtab Uddin
Other Members and Guests Attending:
Ashley Hull-Owolabi Enfield Resident Patrick Ladbury Govia Thameslink Railway Duncan Primrose Govia Thameslink Railway Dominic Millen LB Enfield – Place Department Peter Smith Over 50s Forum Kerry Meehan Transport for London David Hooker Transport for London
1. WELCOME & APOLOGIES
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bond, Brett, Smith and Uddin.
Apologies were also received from Tim Fellows (Enfield Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Network) and Alan Neville (Greater Anglia).
2. DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
None declared.
3. NOTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed.
4. ACTION POINT UPDATES
There were several observations about the ongoing action points list, and these were addressed under the respective provider updates. It was agreed that where appropriate these items should be actioned / updated ahead of the next meeting. 1
A number of other actions had been responded to ahead of the meeting and the action points updated accordingly: Update on the 491 bus service using Sterling Way access to North Middlesex University Hospital. Cleanliness of Piccadilly Line tubes. Toilet facilities – or lack of them - on the A406. Buses encroaching on cycle lanes in Winchmore Hill area. Buses dropping off in Hunters Way rather than Chase Farm Hospital. Usage of the 616 bus service. Statistics requested on racial incidents on buses. Responses to GTR on-station help and information buttons. Better information about which platform trains will use at Finsbury Park. Opportunity for residents to attend GTR ‘try a train days’. 329 bunching at Enfield Town. Details of work on bus friendly buggy designs. Pedestrian wayfinding at North Middlesex University Hospital.
5. PUBLIC TRANSPORT PROVIDER UPDATES
Greater Anglia Rail Services - Greater Anglia
The Chair expressed his disappointment that no representative from Greater Anglia was present in spite of significant notice of the meeting’s date.
A brief written update was instead provided: Meridian Water expected to be open as a station in May but, with the possible exception of the transfer of Angel Road services, a full service is not expected to begin until later in the year, at which point Angel Road will then close.
First 4 Stadler trains are at Norwich and one has reached West Anglia at Cambridge. Testing continues between Norwich and Diss and Great Yarmouth.
Performance is still below target and Greater Anglia are working closely with Network Rail, whom are mostly responsible for the delays, to put in place detailed performance plans.
Bombardier trains for West Anglia commuter routes are under construction in Derby with delivery not expected until 2020. Many stakeholder groups including accessibility representatives have visited Derby at various times to ensure that the trains are fully accessible.
Written responses had also been provided to questions raised by residents ahead of the meeting:
Q When there are delays and cancellations (which sadly are frequent), why do they always drop the Enfield stops first to get back on track? There is only one train every 30 minutes at peak time as it is, yet as soon as there's any disruption they decide that they won't bother stopping at Ponders 2
End/Brimsdown/Enfield Lock, etc. For a while when scheduled trains were cancelled other trains were permitted to stop at extra stations, but this has stopped.
A In regard to delays and cancellations on West Anglia, Greater Anglia would not agree that they are “frequent” However, it is acknowledged that they are not where they want to be overall with performance. This reflects a national situation which is well documented in the railway press. Regrettably many delays are due to level crossing incidents on the Lea Valley, the latest one being at Ware. In situations where they have had disruption, and they accept that they need to restore crews and trains to their correct positioning, then sometimes decisions will be made for the long- term restoration of right time running which unfortunately will mean some short-term pain such as skip stopping at the more lightly used stations. This policy is adopted by train operating companies all over the country. This is contained in the specific contingency plans for the route. Not doing this causes extreme longevity to disruption making the situation prolonged and worse.
Q Lost property/security issue - a resident reported a lost backpack. On phoning lost property they said that the train wouldn’t be checked until it got back to the depot for cleaning. Surely, any report of a lost bag should immediately lead to a search on a train if there is an unintended bag potentially on board for security reasons?
A In the interests of security and the current national security levels Greater Anglia advise all customers to take care of their belongings, ensuring that they keep articles (especially backpacks) close to them at all times. Announcements are made constantly about this. When customers do lose things, then they do their best to reunite articles to their owners as soon as possible. The calls go thorough to a central helpline. Lost item details are placed on a database and call centre staff do try and call the nearest manned station. Security is of course paramount and they would attempt to search a train as soon as possible at its destination. They will not delay trains on route if between staffed locations. To do so would cause delay and consequent disruption to the service. If a bag was deemed an immediate risk (ie a hoax call) then further and additional measures would of course be put in placeGreater Anglia pointed out that they do not have spare staff around just to look for lost property and any train dispatcher who stops their safety critical work at stations to start searching for peoples’ belongings again risks adding delay to the service.
The Chair did not agree with with this argument and felt it was primarily a safety issue.
Great Northern Rail Services – GTR
The letter from the Chair to GTR in light of their absence from the last meeting had not been responded to in advance of this meeting. However, this had not been. Shared with the representatives from GTR in attendance. Nonetheless, Patrick Ladbury and Duncan Primrose sought to respond to its contents, along with related additional concerns subsequently raised by residents, as highlighted below. 3
The side gate at Palmers Green Station can be opened on request and mobility assistance is available. It was suggested that ticket operated barriers could be put in place, but this would require additional staffing which is not funded as part of the current franchise.
The issue of providing on-journey information, raised in the context of Finsbury Park interchange, is complicated by different operators providing services and this causes a lag when there is disruption. At Finsbury Park the aim is to, as far as possible, have trains calling at the same platforms to make it easier for passengers to interchange.
Step-free access at stations is an ongoing issue, but schemes to introduce them are expensive and there is limited funding available. For the next round of Department for Transport Access for All funding the Council has nominated Enfield Chase, New Southgate and Silver Street stations in that order. The decision on which stations are successful across England and Wales is due to be announced in the Spring. It was suggested that ramps could be provided at some stations, for example Winchmore Hill. However, whilst this seems like a simple and cost-effective solution, ramps require significant space, are often not practical due to their length and still have a significant cost.
In addition to the above, Patrick Ladbury and Duncan Primrose provided a verbal update on service provision, the main points of which were:
Timetable changes introduced in December 2018 aimed to improve service reliability while providing more frequent services. This has led to an improvement in performance from below 80% to over 83%.
There has still been significant disruption due to track encroachment as well as reliability issues for existing rolling stock.
Replacement rolling stock is being tested, with two services each day using new trains, and drivers trained to operate them. The new trains will be gradually introduced into service over the next few months. [Post meeting note: There had been some press coverage suggesting that the rollout of the trains faced delays in light of design features being incompatible with the current signalling system, which is not due to be replaced until the end of 2020. The position was being checked with GTR.]
The works to provide a bay platform at Stevenage are due to commence in May 2019 and complete in 2021. In the interim there will be a rail replacement bus north of Hertford.
The Department for Transport has approved a £15m Passenger Experience fund for the GTR franchise. Stakeholders are asked to suggest small improvements to stations (benches, lighting, CCTV, etc.) which could be funded from this allocation.
Following this it was noted that there has been positive feedback on the changes made to the Winchmore Hill Station waiting facilities.
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London Buses, Overground, Underground and Transport for London Road Network - Transport for London
Kerry Meehan and David Hooker provided a verbal update, the main points of which were:
As mentioned at the previous meeting, the delivery of new London Overground trains has been delayed with the first now expected in service later in 2019.
The Ultra-Low Emission Zone in central London starts in April. Information is being provided via various channels. It was noted that a scrappage scheme is being introduced to facilitate the transition to less polluting vehicles.
The outside seating facilities at Oakwood and Southgate stations are currently closed due to safety issues.
There have been or will be various changes to bus services: o 313 route now operated by a double deck bus during the peak period. o 102, 192 and 318 services have minor frequency increases. o The frequency of the N29 is being reduced. o 491 will return to its original access at North Middlesex University Hospital from May.
Several queries were raised, many submitted by local residents. and the following comments made:
Buses still looked dirty on the outside. This was a natter outstanding from the last meeting. It was noted that each bus should be washed down each day, but if problems persisted on any particular route then this could be raised directly with TfL.
The frequency of trains to Enfield Town and on the Southbury Loop are below the four trains per hour seen as a minimum for London services. It was noted that there are infrastructure constraints (i.e, tracks, stations and trains) which limit the options for increasing frequencies, but that some off-peak enhancements could be possible.
Events at venues such as Meridian Water and Trent Park can lead to high volume of passengers in a small period of time. It was noted that transport operators are involved in the planning of such events and that the provision of additional services is an option that is considered when required.
The potential development of station car parks into housing could cause issues with localised parking so mitigation measures would be required. It was also noted that currently some stations still have formal or informal pick up and drop-off facilities which will need to be considered.
Temporary bus stop provision is an issue where it is not provided or where it is in place too long after the works are completed. It was noted that
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sometimes temporary stops are not provided, particularly if there is not a suitable alternative location or works are immediate and of a short duration. Where they are in place after works have finished, this is mainly because companies do not notify TfL. Issues with temporary bus stops should be reported directly to TfL.
There is still inconsistency when it comes to drivers lowering buses to make it easier for passengers to get on. It was noted that driver training makes it clear that they should lower the bus floor where it is safe to do so. It was also noted that the general view of the Group was that there has been a significant improvement in recent years.
Short notice platform changes at Arnos Grove Station remain an issue. It was noted that this will not be resolved until the full signalling upgrade is undertaken in the 2020s.
Issues with performance on the 307 and 107 routes have been reported. It was noted that the 107 does not serve Enfield, which is a major inconvenience.
At Bush Hill Park and Enfield Town stations the information provided on rail replacement bus services is not clear.
Action TfL to follow up on issues with bus service performance and rail replacement bus information.
6. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
It was noted than Pauline Bagley, who regularly clerked the Group over a number of years, has been diagnosed with a serious illness and is unlikely to be returning to minute the meetings. On behalf of the Group, the Chair extended his thanks to Pauline for all of her work and wished her well.
7. NEXT MEETING INCLUDING DATE
It was agreed that the next meeting should be held in April 2019.
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