Subject: Transport Services During Snow in February 2012

Report to: Transport Committee

Report of: Executive Director of Secretariat Date: 13 March 2012

This report will be considered in public

1. Summary

1.1 This report contains the responses received from train operating companies serving about their services following snowfall on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 February 2012 and provides a summary of the information they have given.

2. Recommendation

2.1 That the Committee notes this report.

3. Background

3.1 Following snowfall in London on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 February 2012, the Committee wrote to all train operating companies serving the capital and TfL about the impact of the bad weather on their services. The Committee sought details of: the effect of the snowfall on services on Saturday 4, Sunday 5 and Monday 6 February; the plans to prevent disruption to services due to bad weather and how well these plans had worked; if services had been changed because of the bad weather and, if so, the reasons why; the effectiveness of communications to passengers during this period; and what, if any, further lessons had been learned to inform future preparations for bad weather.

3.2 The Committee’s letter followed up its previous work on the impact of snowfall on the capital’s transport system. The Committee’s previous work includes its report Slipping Up? (March 2009), a letter to the Secretary of State for Transport about the disruption to rail services in January 2010, and a submission to the Government’s Winter Resilience Review (May 2010).

4. Issues for Consideration

4.1 The responses received from the train operating companies serving London are set out at Appendix 1.

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4.2 The remainder of this report summarises the information that has been provided in the responses in relation to: services provided during Saturday 4 to Monday 6 February; the plans put in place to prevent disruption due to bad weather; communication with passengers; and lessons learned as a result of the recent bad weather. The summary may provide useful background information for any future scrutiny into the operation of transport services during bad weather.

Services provided on Saturday 4, Sunday 5 and Monday 6 February 2012

4.3 The train operating companies’ responses show that the snow which fell on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 February affected some rail services in London. Over half the train operating companies have reported delays to services at some point over the three-day period of Saturday 4 to Monday 6 February. In many cases, the causes of the delays relate to Rail’s areas of responsibility. Set out below are more details of individual companies’ performance.  The percentage of trains which ran on time fell from 97 per cent on Saturday 4 February to 76 per cent on Sunday 5 February due to snow “overwhelming” some points. As a result, C2C had to operate a contingency timetable on the Sunday.  The percentage of Greater Anglia trains which ran on time fell from 91 per cent on the Saturday to 72 percent on the Sunday and 75 percent on the Monday. The reduction in punctuality was due to Great Anglia lowering speed limits for some electric trains to prevent snow getting into their traction motors. Its services were also disrupted by point failures and two train failures.  operated 85 per cent of its services as planned on Saturday with the other 15 per cent (114 services) delayed by two minutes or more due to the bad weather. All of the delays were caused by problems with traction current ( or overhead) or points and junctions. First Capital Connect has stated that Network Rail’s ability to clear snow and ice especially from the third rail was a major cause of disruption.  Southern has reported some disruption to its late night services on Saturday 4 February. It operated 91 per cent of its services to time on the Sunday and 88 per cent on the Monday with the main cause of the delay on Monday unrelated to the weather. Similarly, Southern has reported that the closure of Streatham Hill station on Saturday night before the last trains had arrived was not a winter-related issue but the result of a member of staff not following procedure. Southern has reported that steps have been taken to prevent this happening again.  Southeastern operated the majority of its Metro services in the London area to time over the three-day period but experienced severe delays to late evening services on Saturday 4 February due to problems with points in the London Bridge area. It has reported that Network Rail is reviewing why these problems arose.

Plans to prevent disruption due to bad weather

4.4 All the train operating companies have provided details of their plans to prevent service disruption during bad weather. Many have reported that these plans worked well in early February although certain measures, such as contingency timetables, were not necessarily implemented. Some of the main features of the train operating companies’ winter weather plans are listed below.  Operating longer trains for extra resilience or changing the fleet operated (C2C and First Capital Connect).  Modifications to trains (C2C and Greater Anglia).

 Providing extra staff (C2C, , First Capital Connect, First Great Western, Greater Anglia, and ).  Running de-icer trains and/or ‘ghost trains’ overnight (C2C, Chiltern Railways, First Capital Connect, Southern and South West Trains).  Operating contingency timetables (Greater Anglia, Chiltern Railways and London Midland).  Gritting stations in advance or other snow clearance provision (Southeastern and Southern).

Communication with passengers during the bad weather in early February

4.5 Most of the train operating companies reported effective communication with passengers during the bad weather. There is one exception - Great Anglia - which reported major technical problems with its website on Sunday 5 and Monday 6 February. Greater Anglia has said the main lesson learned from the bad weather is to increase the robustness of its website and it has already taken measures to achieve this. Some train operating companies have reported on the changes they had made to ensure more effective communication during any period of bad weather including the use of social media such as Twitter (C2C, First Capital Connect, London Midland, Southeastern and South West Trains).

Lessons learned as a result of the bad weather in early February

4.6 Most train operating companies have reported that there are lessons to be learned from the recent bad weather. The specific areas which the companies are now reviewing vary so these are summarised for each company below.  C2C: the arrangements for getting staff to work and, with Network Rail, the design and maintenance of critical points.  Chiltern Railways: the level of relief driver cover and some issues with the infrastructure including one point heater which appears to be ineffective.  First Capital Connect: the importance of deploying fleet staff on stand-by at key locations for low-level snowfall to aid minor snow-related train defects and Network Rail providing more flexibility in allocating its staff to help clear infrastructure, especially if drifting snow is forecast.  Greater Anglia: it has already reviewed its operational performance, service delivery and communication and has identified the main lesson to be learned relates to its website.  : a further minor modification requirement to its rolling stock and road access to trains to provide technical support during bad weather.  London Midland: no single issue was noted as detrimental but it is now working to try and mitigate the effect of snow build up in unit couplers.  Southern: the ability of rail replacement bus services to operate during bad weather. It has also said it will undertake a further review of its winter arrangements once the season has passed.  Southeastern: it is currently reviewing its performance during the bad weather. It also hopes that a separate technical review of points will result in more robust performance in future.

5. Legal Implications

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

6. Financial Implications

6.1 There are no financial implications arising.

List of appendices to this report:

Appendix 1 – The responses received from the train operating companies.

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

Contact Officer: Laura Warren Telephone: 020 7983 6545 E-mail: [email protected]