Board Date: 3 February 2016 Item: Commissioner’s Report This paper will be considered in public 1 Summary 1.1 This report provides an overview of major issues and developments since the meeting of the Board held on 17 December 2015 and updates the Board on significant projects and initiatives. 2 Recommendation 2.1 That the Board note the report. List of appendices to this report: Commissioner’s Report – February 2016 List of Background Papers: None Mike Brown MVO Commissioner Transport for London February 2016 Commissioner’s Report 03 February 2016 This paper will be considered in public 1 Introduction This report provides a review of major issues and developments since the meeting of the Board held on 17 December 2015 and updates the Board on significant projects and initiatives. Cover image: ZeEus London trial launch at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 2 Commissioner’s Report 2 Delivery A full update on operational performance the successful conclusion of talks with the will be provided at the next Board meeting Trades Unions. We continue to work with on 17 March in line with the quarterly the Trades Unions to avoid unnecessary strike Operational and Financial Performance action, and reach an agreement on rosters and Investment Programme Reports. and working practices. Mayor’s 30 per cent Lost Customer LU has taken the decision to implement its Hours target – London Underground long term solution for Train Drivers, recruiting Following significant improvements in the part-time drivers specifically for the Night reliability of London Underground’s train Tube. These vacancies were advertised services, the Mayor set a target in 2011 internally and externally before Christmas, with aiming to further reduce delays on London more than 6,000 applications received, which Underground (LU) by 30 per cent by the end are now being processed. This will mean the of 2015. To achieve this, LU implemented a introduction of Night Tube will have no impact far-reaching reliability programme on all lines on the vast majority of our current staff, while as well as working to modernise the network still ensuring the service is delivered in a fair and introduce new technology. and sustainable way that is affordable. Delays have now been reduced by an impressive Bank 38 per cent and delays are at the lowest ever Work is beginning on the £563m modernisation level by far, despite record numbers using the of Bank station following the Department for network and record volumes of service being Transport (DfT) granting the Transport and operated. The Tube’s performance is among Works Act Order. Bank is the third busiest the best in the world for metro systems. station on the Tube network and is used by more than 52 million passengers a year. London Underground investment Demand at this station has risen by 50 per Night Tube cent over the past 10 years. The Night Tube will transform night-time journeys across the Capital for millions of people. The work, which is due to complete in 2021, Journey times will be cut by an average of 20 will transform the station, increasing its minutes, with some cut by more than an hour. capacity by 40 per cent, improving accessibility London’s night-time economy will be opened up and reducing interchange times. to a host of new opportunities, with the Night Tube supporting around 2,000 permanent jobs Two new moving walkways, three new lifts and boosting the economy by £360m. and 12 new escalators will provide step-free access to the Northern line and Docklands Practical arrangements for the introduction Light Railway (DLR) platforms. The station will of the Night Tube are in place. However, the remain open during the work, minimising the launch of Night Tube was delayed pending impact to customers. Commissioner’s Report 3 We are also working hard to minimise the includes floor replacements, window surrounds impact of the works on the historically and corner post and door pillar repairs. significant site, which is surrounded by over 30 listed buildings, including Mansion House With the reopening of the previously disused and St Mary Abchurch, a seventeenth century workshop shed, work on the third train was church designed by Sir Christopher Wren. This completed two months early. We expect includes advanced work to enable monitoring the project to continue at pace as staff gain and strengthening buildings where required. For experience with the intricate requirements instance, in the roof at St Mary Abchurch we of each train, allowing refurbishments to be have installed a new walkway and new lighting. completed more quickly. The redevelopment of Bank station will Moorgate complement work already under way to create The escalator providing interchange between a new entrance and step-free access to the the Northern line and Network Rail platforms at Waterloo & City line. Just metres away from Moorgate has now re-opened. This follows the Walbrook Square, the new entrance will offer construction of a new passageway between the two new lifts, four new escalators and a new Northern line and the Crossrail Liverpool Street ticket hall when it is completed in 2017. station, improving accessibility for customers. Finsbury Park Work on the Northern line link started in The modernisation of Finsbury Park station, April 2014. It required particular skill and one of the largest London interchanges precision because of its close proximity to outside Zone 1, has reached another other underground utilities and structures at milestone with the installation of three Moorgate. The six-metre diameter tunnel runs new gatelines and ticket machines. directly underneath the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines and two operational The new gatelines will help control congestion. escalators (1 and 2), and less than a metre This modernisation work is part of a larger below the Northern line’s northbound tunnel. station upgrade which is on schedule to be completed in 2018. This will include A new lift shaft between the two platforms improvements to the station entrances, and two extra platform entrances are also being provision of step-free access to all platforrms provided as part of a broader plan to modernise and better interchanges with National Rail. the station. This work, carried out, in two phases, has involved closing escalators from the Bakerloo line rolling stock Northern line to the Network Rail platforms. The project to refurbish Bakerloo line trains continues ahead of schedule. This crucial work, Through extensive planning, we eliminated the which will enable the current fleet to remain need to close the whole station and minimised in service until it is replaced by the new trains, disruption to passengers on the Northern line. 4 Commissioner’s Report Piling and retaining wall activities have begun in preparation for Northern line extension Fitting out the Northern line link will now By carrying out the work over Christmas and continue in time for the December 2018 New Year and working in partnership with opening of the central section of Crossrail, Network Rail at Paddington to provide shared when LU will become responsible for the access routes and welfare facilities, we were five enlarged central stations: Bond Street, able to minimise the impact on customers Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool and make savings on cost and time. Street and Whitechapel. From 25 – 30 December 2015, over 40,000 King’s Cross and Paddington hours were worked in total to deliver the We took advantage of the quieter Christmas most significant amount of renewal works period to carry out work at King’s Cross and ever completed over this period. All work sites Paddington. This included renewing 314 were handed back on time as scheduled. metres of ballasted track at Paddington, replacing points at Hammersmith depot Northern line extension and major improvements to install a new At the two new station sites at Battersea Power crossover junction at King’s Crosss, which Station and Nine Elms, piling and retaining wall involved remodelling the signals between activities have begun in preparation for excavation Great Portland Street and Farringdon. of the two station boxes from mid-2016. These improvements will provide greater Significant changes to the proposed development flexibility as trains will be able to reverse above the new Tube station at Battersea, led from both platforms at King’s Cross, and by the Battersea Power Station Development will allow the speeds required for automatic Company, mean that the station design needs train control which when delivered will to be revised to ensure it can support their allow us to run up to 32 trains an hour. proposed new, more ambitious structures. Commissioner’s Report 5 150th S stock train has now entered service on the Circle, District, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines These revisions will lead to increases in the is potential to create up to 18,000 homes overall cost of the project which we are seeking and 24,000 jobs, thus supporting economic to recover from the developer. We are also growth in London and the wider UK economy. working to deliver the project at a reduced cost. Four Lines Modernisation We have commissioned an 800 metre The 150th of the eventual 191 walkthrough conveyor for Battersea to carry spoil from air-conditioned S stock trains has now entered the excavations and tunnel sections to service on the Circle, District, Metropolitan and Thames barges for transportation to a land Hammersmith & City lines. We have also bought reclamation site east of Tilbury. The Battersea another train as part of the Metropolitan line conveyor will replace around 60,000 lorry extension programme so we can run services from trips through central London, reducing the Croxley to Watford Junction via new stations at impact on the local environment.