Page 3 Agenda Item 8 Planning and Transportation Environment and Neighbourhoods London Borough of Sutton 24 Denmark Road Carshalton Surrey SM5 2JG 22 August 2012 London Borough of Sutton response to the DfT Combined Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern Franchise Consultation. 1. Responses to Consultation Questions Q1 - What improvements do stakeholders believe could be made on the combined franchise through partnership working between Network Rail and the new operator? The Council would expect that good partnership working between the operator and Network Rail is already taking place and the two organisations are co-operating to ensure the most efficient operation of the railways. However, there is scope for improvement in terms of station management and enhancements, and in terms of managing and minimising engineering work disruption as well as keeping passengers properly informed about factors affecting their journeys. It is essential that both organisations work together co-operatively in the best interests of passengers. Better consultation and partnership working with local authorities is also necessary as at present it is somewhat lacking. Efforts need to be made to by Network Rail reduce the frequency of line closures for engineering work. As far as possible lines should remain open when engineering work is taking place, or diversionary routes put in place to avoid the need for replacement buses. Q2 – Do consultees have any other specific aspirations for the new franchise that they wish to bring to the Department’s attention? The Council has a long term aspiration to see the redevelopment of Sutton Station to create a modern, fit-for-purpose and passenger-friendly station with improved interchange between rail and buses, taxis and potentially trams. This could involve a major new development over the tracks which realises the development potential of this prime Metropolitan town centre location and is a long term scheme set out in the Council’s Local Development Framework and the subject of a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD2). In the shorter term there is scope for some smaller scale improvements, particularly as regards disabled access, to stations in the borough, as well as service improvements, which are set out in more detail below. 1 Agenda Item 8 Page 4 Q3. – Are consultees aware of any other rail or non-rail development schemes that might affect the new franchise? A number of major development sites in Sutton town centre and in Hackbridge are likely to come on stream during this franchise, which could generate significant additional demand for rail services from those stations. These include residential and employment-generating developments. Further details can be supplied to bidders upon request. Q5 – Which aspects of the specification, other than for those services operating through the Thameslink core route, would stakeholders wish to see mandated and which aspects should be left to the discretion of the operator? Whilst the Council agrees in principle with the policy of giving operators more commercial freedom to decide on service specification, there is concern that this could result in a reduction in off-peak service levels. In London, where TfL-operated public transport is still regulated, it is important that privately operated rail services are also regulated and a minimum service level specified in order to ensure a high quality, integrated public transport system that meets the needs of the capital and attracts people out of cars. Therefore it would be expected the tender specification to be quite specific and detailed in terms of minimum service level, frequency and hours of operation for the South London Metro and Thameslink Loop services. Further details of the Council’s service aspirations are set out below. Q16 – What services would be appropriate to serve the Airport market? Q17 – What improvements could be made without adversely affecting the service provision on the remainder of the franchise? Sutton is concerned that the proposal to terminate all Thameslink Wimbledon Loop Line trains at Blackfriars would mean that the borough loses its direct connection with Luton Airport. If this happens we would like to see good quality connections at Blackfriars with semi-fast services to Luton Airport Parkway. Consideration should be given to stopping Gatwick Express services at East Croydon / Clapham Junction (perhaps alternately) to provide better connections to south London and make better use of train paths on the busy Brighton Main Line. Q18 – What services that run via Elephant and Castle do respondents think should run via the Thameslink core route? Q19 – Recognising that not all of these services can run via the Thameslink core route, what would be the most satisfactory way of managing the interchange at Blackfriars? Questions 18 & 19 are addressed in our detailed submission on the Thameslink Loop Line set out below. 2 Page 5 Agenda Item 8 Q21 – What improvements would respondents like to see made to other Southern services as part of the combined franchise from 2015, what is the rationale for such proposals and the economic benefit expected to be delivered from these changes? This question is addressed in our detailed submission on the Southern franchise set out below. Q24 – How would you like to see performance information published? Q25 – How frequent should its publication be? Q26 – What level of disaggregation of performance do you believe is reasonable? Performance information should be published on the operators’ website, on posters at stations and in stakeholder newsletters etc. It should be published quarterly, and should be disaggregated by route. For example, separate data should be published for the Thameslink Wimbledon Loop Line. However, there is a concern that too much emphasis on performance targets by the Government has and will continue to create ‘perverse incentives’ that encourage operators to focus narrowly on the meeting of performance targets and avoidance of fines, to the detriment of passengers. Examples of this include ‘padding’ of timetables by lengthening journey times and dwell times at stations, and trains being despatched early and arriving at and leaving intermediate stations early, causing passengers to miss trains. The new franchise should include clauses to avoid the perverse effect of performance targets working against passenger interests. Q27 – What are the priorities that respondents consider should be taken into account to improve the passenger experience of using these services? The priority of the TOC should be to operate rail services first and foremost in the passengers’ interest. Operating in the passengers’ interests should maximise usage and satisfaction, and therefore revenue. Specific examples of this approach are set out below. Q28 – What do stakeholders see as the most important factors in improving security? Adequate staffing of stations and trains is the most important factor in improving security. This should mean staffing of all manned stations from first to last train, as is a requirement of the current Southern franchise. This should mean a visible staff presence at all times that the station is open. Staff should also patrol unmanned stations, such as those on the Wimbledon Loop Line, at frequent intervals, as well as patrolling trains. In addition to improving security, both actual and perceived, this should help reduce crime and fear of crime, and protect revenues by reducing fare evasion and vandalism. Adequate CCTV is also important, but should not been seen as a substitute for a staff presence. Working help points on unmanned stations are also important, as is adequate lighting and sightlines. 3 Agenda Item 8 Page 6 Q29 – What is important to stakeholders in the future use and improvement of stations? Q30 – What priorities would respondents give to car parking and cycling facilities at locations where these are fully used? Q32 – What local accessibility and mobility issues do stakeholders see and how they might be addressed? Details of our aspirations for borough stations, including parking and accessibility, are set out below. 2. Thameslink Franchise – detailed comments and aspirations 2.1 Future of Wimbledon Loop Line services The Council is concerned at the proposal contained in the London and South East Route Utilisation Strategy (July 2011) and its predecessor the South London RUS (2008), and reiterated subsequently in various documents and presentations relating to the Thameslink Programme, that all Sutton/Wimbledon Thameslink Loop Line trains will terminate at London Blackfriars from 2018. Although these proposals were set out in the South London RUS (2008), they only emerged in the final version and not in the draft, so stakeholders did not have a chance to comment on them. In response to this proposal, in 2009 Sutton Council set up the cross-party Thameslink Loop Line Campaign Group to campaign for the retention of through services from the Wimbledon Loop Line. This group is made up of elected members (MPs, AMs and Councillors) from the four south London boroughs served by the loop line – Sutton, Merton, Wandsworth and Lambeth, together with user groups such as London TravelWatch. The campaign to retain through Thameslink services on the Wimbledon Loop Line has also received widespread support from local residents and businesses, who value to link. Sutton is keen to retain its major businesses and employers who have located here on the basis of its good transport links to the rest of London, the UK and Europe. Following Ministerial lobbying, the Council understands that this proposal is not ‘set in stone’ and that service patterns for the final Thameslink Programme network have yet to be decided. We are therefore pleased to see a question in the consultation document, Question 18, relating to this issue and we set out our response to this below. The consultation indicates that either 6 or 8 services per hour via Elephant and Castle (EC) can pass through the Thameslink Core (the remaining 8 or 10 terminating at Blackfriars) and offers stakeholders the choice of whether those through services should come from the Sutton/Wimbledon Loop or other destinations in SE London/Kent.