Appendix 1 Alison Moore AM Chair, London Assembly Transport Committee City Hall The Queen’s Walk Date: 4 March 2021 London SE1 2AA By email: [email protected] Dear Alison, Thank you for your letter of 17 February about the delivery of a number of capital projects and programmes listed in the 2016 Transport for London (TfL) Business Plan. As you note, TfL has provided periodic updates to the Assembly on the vast majority of these projects over the last five years so I have asked TfL to provide brief summaries of each of the schemes you list in your letter. TfL officers would be pleased to provide your Committee with further information on particular projects where you require more detail, should it be of interest. Between 2016 and 2020 TfL’s investment programme has enabled significant progress to be made in delivering the aims of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy (MTS). TfL has been successful in driving modal shift facilitated by high quality public transport and improving walking and cycling facilities. By reducing traffic dominance and encouraging people to walk, cycle and use public transport, TfL has been able to help Londoners lead more active, healthy lives and create a city that works for all its residents. The number of trips made by walking, cycling or public transport rose from 51 per cent in 2000 to 63 per cent just before the pandemic - mostly due to enhanced services and an improved customer experience. There is no delivery body quite like TfL, whose budget and scope far exceeds any comparable organisation in the UK, and which has one of the largest capital investment programmes in Europe. Major transport infrastructure, by its very nature, is long-term which takes time to deliver and, especially given the complexities associated with major construction work in London, is not without risk to schedule. But this should not mean that TfL shies away from ambitious delivery timetables: the economic, health and social outcomes of delivering the objectives of the MTS are as important now as ever before. The Committee is well acquainted with the financial challenges TfL has needed to respond to in recent years: before the pandemic, it had not received Central Government grant support towards its operating costs since April 2018, and was receiving around 40 per cent less overall funding than in 2010/11. Adjusting to this new financial reality over the last few years, with no certainty of future capital funding, combined with a subdued national economy and the delay to the opening of the Elizabeth line has required TfL over the years to adjust its plans. City Hall, London, SE1 2AA - london.gov.uk - [email protected] - 020 7983 4000 The pandemic, as well as brutally exposing the vulnerability of TfL’s current funding model, has also had an unprecedented impact on TfL’s projects and programmes. In March 2020, TfL brought all construction projects, including Crossrail, to a temporary Safe Stop unless they needed to continue for operational safety reasons. Not only was this decision taken to ensure the safety of construction and project teams, but also to further reduce the number of people travelling on the public transport network. This was the right thing to do but, as outlined below, has impacted the schedule of some projects. Elizabeth line The 2016 Business Plan anticipated the Elizabeth line being open fully in 2019. As you know, we have confirmed a financing package for the final phase of the Crossrail project. This means work on the railway is continuing at pace. Crossrail announced in August 2020 that it expected the Elizabeth line to open through central London between Paddington and Abbey Wood in the first half of 2022. Following the opening of the central section, full services across the Elizabeth line from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east will be introduced as soon as possible. The introduction of full services will most probably be aligned with the National Rail timetable change. The delays to the project are well documented, but for ease I have summarised below. As you know, since 2018 the Crossrail Chief Executive, Mark Wild, has provided the Assembly Transport Committee with written monthly updates on the project, and he will continue to do so. Crossrail Limited announced that the central section was planned to open in autumn 2019 and not December 2018. The revised schedule was 31 August 2018 needed to complete the final infrastructure and extensive testing required to ensure the Elizabeth line opened as a safe and reliable railway. New Chief Executive of Crossrail, Mark Wild, confirmed that having reviewed the work still required to complete the project, an autumn 2019 10 December 2018 opening date could no longer be committed to at this stage, and his team was working on a robust and deliverable schedule. Due to the complexity of the remaining work, Crossrail Ltd identified a six- 25 April 2019 month window for delivery of the central section, from October 2020 to March 2021. Crossrail Ltd announced that it planned to open the central section 10 January 2020 between Paddington and Abbey Wood in summer 2021 and full line service by mid-2022. Crossrail Ltd indicated the opening of central section in summer 2021 ‘is not achievable’ and that further work was required on a detailed recovery plan and to fully assess the financial implications. The delays to the 23 July 2020 programme were attributed to productivity issues on the routeway, a revised stations completion and handover plan, and the impact of COVID- 19. Crossrail Ltd confirmed the central section would be ready to open in first 21 August 2020 half of 2022 and Trial Running would commence at the earliest opportunity in 2021. Signalling upgrade on the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines (Four Lines Modernisation) These four lines are among some of the oldest sections of the Underground network, with parts dating back to 1863. Together they make up 40 per cent of the Tube network, with around a million passenger journeys each day, pre-pandemic. The 2016 Business Plan anticipated the upgrade would be completed by 2022, adding an extra 33 per cent capacity. Two sections of signalling have already been introduced as part of the Four Lines Modernisation (“4LM”) programme. On 18 March 2019, the first section of signalling was introduced between Hammersmith and Latimer Road. On 2 September 2019, operation of the new signalling system was extended from Latimer Road to Euston Square on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines and from there to Finchley Road on the Metropolitan line, and between Paddington and Edgware Road on the District and Circle lines. The next new signalling area, which was due to go live in July 2020, was delayed following the outbreak of the pandemic, and the subsequent 12-week Safe Stop of construction work. Due to both pre-COVID-19 project challenges relating to our 4LM software and the direct impact of COVID-19, the timetable changes bringing improved service frequency as set out when the project was authorised by the TfL Board in July 2015 are at risk. An update on these discussions will be provided at a future Programmes and Investment Committee meeting. The schedule review will also accommodate the reliability proving period required between the respective Signal Migration Areas (SMAs) going live, and will take into account the new event calendar for London once restrictions have been eased and the availability of closures can be planned. New trains and signalling on the Piccadilly line The 2016 Business Plan anticipated that re-signalling work would start in 2020, with new trains arriving from 2023, with the first train in passenger service in 2024. It remains TfL’s intention to press ahead with the essential replacement of the signalling on the Piccadilly line as soon as funding can be confirmed. However, as set out in the 2018 Business Plan, TfL has been unable to commit to such large-scale investment without capital funding from the Government. TfL will continue to make the case to Government for this essential investment. In 2018, London Underground Limited (a subsidiary of Transport for London) signed a contract with Siemens Mobility Limited to design and build 94 new generation Tube trains to replace the existing 1970s fleet. As explained to the Assembly in December, there has been a small impact on the trains programme due to COVID-19 and the forecast date for the new trains arriving is now 2024 rather than late 2023, with the first train in passenger service in 2025. TfL will continue to work with Siemens to deliver the new trains into passenger service as soon as possible. More capacity on the Victoria, Jubilee and Northern lines The 2016 Business Plan anticipated that more capacity would be provided on the Victoria, Jubilee and Northern lines across the five-year period of the Plan. The final stage of the Victoria line improvements was delivered in 2019. The Victoria line now operates with 36 trains per hour in the peak periods. The 2016 Business Plan anticipated that upgrades to the Jubilee line would be complete in 2020, and the Northern line in 2023. While some signalling upgrades have been completed, further service frequency improvement through additional trains (and the associated signalling) was paused in 2017. After careful consideration to balance investment priorities across the network, the decision was taken not to proceed with the procurement of additional trains. This decision was made at a time when TfL was adjusting to the removal of the central Government investment grant and at a time when passenger demand was reducing slightly.