Our Ref:         FOI-0596-1819

Thank you for your request received on 5 June 2018 asking for information about the Central Line.
 
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require.
 
There were 1.38bn journeys made on the London Underground in 2016/17. In 2016 we cut delays by nearly 38 per cent since 2011. The Central Line is the second busiest London Underground line, behind the Northern Line, with 289m journeys made during 2017/18.
 
On the Central Line, work has been taking place over the last two years on the heavy overhaul of the fleet. This essentially replaced life expired parts. This work has required trains to be removed from service to do the work so we have had fewer trains overall for service, which has in turn has resulted in an increase in delays.
 
The Central Line Improvement Programme (CLIP) includes a number of improvements, primarily the replacement of old traction motors with more modern traction motors which should help reduce the number of delays on the line as these are the source of our biggest reliability weakness currently. The CLIP starts in 2020.
 
In addition, we also introduced a new timetable in August 2016 which increased the number of trains in the morning travelling to Epping.
 
We regularly publish performance data on our website: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/underground-services-performance.
 
You asked:
 
Please can you tell me how many trains successfully went from Bank to Epping along the Central Line in March for the years 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014?
 
Bank departures to Epping
 Number of trains
2014 4587
2015 4371
2016 4747
2017 4734
2018 4634
 
For each month, can you also tell me how many of those trains were delayed and by how much once they reached Epping?
 
 Number of delayed trains Sum of Initial Delay (minutes) 
2013-14 81 564 
2014-15 87 480 
2015-16 125 697 
2016-17 126 851 
2017-18 271 1753 
Total 690 4345 
 
If this is not the information you are looking for please feel free to contact me.
 
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Gemma Jacob
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London

[email protected]