Request ID: FOI-0718-2223 Date published: 26 July 2022
You asked
How many of your employees have been removed from train driving duties and have been kept on the full driver's wage.
This request is for both London Underground and London Overground.
Clarification received 28/06/2022:
This request is for both London Underground and London Overground, and limited to current employees only:
How many of your employees have been removed from train driving duties and have been kept on the full driver's wage.
Also, if possible, I would like to know how many of these employees were removed from driving duties following an operational incident that was caused by their action or inaction"
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-0718-2223
Thank you for your request of 22nd June 2022, clarified on 28th June 2022, asking for information about protected salaries for ex-train drivers.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“This request is for both London Underground and London Overground, and limited to current employees only:
How many of your employees have been removed from train driving duties and have been kept on the full driver's wage.
Also, if possible, I would like to know how many of these employees were removed from driving duties following an operational incident that was caused by their action or inaction.”
I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require.
Note that the London Overground is operated by Arriva Rail London under a concession agreement with TfL and it, rather than TfL, employs London Overground drivers. TfL does not, therefore, hold the information so far as the London Overground is concerned. In respect of the London Underground, while I can confirm that TfL does hold this information it is not possible to source it within the costs limit for responding to FOI cases as set out under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act. Under section 12, TfL is not obliged to provide information if it would cost more than £450 to determine if that information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract it from elsewhere. This is calculated at a rate of £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours work.
The costs exemption applies in this instance because the requested information has not been collated before and there is no quick or efficient way of doing so. The necessary information to answer the request is not held centrally, but would instead require us to source information from each individual depot at the local level. With over 30 such depots this is not possible within the costs limit.
In order to bring your request within the costs limit you may wish to reframe it to narrow the scope and to focus on the information that is of most importance to you. For example, you may wish to set a specific timeframe to which it relates.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
