Request ID: FOI-0962-2425 Date published: 04 July 2024
You asked
Dear TfL,
Further to this FOI Request, please provide the following information:
With regards to the defective screens that MTR EL have been ignoring at Langley station:
Does MTR EL accept that the only working departure screen on platforms 2 & 3 cannot be seen by customers waiting underneath, or east of the new footbridge (or in other words, customers wishing to travel in carriages 4 - 9)?
Why has MTR EL decided that it is not necessary to provide any visual train information whatsoever for customers on this large area of the platform - particularly on platform 3, which customers use the vast majority of the time?
Will TfL commit to funding replacement CIS screens for platforms 2 & 3, and finally provide train information for all customers at Langley station?
With regards to the stability and frequency of the train service on the Elizabeth line:
Please provide a document outlining the procedure that MTR EL, TfL, and Network Rail follow when MTR EL are informed by Network Rail that a line block will have to be put in place on the GWML between PAD and Hayes and Harlington due to future planned engineering work. I would like to know who specifies the minimum service levels during the engineering works, what these minimum service levels are, and whether or not a shuttle service between West Drayton and Reading is mentioned in the minimum service level document.
Would it be realistically possible for MTR EL to operate 3tph between West Drayton and Reading (2tph from Abbey Wood / Paddington and 1tph shuttling West Drayton Platform 5 - Reading) in the event of there being engineering works blocking either the main or relief lines between Paddington and Hayes?
If so, please confirm whether this will be implemented during the next period of such engineering works, and that passengers travelling between West Drayton and Reading who rely on the Elizabeth line as their only rail service will not unnecessarily receive such a heavily reduced service.
If not, please confirm what restrictions MTR EL would have to overcome in order to provide this increase in frequency, in the near future.
Does MTR EL accept that their contingency plans unnecessarily concentrate the effects of service disruption on passengers travelling on the Reading branch of the Elizabeth line because the contingency plans they follow unfairly allocate all spare trains (created by the suspension of the Abbey Wood - Maidenhead service) to the Abbey Wood branch?
When taking into consideration the fact that customers on the Reading branch are reliant on the Elizabeth line as the only rail service they have, and that stations between Paddington and Abbey Wood have other rail services which customers can use to get home instead of the Elizabeth line, the actions of the operator in response to service disruption are quite unacceptable. Not only are passengers being inconvenienced by delays on the Elizabeth line, the delays are being deliberately prolonged by MTR EL because all the available trains have been taken away from the Reading branch so that they can operate between Abbey Wood and Paddington, and the reason for stranding hundreds of passengers with no alternative route home is so that passengers on the Abbey Wood branch can continue to have a convenient, high speed service home. For how much longer will TfL / RfL allow the Elizabeth line to be so negligently operated during disruption?
Will MTR EL amend their contingency plans to specifically state that the same amount of resources allocated to maintain services between Paddington and Reading / Heathrow Terminals should be allocated to maintaining services between Abbey Wood and Paddington, rather than allocating all of the resources available to the Paddington - Abbey Wood section, and commit to ending the completely unnecessary prolonging of delays on the Reading branch?
What steps have TfL/RfL and MTR EL taken to reduce overcrowding on Westbound services from Paddington in the evening peak, in the last four months?
I look forward to hearing from you within 20 days.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-0962-2425
Thank you for your further request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 22nd June 2024 asking for information about the Elizabeth Line. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Please note, the Freedom of Information Act covers the provision of recorded information only. It does not cover the provision of explanation or opinion, requests for action, or more general questions. With that in mind, the one request for recorded information in your email below is as follows (and note that the rest of your correspondence has been passed to our Customer Services team to address):
“Please provide a document outlining the procedure that MTR EL, TfL, and Network Rail follow when MTR EL are informed by Network Rail that a line block will have to be put in place on the GWML between PAD and Hayes and Harlington due to future planned engineering work. I would like to know who specifies the minimum service levels during the engineering works, what these minimum service levels are, and whether or not a shuttle service between West Drayton and Reading is mentioned in the minimum service level document.” This can already be found online. It is documented in Part D of the Network Code, which is available to view on the Network Rail website here:
In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
