Request ID: FOI-1165-2324 Date published: 04 August 2023
You asked
Hi,
Apologies, to resubmit this request to be more clear:
On the 19th July 2022, how many miles of London underground track was deemed to have bucked/become unusable due to the extreme heat?
On the 19th July 2022, how many miles of London underground track was deemed to need a speed restriction due to the extreme heat?
On the 19th July 2022, how many emergency incidents across the London underground network were declared because of the extreme heat?
What is TfL's assessment of how many miles of London underground track currently remains vulnerable to similar extreme heat?
Kind regards,
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1165-2324 Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on12 July 2023 asking for information about heat on the London Underground tracks. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. Specifically you asked: “On the 19th July 2022, how many miles of London underground track was deemed to have bucked/become unusable due to the extreme heat?” No areas on our passenger lines of track buckled or became unusable due to the extreme heat. “On the 19th July 2022, how many miles of London underground track was deemed to need a speed restriction due to the extreme heat? On the 19th July 2022, how many emergency incidents across the London underground network were declared because of the extreme heat?” This was clarified on 24 July 2023 as follows: “I used the term broadly, but any emergencies which were declared that day (or however emergency incidents such as someone fainting or passing out are categorised by TfL), as a result of extreme heat would be fantastic” “What is TfL's assessment of how many miles of London underground track currently remains vulnerable to similar extreme heat?” Given the extent of the information you are seeking for the remainder of your request, the request is being refused under regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR on the basis that it would be ‘manifestly unreasonable’ to comply with it. Providing the information you have requested would impose unreasonable costs on us and require an unreasonable amount of staff time and resources. A significant amount of work and time would be required to locate, collate and extract specific areas of track or specific customer incidents that are directly related to heat. There is no way of reporting on incidents in this way so to identify and collate the information you have requested would require a manual review of all the information we hold, including various incident reports, within the specified timeframe and then determine whether heat was a determining factor. Conducting such a task would require a significant amount of processing time and divert limited and specialist resources away from their core functions. Along with this, the time it would take to then collate any relevant information we may hold would not be a proportionate use of our resources. The use of this exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’, which requires us to consider whether the public interest in applying the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosure. We recognise the need for openness and transparency in the operation of our business, and the fact you have requested the information demonstrates that there is an interest in it. However, the time it would take to provide the information would divert a disproportionate amount of our resources, and on balance we consider that the public interest currently favours the use of the exception. We will consider your request again, if you are able to narrow the scope of the request so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal. Yours sincerely, Mary Abidakun FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
