Request ID: FOI-1458-2324 Date published: 22 August 2023
You asked
I am writing to enquire about the requirement for MTREL staff at stations on the Elizabeth Line where London Underground is the station facilitator (Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, and Whitechapel)
It is my understanding that unlike the other stations on the Central Operating Section of the Elizabeth Line (Paddington, Canary Wharf, Custom House, Woolwich, and Abbey Wood) which are entirely managed by MTREL, these London Underground stations simply have MTREL staff present on the Elizabeth Line platform's while the rest of the station is run by London Underground staff.
The MTREL Customer Experience Assistant staff working at these stations are responsible for assisting mobility impaired and visually impaired passengers in boarding and alighting trains, responding to incidents on board trains, being trained and assessed as competent to handle issues with the Platform Screen Door infrastructure including the implementation of a procedure to override the safety interlock of Platform Screen Doors if necessary, being trained and assessed as competent in safety critical train dispatch for instances when the divers in-cab camera feeds of the platform fails, being trained and assessed as competent in understanding the railway infrastructure of the Elizabeth Line (e.g. the 25,000 volt overhead line equipment that powers the trains, the CBTC signalling system used within the Central Operating Section, and the Platform Screen Door infrastructure) as well as how to make correctly formatted emergency calls to the Traffic Manager or Electrical Control Operator in the event of an emergency that puts passengers or the safe movement of trains in danger.
I wish to know the following:
1. Is there minimum number of assessed and competent MTREL staff that need to be present at an London Underground managed station for Elizabeth Line services to call at said station.
2. Have there been any recorded instances since the Elizabeth Line opened where a London Underground managed station has had no MTREL staff presences, if so what was the reason and did Elizabeth Line services still call at said station.
3. Do any of the London Underground staff working on these stations have training on the Platform Screen Door infrastructure or 25kv OLE system used by the Elizabeth Line and what to do if an emergency arises.
4. Are London Underground staff permitted to board Elizabeth Line trains to respond to incidents occurring on Elizabeth Line trains at London Underground managed platforms i.e a passenger suffering from a medical emergency.
5. Are any London Underground staff at these stations trained on the National Rail emergency call protocol used on the Elizabeth Line, do they have the knowledge required to make these calls (e.g. knowing how to identify a structure number to communicate location, knowing how to request an emergency switch-off of the OLE power.)
6. If the answer to question #1 is no and these stations can run Elizabeth Line services with no MTREL staff present is there any brief for the London Underground staff at an affected station to follow/are there any changes to how the station operates.
7. Could you please provide the annual salary and annual leave entitlement for the London Underground Customer Service Assistant 1 grade and the MTREL Customer Experience Assistant grade.
8. Could you please provide the annual salary and annual leave entitlement for the London Underground Train Operator grade and the MTREL Train Driver grade.
I thank you for taking the time to facilitate this request.
We answered
TfL Ref: 1458-2324
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 3 August 2023 asking for information about MTREL staff at London Underground managed Elizabeth Line stations & staff remuneration.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. Your questions and our responses are below: I am writing to enquire about the requirement for MTR Elizabeth line (MTREL) staff at stations on the Elizabeth Line where London Underground is the station facilitator (Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, and Whitechapel)
It is my understanding that unlike the other stations on the Central Operating Section of the Elizabeth Line (Paddington, Canary Wharf, Custom House, Woolwich, and Abbey Wood) which are entirely managed by MTREL, these London Underground stations simply have MTREL staff present on the Elizabeth Line platform's while the rest of the station is run by London Underground staff.
The MTREL Customer Experience Assistant staff working at these stations are responsible for assisting mobility impaired and visually impaired passengers in boarding and alighting trains, responding to incidents on board trains, being trained and assessed as competent to handle issues with the Platform Screen Door infrastructure including the implementation of a procedure to override the safety interlock of Platform Screen Doors if necessary, being trained and assessed as competent in safety critical train dispatch for instances when the divers in-cab camera feeds of the platform fails, being trained and assessed as competent in understanding the railway infrastructure of the Elizabeth Line (e.g. the 25,000 volt overhead line equipment that powers the trains, the CBTC signaling system used within the Central Operating Section, and the Platform Screen Door infrastructure) as well as how to make correctly formatted emergency calls to the Traffic Manager or Electrical Control Operator in the event of an emergency that puts passengers or the safe movement of trains in danger.
I wish to know the following:
1. Is there minimum number of assessed and competent MTREL staff that need to be present at an London Underground managed station for Elizabeth Line services to call at said station.
There is no minimum however the operating model is two competent colleagues present on the platform during operational running hours. The agreement we have in place with London Underground Document: (LUCT-GEN-OPS-AGR00001 London Underground Operating Agreement) section 3.2 “Non Reporting For Duty - As the Elizabeth Line is Driver Only Operated – no platform closures shall be required.” Therefore Elizabeth line trains will continue to stop passenger service trains at London Underground managed interface stations, even in the event of no MTREL competent colleagues available and present on the five interface stations. Please find attached a copy of this document.
Please note that in accordance with TfL’s obligations under Data Protection legislation some personal data has been removed, as required by section 40(2) of the FOI Act. This is because disclosure of this personal data would be a breach of the legislation, specifically the first principle which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the conditions which would make the processing ‘fair’.
2. Have there been any recorded instances since the Elizabeth Line opened where a London Underground managed station has had no MTREL staff presences, if so what was the reason and did Elizabeth Line services still call at said station.
There have been 7 incidents of there being a LU platform with no MTREL staff present. Passenger trains have still called at each station as noted below.
3. Do any of the London Underground staff working on these stations have training on the Platform Screen Door infrastructure or 25kv OLE system used by the Elizabeth Line and what to do if an emergency arises.
As per the agreement referred to above and attached, section 4.1 “platform screen door check - LU will make a visual check of the Platform Screen Doors as part of the station opening checks (e.g.: open doors, broken glass). Section 4.3 “platform screen door operation - The operation of Platform Screen Doors is fully automated. Any intervention shall be undertaken by the driver or suitably qualified MTR-EL / RfLI employees. LU Staff will not undertake any intervention.” Section 5.1 “PTI - On Elizabeth Line platforms; MTR-EL shall manage PTI incidents with assistance from LU staff if necessary. This could be either the MTR-EL platform staff or train driver. Where formal incident management has been instituted the incident may be managed by RfLI IRM. On platforms with LU services; LU shall remain wholly responsible for the response. LU licensed colleagues are briefed on the London Underground Operating Agreement therefore aware of the emergency response of the Electrical Control Operator as per “station contacts”. 4. Are London Underground staff permitted to board Elizabeth Line trains to respond to incidents occuring on Elizabeth Line trains at London Underground managed platforms i.e a passenger suffering from a medical emergency.
Yes. however, as per the agreement referred to as attached, section 2.2 “passenger ill on train – MTR-EL staff are considered the first responder to on train incidents involving a PIOT on Elizabeth line services. The driver is also available to assist if necessary. However, the aim is for all parties to work collaboratively to remove casualties from the train in an expedient manner and to allow trains to depart without delay. Section 2.1 “customer requiring assistance - MTREL shall assist alighting customers, who will be collected by LU staff at a mutually agreed location for onward travel, the aim being to provide the customer with a seamless experience. Customers transferring from LU services shall be assisted by LU staff to the Elizabeth line platform (and train if necessary).
5. Are any London Underground staff at these stations trained on the National Rail emergency call protocol used on the Elizabeth Line, do they have the knowledge required to make these calls (e.g. knowing how to identify a structure number to communicate location, knowing how to request an emergency switch-off of the OLE power.)
LU Licensed colleagues are trained in how to stop a train in an emergency as per London Underground rule book 01 communications.
6. If the answer to question #1 is no and these stations can run Elizabeth Line services with no MTREL staff present is there any brief for the London Underground staff at an affected station to follow/are there any changes to how the station operates.
LU colleagues will continue to operate the station as business as usual not impacting the operating running of the Elizabeth line, non-staffing of platforms will be communicated via the current process of Control (RCC) updating the LU SOR and the Central Operating Section Management team mitigating. 7. Could you please provide the annual salary and annual leave entitlement for the London Underground Customer Service Assistant 1 grade and the MTREL Customer Experience Assistant grade.
8. Could you please provide the annual salary and annual leave entitlement for the London Underground Train Operator grade and the MTREL Train Driver grade.
MTREL:
Job Title
Rate
Annual Leave (including BH)
Customer Experience Assistant
£25,693.00
29 days
Driver (Full)
£72,465.00
30 days
London Underground:
Job Title
Rate
Annual Leave (including BH)
CSA 1
£38,994.00
*52 days
Train Operator
£63,901.00
**43 days
+Customer Services Assistant 1’s = 52 (includes 15 Banked rest days credit) **• Basic leave entitlement: 7.4 weeks (including Bank Holidays) x average number of days/shifts worked per week (5) = 37 contractual + 6 days AL for working 1h over their contract each week
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Yours sincerely
Sara Thomas FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
