Request ID: FOI-1906-2425 Date published: 04 October 2024
You asked
Dear Transport for London,
Please could you provide me with copies of all documents, reports and communications relating to the currently ongoing (at time of writing) cuts in DLR service levels? These are apparently to do with a signalling review but do not limit your responses to things specifically mentioning this if there are any other related reasons.
Please include information about why this is not causing the DLR to show up as having service cuts on service status information data feeds, and why there had been no comms within stations or on passenger displays or announcement systems about it.
Please also include all available information about the reasons for these cuts and discussions about making them; and information and discussions about how long these will last and what the plan is to get into a position to restore them.
To clarify what I am seeking information about, some time during summer 2024, all direct DLR services between Lewisham and Stratford suddenly ceased, without any notice, and with no signage or change to the DLR service status.
There had been previous temporary multi-day cuts of these services and other frequency reductions in relation to extending the life of the oldest DLR trains while depot capacity is increased for the new trains, but those had always been pre-announced and explained beforehand. These latest cuts were different in that they were not announced or explained anywhere.
Also, these cuts appear to go beyond just those direct Stratford-Lewisham services. There are frequently gaps of between 5 and 10 minutes between services on the Lewisham line during peak hours now, where this would normally be 4 minutes during the peak, even discounting the Stratford services (which are interspersed in addition to the 4-minutely Bank services).
Only today a single cheaply printed sign has been posted on the non-Stratford side of Elverson Road DLR station saying "Some small reductions in train speeds on sections of the DLR network have been implemented as part of ongoing review of DLR's signalling system. This has resulted in some changes to our usual services and frequencies." - but still the DLR's service status is listed as "Good service". It has not been a good service for about a month now.
Please explain why you appear to be trying to cover this up and what is really going on, in full, by releasing all available information about this to me.
Thanks very much for your help,
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1906-2425
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 11th September 2024 asking for information about the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“Please could you provide me with copies of all documents, reports and communications relating to the currently ongoing (at time of writing) cuts in DLR service levels? These are apparently to do with a signalling review but do not limit your responses to things specifically mentioning this if there are any other related reasons.
Please include information about why this is not causing the DLR to show up as having service cuts on service status information data feeds, and why there had been no comms within stations or on passenger displays or announcement systems about it.
Please also include all available information about the reasons for these cuts and discussions about making them; and information and discussions about how long these will last and what the plan is to get into a position to restore them.
To clarify what I am seeking information about, some time during summer 2024, all direct DLR services between Lewisham and Stratford suddenly ceased, without any notice, and with no signage or change to the DLR service status.
There had been previous temporary multi-day cuts of these services and other frequency reductions in relation to extending the life of the oldest DLR trains while depot capacity is increased for the new trains, but those had always been pre-announced and explained beforehand. These latest cuts were different in that they were not announced or explained anywhere.
Also, these cuts appear to go beyond just those direct Stratford-Lewisham services. There are frequently gaps of between 5 and 10 minutes between services on the Lewisham line during peak hours now, where this would normally be 4 minutes during the peak, even discounting the Stratford services (which are interspersed in addition to the 4-minutely Bank services).
Only today a single cheaply printed sign has been posted on the non-Stratford side of Elverson Road DLR station saying "Some small reductions in train speeds on sections of the DLR network have been implemented as part of ongoing review of DLR's signalling system. This has resulted in some changes to our usual services and frequencies." - but still the DLR's service status is listed as "Good service". It has not been a good service for about a month now.
Please explain why you appear to be trying to cover this up and what is really going on, in full, by releasing all available information about this to me.”
I can confirm that we hold the information you require.
To address the points you have raised in general terms, please see the following answers provided by our DLR team:
Following a review of our signalling system we identified a pre-existing technical issue, which meant there were a number of places where there is not enough margin between maximum recommended speed and the speed of the trains. For the continued safe operation of the network, we decided to reduce the speed at these locations. The DLR continues to be one of the safest light rail networks in the country.
We are sorry we needed to suspend direct peak services between Stratford and Lewisham with customers now needing to change services to complete their journey, but this is expected to only add up to 2-3 minutes to journey times on this route. We have now increased peak services between Stratford and Canary Wharf to ensure we have sufficient capacity on this busy section of the network. The speed restrictions introduced across the DLR should only have a minimal impact on journey times for the majority of our customers. We worked quickly to understand how these changes would impact customers but needed to fully understand these ahead any customer communications. We do now have a full suite of customer communications, including posters, PA announcements and dot-matrix messaging on the affected route. We have also briefed our entire frontline team who are available to advise and support customers on their journeys. The small changes introduced should only have a minimal impact to customer journey times. Further assessment needs to take place before we decide whether any of the changes need to be made permanent.
Turning to your specific requests for recorded information, I am afraid it is not possible to source all of the information you have requested 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.
In this instance the cost limit applies because of the sheer volume of information you have requested, and the fact that there is no quick, efficient or automated way of sourcing it. In your request you ask for copies “of all documents, reports and communications” on this matter. Just trying to locate and collate all of the email correspondence alone would take us over the 18 hour limit. This would include all internal emails, as well as emails with KeolisAmey which runs the service under contract with TfL. While we can run an automated search for emails using keywords, such as “signalling”, to then determine which of those are specifically about the current issue and not some other aspect of “signalling” we would have to manually review them all. This is not possible within the costs limit. Sourcing any other information that falls within the scope if your request would add to the costs burden further.
In order to bring you request within the costs limit you may wish to reframe it to narrow its scope, focussing on the information that is of most importance to you. In doing so I would advise that you first consider the advice and assistance provided by the Information Commissioner on accessing information from public bodies, published on its website here:
As you can see, that advice includes the suggestion that requests should be as specific as possible (“Being as specific as possible in your request helps reduce the cost of responding to it. You are then more likely to get the information.”). If you do submit a refined request I would advise that you ask for specific information, rather than for “all documents”, as this will enable a more focussed search of records to take place.
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
