Hello, I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I would like the following information 1) As at 02SEP19, the number of drivers who work on the met line 2) As at 02SEP19, the number of drivers trained on the new signalling introduced on 02SEP19 3) As per the email sent by TfL on 28AUG19 re the introduction of the new signalling, what was the planned increase in journey time between 02SEP19 and 05SEP19? 4) All documents and/or meeting minutes relating to the decision to introduce the new signalling when not all drivers were trained on it. 5) The actual average increase in journey time on the Metropolitan line between 02SEP19 and 05SEP19? 6) The number of service delay refunds paid out relating to delays on the Metropolitan line between 01SEP19 and 30SEP19, broken down by date

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TfL Ref: FOI-2019-1920

Thank you for your email received by Transport for London (TfL) on 6 October 2019.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.  I can confirm we hold some of the information you require.

The Metropolitan, District, Hammersmith & City and Circle lines carry approximately 1.3 million passengers per day, accounting for 40 per cent of the Tube network and 25 per cent of overall London Underground ridership. These lines share a lot of track and infrastructure and we are modernising them under a single combined project, ‘Four Lines Modernisation’ (4LM). This £5.4 billion programme to modernise the signalling on those lines will result in greater capacity and frequency, as well as improved journey times, reliability and customer information. This is the largest single upgrade in the history of the Tube and will transform the overall experience for our customers.

Due to its scale, in an environment where some of the infrastructure is over 150 years old, and interoperation with other London Underground lines, Train Operating Companies and Network Rail, this upgrade is highly complex. In fact, the scale and complexity of this programme is a global first.

4LM is currently on track to deliver an initial 30 trains per hour service over the south side of the central area in May 2021, with further increases planned across all lines by May 2023.

On 2 September 2019, a section of new, digital signalling was introduced from Latimer Road (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines) to Finchley Road and Euston Square (Metropolitan and Circle lines) and Paddington (Circle, Hammersmith & City and District lines), with trains operating automatically on that section of the route. This was a huge step forward in overhauling the signalling system on some of the oldest and busiest parts of the network.

You asked:

1)    As at 02SEP19, the number of drivers who work on the met line

A total of 340 drivers.

2)    As at 02SEP19, the number of drivers trained on the new signalling introduced on 02SEP19 –

The train operators were fully trained and certified to operate within the new signalling system prior to its introduction. However, as part of our commitment to safety, all train operators had to be accompanied through the new section by an instructor operator the first few times they went through the new area. This is what we called ‘familiarisation’. The need to familiarise train operators is why we had to operate a reduced service. We worked hard to restore good service, with an increasing number of trains available in service each day as more train operators completed their familiarisation trips.

We do not hold data for 2 September on the number of familiarised drivers due to the way we updated the spreadsheet, but we do have data for 1 and 4 September:

1^st September - 78;

4^th September – 103.

Please note all 340 drivers were trained, and then 78 and 103 were familiarised on the respective dates. The rest are being familiarised.

3)    As per the email sent by TfL on 28AUG19 re the introduction of the new signalling, what was the planned increase in journey time between 02SEP19 and 05SEP19?

There was no planned increase in journey time, therefore we do not hold the information you require.

4)    All documents and/or meeting minutes relating to the decision to introduce the new signalling when not all drivers were trained on it.

Please find the attached PDF document which reviewed TfL’s readiness to operate the new signalling system and upon which the decision to ‘go live’ was made. We hold no meeting minutes.

The train operators were fully trained and certified to operate within the new signalling system prior to its introduction.

5)    The actual average increase in journey time on the Metropolitan line between 02SEP19 and 05SEP19?

The week prior to the introduction of the new signalling system the average excess journey time was 01 min. 53 secs. ‘Excess journey time’ is actual journey time compared with planned journey time.

The introduction of the new signalling system commenced on the 2 September, this saw an increase on the average excess journey time to 08 mins. 54 secs. This includes all service disruptions as we cannot isolate delays specifically relating to the Four Lines Modernisation upgrade.

Please note the week after the 6 September saw an improvement in the service.

6)    The number of service delay refunds paid out relating to delays on the Metropolitan line between 01SEP19 and 30SEP19, broken down by date:

Oyster and contactless customers who were delayed by more than 15 minutes between 2 and 8 September and whose journeys may have changed were automatically refunded.

The daily breakdown is shown in the table below:

Date	Refunds issued
02/09/2019	14,064
03/09/2019	17,866
04/09/2019	32,311
05/09/2019	17,881
06/09/2019	12,623
07/09/2019	14,322
08/09/2019	7,248

Apart from automatic refunds, there have been 724 refund requests received since 1 September until 30 September. Please note this does not include any requests received over via social media or self-service refunds online.

Date	Contacts
01-Sep	5
02-Sep	8
03-Sep	15
04-Sep	24
05-Sep	34
06-Sep	14
07-Sep	14
08-Sep	13
09-Sep	19
10-Sep	28
11-Sep	16
12-Sep	22
13-Sep	23
14-Sep	5
15-Sep	6
16-Sep	26
17-Sep	40
18-Sep	55
19-Sep	49
20-Sep	24
21-Sep	18
22-Sep	7
23-Sep	40
24-Sep	36
25-Sep	47
26-Sep	47
27-Sep	37
28-Sep	14
29-Sep	9
30-Sep	29

We extensively tested the new signalling during engineering hours and on weekends prior to going live, and this went well. But, while running the new software with the trains in a live environment we have experienced some software reliability issues and there have been a number of incidents of disruption for our customers. These have largely centred around communications issues between software systems on and off the trains.

We have been working with our signalling supplier to identify how to address these issues, and fixes are now being developed. Two software updates are scheduled for late this month and for mid-January next year, which we are confident will improve the situation for our customers.

We are reviewing all the events since the last phase of the signalling upgrade went live at the beginning of September to determine whether we could or should have done anything differently to reduce the impact and length of disruption. We will employ every measure possible to tackle delays effectively and recover service as soon as possible.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some 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

Eva Hextall

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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