Our Ref:        FOI-2352-2425

Thank you for your request received on 25 October 2024 asking for information about London Overground services.

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

1.         The official maximum number of passengers that can be carried safely on Overground trains and what measures you take to assess whether this is being exceeded.

We do not specify an official safe maximum number of passengers per train on the London Overground. Such a number would not be enforceable as we cannot directly control the number of passengers boarding and alighting from specific trains. Excessive overcrowding is prevented by monitoring the volume of passengers on platforms and restricting access to and from specific platforms or he station itself if the level of crowding on the platforms becomes excessive. 

We do, however, define a maximum capacity per train which should ideally not be exceeded to minimise passenger discomfort and ensure that trains are not delayed by the impact of high loadings on the time it takes passengers to board and alight. This is defined as the number of seats plus standing at four passengers per metre squared of available standing space. By this metric the maximum loading of a train on each of our routes is as follows: 

We record loadings on each of our train services twice per year, once in the Autumn and once in the Spring. This loading data is analysed and used to help plan timetable changes.

2.         How many times this level has been exceeded in the past year.

This answer has been defined as follows:

•           Use Autumn 2023 train loadings data. This is the latest dataset we currently have available for this purpose;

•           All observations reviewed throughout the week, covering all days, times, lines and links between stations;

Based on this approach the number of times the total capacities quoted in the table above have been exceeded is 42 out of the 118,888 observations available, 0.04% of the total. 

3.         The number of passengers using the Windrush Line when it first opened vs today, and the number of trains per hour then vs today?

The first full year of operation on the Windrush Line was 2011/12. Circa 50 million passenger journeys were made on the line in that year. 

The most recent full year of operation on the Windrush line was 2023/24. Circa 65 million passenger journeys were made on the line in that year. 

The following services operated on the Windrush Line when it opened in full in 2010:

•           Four trains per hour (tph) between West Croydon and Dalston Junction;

•           Four tph between Crystal Palace and Dalston Junction; 

•           Four tph between New Cross and Dalston Junction;

•           12 tph in total on the core of the route between Surrey Quays and Dalston Junction.

The following services now operate on the Windrush line, based on the timetable in operation from May 2024 to December 2024:

•           Four tph between West Croydon and Highbury & Islington;

•           Four tph between Crystal Palace and Highbury & Islington; 

•           Four tph between New Cross and Dalston Junction;

•           Four tph between Clapham Junction and Dalston Junction. 

•           16 tph in total on the core of the route between Surrey Quays and Dalston Junction.

In addition to the above all services operating on the line were lengthened from four carriages to five carriages during 2015 and 2016, increasing capacity by 25%.

4.         How do you assess when to increase the number of services? That is, how bad does it have to get for passengers before you’ll invest in more services?

We normally examine options to increase service levels when demand exceeds the maximum capacity per train referenced above. Intervention to increase capacity is not guaranteed, however, and depends on the following factors:

•           The feasibility of options to increase capacity, including consideration of any risk to the performance of the existing services arising from the provision of additional services;

•           The affordability of any interventions required, both in terms of capital and operating expenditure;

•           The value the enhanced services offer in economic terms. 

If this is not the information you are looking for please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely 

Gemma Jacob

Senior FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

[email protected]