Our Ref:          FOI-2684-1819

Thank you for your request received on 10 January 2019 asking for information about noise complaints on the Northern line.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.

We understand the importance of minimising noise levels on the Tube and we are determined to do more to achieve this. We have carried out a huge programme of work and spent over £200million replacing and grinding over 500km of track. We are also actively exploring other options to reduce noise levels even further such as installing noise barriers and noise dampening pads as well as ensuring new rail infrastructure incorporates noise reduction technology.

Unfortunately, to provide the information you have requested would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.

Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with a request if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described.

We have estimated that it would cost over £450 to provide a response to your current request. This is because it is estimated that it would take over 18 working hours to retrieve and compile the information you have requested.

In-carriage complaints can be logged on our reporting system in several different ways under several different categories so we could not be sure that we would capture all of the relevant complaints even if we were to filter them under the numerous ‘noise’ categories we have. For example, one of the main categories we have for noise complaints comes under ‘Built Environment’, however within this there are four sub-categories, each of these can also have several sub-categories within them. Also, such complaints are usually mentioned as part of a wider set complaints within one contact (e.g. “I was overcharged on my Oyster card, and by the way, the noise on the Northern line is dreadful), and these complaints would not necessarily be logged as relating to noise as the main issue would be the overcharge. The only way to accurately extract the requested information would be to review every complaint we have received regarding the London Underground. We can give accurate numbers for residential noise complaints, please let me know if you would like this information.

To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider narrowing its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. If you want to refine your request or make a Freedom of Information Act request in future, please bear in mind that the Freedom of Information Act allows you to request recorded information held by Transport for London. You should identify the information that you want as clearly and concisely as you can, specifying the types of document that you are looking for. You might also consider limiting your request to a particular period of time, geographical area or specific departments of TfL.

Although your request can take the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, TfL does not have to answer your question if it would require the creation of new information or the provision of a judgement, explanation, advice or opinion that was not already recorded at the time of your request.

Please note that we will not be taking further action until we receive your revised request.

In the meantime, if you have any queries or would like to discuss your request, please feel free 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]