TFL have released the first board papers for this year, so I will be showing you bits from the board papers
(dated 8th February 2017) to see how Transport for London are
progressing.
To begin with I will show you some extracts from the Commissioners report.
London Underground
Northern line extension
On 20 January, the Mayor
announced that tunnelling to create an extension of the Northern line between
Kennington and Battersea will begin in March and is set for completion in 2020.
It is the first major Tube line extension since the Jubilee line in the late
1990s.
Two new 3.2km tunnels will be
created to extend the line to Battersea, via Nine Elms. According to tunnelling
tradition, boring machines cannot start work until they are given a name and,
following a vote by local school children, the two 650-tonne machines are being
named Helen and Amy in honour of the first British astronaut, Helen Sharman,
and British aviation pioneer Amy Johnson, who was the first female pilot to fly
solo from Britain to Australia. The tunnel boring machines are currently
undergoing final testing.
The Northern line extension will
enable the regeneration of the Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea areas,
supporting economic growth with around 25,000 new jobs and more than 20,000 new
homes. Construction is also boosting the UK economy, supporting approximately
1,000 jobs, including around 50 apprenticeships.
Two new stations are also being created:
one at the heart of the
Battersea Power Station redevelopment and another at Nine Elms to the east,
serving new developments such as the US Embassy and the redevelopment of New
Covent Garden Market, as well as existing communities.
Work continues at the two
station sites at Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms, as well as at the point
underground where the extension will connect with the existing Kennington loop
on the line.
Modernising the London Underground Circle, District, Hammersmith &
City and Metropolitan lines
All the 192 new S stock trains
have been introduced on target.
The Edgware Road/Paddington
signal equipment room is ready to be handed over to the supplier, Thales. It is
the second of 50 of these rooms to be handed over for fit-out of the signalling
equipment.
At Hammersmith depot, 13
manually operated sets of points were replaced with more reliable machinery and
a control box that is the first of its kind on our network. Six kilometres of
signal cable have been installed. At Paddington, power cabling has been
installed ready for the new crossover track.
Fitting the signalling system to
the first passenger train is now largely complete. Testing of the upgraded
train systems continues.
At Putney Bridge, Platform 2 has
been widened and extended so trains can arrive and depart faster, with a much
straighter platform alignment. All the train doors can now also open at the
extended platform. This is one of many schemes that will help increase capacity
on the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines by a
third by 2023.
Piccadilly line
We are currently evaluating bids
from three train manufacturers for the new generation of rolling stock on the
Piccadilly line. The supplier negotiation and contract award remain on target
for autumn 2017. Re-signalling work is due to start from 2020 with the new
trains arriving from 2023. The new signalling and train control system is due
to be in place on the Piccadilly line from 2026. The new train fleet and
signalling will boost capacity by around 60 per cent for peak service in the
central sections of the Piccadilly line.
Victoria line
We have successfully replaced
some track circuits at Northumberland Park depot. The works were completed over
the Christmas period and are part of the programme to increase the peak
frequency of Victoria line services to 36 trains per hour by May 2017. This
will be the highest capacity we have ever operated and it compares with the
highest capacity services operating elsewhere in the world. We have
commissioned 12 out of 20 modifications to the signalling system and we plan to
commission the remaining modifications at Easter. All necessary power and
cooling works have also been completed.
Bakerloo line trains
The trains on the Bakerloo line
are the oldest on the system in passenger service. We have started work on
refurbishing the underframe of the trains to keep them running safely and
reliably until the line is upgraded.
By working on two trains at a
time – instead of one as originally planned – we have cut the costs of the
project by £9m and will complete it two years ahead of schedule. We are
refurbishing 36 trains in priority order, depending on their condition, with
eight already completed.
Almost all the work takes place
underneath the train, so little will be seen by customers. However, one
significant change is the new flooring in contrasting brown and beige to make
it compliant with Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations. The line is also
getting new seat covers in new material so the trains are smarter for the next
few years of service. The Bakerloo line fleet team has finished the
installation of new seats on 31 out of 36 trains.
Elizabeth line (Crossrail)
Shenfield
We took delivery of the
Elizabeth line’s first Class 345 train on 9 December, ready for test running on
the Shenfield line. The testing will be largely carried out at night, with the
first few tests already completed. Bombardier has already built five new trains
out of a total of 66 and production continues at its Derby factory.
Station improvements
We have almost finished
modernising Ilford, Manor Park and Seven Kings stations. Work at Brentwood and
Chadwell Heath continues and is on schedule for completion at the end of March
2017. We have refurbished the ticket hall and constructed the gateline at
Brentwood. The contract for work at Gidea Park, Goodmayes and Harold Wood has
been awarded to Walker Construction.
Construction progress
The Crossrail project remains on
time and within the funding envelope of £14.8bn. The project is now more than
80 per cent complete. More than 14,000 people are currently working on the
project and over 4,500 jobs have been created so far. Cost pressures continue
to be managed by Crossrail Ltd. There is a 51 per cent chance of drawing on our
share of the contingency in the funding envelope.
London Rail
London Overground
New trains
Bombardier has started building
the first of 45 new Class 710 trains. These will come into service in spring
2018 on the newly electrified Gospel Oak to Barking route; the West Anglia
route from Chingford; and the routes between Cheshunt and Enfield, and Watford
and Euston. Full fleet deployment remains on target for completion by the end
of 2018.
Docklands Light Railway
Rolling stock replacement
programme
The Beckton Depot Concept Design
(RIBA Stage 2) tender evaluation is complete and the contract award is due in
March 2017. The network-wide gauging and clearance survey, track condition
assessment and the structural load analysis for the new rolling stock have all
been completed. Design parameters included in the rolling stock technical
specification will be issued in the official Journal of the European Union
(OJEU) notice in March 2017.
London Buses
Fairer deal for London’s bus drivers
For many years, the pay of bus
drivers has been set in isolation by the private bus companies which operate
routes on our behalf. This has led to variations in pay between drivers
employed by different companies, despite their similar level of skills and
experience. We have been working with the bus companies and trade union
representatives, and in December the Mayor announced the introduction of a
fairer system for bus drivers’ pay, including a new starter minimum wage of
£23,000 for drivers working across all of London’s bus companies.
The new proposals include:
• A requirement by bus companies
to pay drivers at least £23,000 per annum reflecting the challenging nature of
the bus driver role, which now includes greater focus on customer service. This
will apply to all new contracts awarded from 1 April 2017, and will rise with
inflation thereafter
• A Licence for London which
will be introduced this year, allowing drivers to move between companies taking
with them their qualification and driving record, without having to go on a
lower new starter rate
• Working with Unite
representatives and the operators to introduce a London-wide pay structure for
minimum levels of pay based on three and five-plus years’ experience
• Working with Unite
representatives and the operators to better support the progression of London’s
bus drivers through to management and other industry positions, including
addressing historic under-representation of minority groups. We aim to develop
an equality and diversity policy that fully represents the diversity of
London’s bus workers at every level in every company
• Ongoing work to address other
issues such as inadequate provision of toilet facilities and regular late
finishes to shifts
You can read more of the Commissioners report by clicking here.
Taking a look at the Finance report, under the section ‘Capital Account,’ it mentions the New
Routemaster (three-door two-staircase hybrid bus) only once in the whole
document.
Total capital expenditure is now
£131m (five per cent) lower than budget in the year-to date, principally due to
project rephasing (£116m) and cost reductions (£25m).
Capital expenditure on new buses
is above budget by £15m as a result of the accelerated delivery of the last new
Routemasters to secure a lower unit price.
Just a quick reminder - the final batch of New Routemasters was ordered
on 29th February 2016 by the previous Mayor Boris Johnson. The
current mayor has no plans on purchasing the three-door two-staircase New
Routemasters. Instead though, the private bus operating companies can purchase buses
which feature the New Routemaster design cues, such as the Volvo
B5LH Wright SRM and the Alexander Dennis Enviro400H City.
Currently there are six of the Volvo B5LH SRM’s (two-door New
Routemasters) owned by RATP-Dev London Sovereign (fleet code VHR) from Edgware
(BT) garage. They mainly appear on their contracted route 13 and will continue
to until the contract ends on 31st March 2017. On the London Vehicle Finder website, if you type in “RTP VHR*” (without
the quotes) into the search box and press enter, it will show up six SRM’s and
the routes they are currently on.
Regarding the Enviro400H City, they are currently on routes 26, 78,
333 and mixed with standard hybrids on route 133. Shortly, they will appear on
route 388 as CT Plus have purchased them for their route 388 contract which
they have retained.
Here’s a London Bus news update from LOTS:
1) About 30 of Arriva London’s
new Volvo B5LH/Gemini 3 buses (HV201+) have been delivered and several of those
at Tottenham for the eventual take-up of route 259 have been put into service –
initially used on the 243. At CT Plus,
12 (of the 16) E400H-City buses for route 388 have been delivered, as well
as a few of the E20D(MMC)s due for the take-up of the 397, W11 and W16 and to
be based at the new Walthamstow Avenue Garage. A handful of the new E400H(MMC) buses for Stagecoach route 277 are
delivered as well as the batch of ten E20D(MMC)s for Catford’s route 273 –
however neither batch is yet in service.
2) Arriva the Shires hasn’t had
any new buses for nearly two years, but two orders have been placed for the
early summer. Bus-wise, 31 x E20D(MMC)s for Luton (routes 12 and 27), Milton
Keynes (route 5) and Wycombe (route 32). All those are ‘premium’ routes and it
will cause a cascade of mid-life buses to remove much older stock. Coach-wise,
also coming in the summer are 13 x Mercedes Tourismo 0355 coaches for route 757
(London-Luton); these coaches are similar to those on the Stansted Citylink 767
service.
3) The threatened Tube Strike on 6/7/8th February is now
postponed.
I would like to mention that the new Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC buses (fleet code AE) which were purchased by Sullivan
Buses for route W9 contain the ‘Enviro400H City’ interior design which CT Plus did with their new Enviro200 classic (fleet code 12**), for their
route W19 contract.
As always, I invite you to follow me on Twitter and Google Plus
which is @CLondoner92