Crossrail to launch on line that suffered 50,000 hours of passenger delays

Posted by GLA Conservatives in News   Share2017

Mar
13

– TfL Rail will be used as the North-East part of the £15billion Crossrail project
– New figures show TfL Rail suffered 3 million minutes of passenger delays in 6 months, equivalent to 5.7 years
– Causes of delays included 'sunlight on signal' and 'leaf contamination'

The TfL Rail service has caused five and a half years of delays in a 6 month period, putting the future operation of the Crossrail in question.

New figures, revealed by London Assembly Member Keith Prince, show TfL Rail has been the cause of over 50,000 hours of passenger delays due to issues including;
– 251,856 minutes of delays due to “Passengers joining/alighting”
– 124,020 minutes due to hot rails, also called “Critical rail temperature speeds”
– 50,244 minutes due to “Software Problems”
– 44,202 minutes due to “Leaf contamination”
– 14,946 minutes due to “Sunlight on signal”
– 9,858 minutes due to staff issues, recorded as “late” or “missing”
– 5,406 minutes due to “lost luggage”

TfL Rail runs from Liverpool Street to Shenfield, and in 2018 will use the same track as the North-East section of Crossrail. Set to be called the Elizabeth Line when opened, Crossrail is Europe’s largest construction project, and is set to relieve congestion across the capital.

Keith Prince will be calling on the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to look into the causes of delay on TfL Rail, and ensure he resolves these issues before the Elizabeth Line comes into operation. Assembly Member Prince will also be ensuring that the Mayor’s poor TfL investment record is not adding to these issues.

Keith Prince said:

“These figures paint a worrying picture for the launch of Crossrail on this line later this year.

“Train delays will always occur but the frequency and types of issues facing TfL Rail are largely preventable.

“Londoners should not be held up by trivial issues such as sunlight on a signal, lost luggage, or missing staff.

“They may seem like minutes to TfL officials, but to the hundreds of people being delayed on each train they add up. A decade of passenger time could be wasted every year completely unnecessarily.

“What is most concerning is this exact set of track is to become a large part of Crossrail. The Mayor needs to push TfL to resolve these issues and ensure the Crossrail fulfils its potential to reduce congestion in London.”

Notes:
– Figures taken from a TfL Freedom of Information request for the period May 9 to Nov 9,
– Total delay calculations exclude incidents with fatalities, and each minute of train delay were multiplied by the number of seated passengers (318 per train).
– Total delays 3,033,084 passenger minutes equates to 50,551 hours, 2,106 days, and 5.7 years
– Rolling stock seated capacity of the TfL Rail trains (Class 315) is 318 seated passengers, 431 total with standing
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/4153/tpecapacities.pdf