TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services

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PostTfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by KK » Thu Jan 21, 2016 1:26 pm

Guardian wrote:Government backs TfL plan to run London's commuter rail services - Plans for Transport for London and the capital’s mayor to take over operational control of the city’s suburban commuter services from rail companies have received government backing.

A more frequent, metro-style service would run across suburban London under proposals published on Thursday, which would see TfL take over parts of the rail network currently run by operators such as Southern and Southeastern when franchises are renewed.

The proposals would see TfL taking control of inner suburban rail services from London Bridge, Cannon Street, Charing Cross, Moorgate, Victoria, and Waterloo stations, which TfL has said would improve journeys in and beyond the capital.

The transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, said he supported the transfer of powers to London, which the mayor, Boris Johnson, has long sought, but said it was important to reassure commuters outside the capital that services would not suffer and they would still have a say.

McLoughlin said it was “a huge opportunity to transform travel”, adding: “We are working closely with TfL to agree the best way of delivering integrated, seamless journeys for passengers both inside and outside of London, and as we continue these discussions, we want to hear people’s views.”

Johnson said: “It’s a measure of the trust that we’ve built up that we can expand the success and deliver better services far and wide. Just as the Roman legions carried their eagle and Christian missionaries had the cross, so the TfL roundel will be raised proudly in parts of the suburban rail network that never saw it before. That is more than symnbolic becasue we try to deliver a standard of service, a proper turn-up-and-go service that Londoners really value.”

Johnson said the agreement in principle from the Department for Transport was “a massive breakthrough” but added: “We’re not going to deliver miracles overnight. The onus is on us, TfL, now not to disappoint: we’ve done a great job on the overground, we’ve got to improve suburban rail networks where some people feel they are being let down.”

TfL’s operational budget has been slashed and it remains unclear where the money to upgrade London’s suburban rail would come from.

London’s transport commissioner, Mike Brown, said the move would eventually allow fares, information and service levels to be fully integrated, and result in a more reliable rail network.

“People want to live close to stations and they want those stations to have good quality, frequent services connecting them to jobs and to leisure,” he said. “Providing such services is vital to the future success of our city, yet at present there are wide variations in the levels of service customers’ experience.”

The aim is for more than 80% of stations in Greater London to have trains departing every 15 minutes, up from 67% now. It is also proposed that local authorities will have more say in the way services are planned and specified.

Passenger numbers have boomed since the former North London line was rebranded as the first stretch of the London Overground in 2007. Since then the overground has expanded south and east, with parts of the Greater Anglia franchise most recently drawn into the network. Parts of the South West franchise would come under TfL in 2017, followed by Southeastern in 2018, and some Southern and Thameslink services from 2021.

Brown said the proposals had widespread support from across the parties.

Labour’s candidate for the mayoralty, Sadiq Khan, said the announcement was a step in the right direction, but added: “It’s still a consultation with no sign of a proper agreement with the relevant authorities. It will do little to address the anger and frustration of commuters who deserve action now.”

The Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate, Caroline Pidgeon, said: “You have to ask why it has taken until just four months before the London mayoral elections for Tory ministers at the DfT to finally accept that for too long people using these services have suffered from delays, disputes and disruption. They should sack the franchise holders now.”

Cancellations and disruptions on some London commuter services have become so bad that 20 MPs met Southern bosses this week to demand improvements, while unions have called for the franchise to be reviewed.

McLoughlin admitted rail services in the capital were poor, but said much of the disruption was due to improvement work that would provide “fantastic stations” and better trains.

Paul Plummer, the chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents Network Rail and train operators, said: “The railway in and around London is full in many places and, even with planned improvements to allow more trains to run, the desire for more services for passengers in the capital will have to be balanced with the needs of passengers further away and with the needs of rail freight.”

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016 ... -transport



Fantastic news!

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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by Herdanos » Thu Jan 21, 2016 1:29 pm

Conservatives in secret nationalisation move? Well I never.

Let's hope it's a roaring success and leads to further nationalisation of rail lines nationwide. :toot:

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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by KK » Thu Jan 21, 2016 1:32 pm

Well as someone else put it...

Funny how immediate action is taken when London's services go to gooseberry fool. Public ownership and control is OK with the Conservatives when it directly impacts them.

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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by Moggy » Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:04 pm

KK wrote:Well as someone else put it...

Funny how immediate action is taken when London's services go to gooseberry fool. Public ownership and control is OK with the Conservatives when it directly impacts them.


Pretty much. :lol:

That reminds me of David Cameron's letter moaning to his local council about cuts. :fp:

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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by SEP » Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:46 pm

339 Dan.s until Christmas! wrote:Conservatives in secret nationalisation move? Well I never.

Let's hope it's a roaring success and leads to further nationalisation of rail lines nationwide. :toot:


If the roaring success and the £1 billion put into the public pocket when the East Coast franchise was state-run couldn't convince them, nothing will.

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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by Errkal » Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:50 pm

They are probably giving at all the TfL as it makes it even more appealing to private companies to buy when they sell it off as a whole.

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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by OrangeRKN » Thu Jan 21, 2016 3:06 pm

Somebody Else's Problem wrote:
339 Dan.s until Christmas! wrote:Conservatives in secret nationalisation move? Well I never.

Let's hope it's a roaring success and leads to further nationalisation of rail lines nationwide. :toot:


If the roaring success and the £1 billion put into the public pocket when the East Coast franchise was state-run couldn't convince them, nothing will.


It wasn't as simple as that. The East Coast franchise was profitable when state run, but that's partially because it was using old trains (at considerably lower rental costs than the franchises it was compared against) that needed replacing and was not making anywhere near the same level of reinvestment back into the railways. Arguably the line would have been profitable under private ownership also due to the factors surrounding it.

The projected returns to the treasury under private ownership are also higher than the amount made while under state ownership.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/201 ... ves-london

I kind of flip-flop around on re-nationalisation because it's so hard to cut through the ideologically driven debate to find the actual facts. Initially I was under the impression that the East Coast line was clear evidence in favour of nationalisation, but I am no longer convinced.

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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by Irene Demova » Thu Jan 21, 2016 5:32 pm

Still costs a shitload more to the customer now that virgin run it

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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by KK » Wed May 16, 2018 1:29 pm

Two years later, add another one to the nationalisation list...

BBC News wrote:Rail services on East Coast Main Line are being brought back under UK government control, operator Stagecoach Group says.

Stagecoach says it has been advised that an "operator of last resort" would be appointed to run the London to Edinburgh service.

Stagecoach has operated the franchise with Virgin Trains since 2015.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling is expected to make a statement to parliament shortly.

It is the third time in a decade that the government has called a halt to the East Coast franchise.

Stagecoach said in a statement that, along with Virgin, it had been negotiating a new contract with the Department for Transport.

But the company said it now understood that Mr Grayling was "no longer considering" Virgin and Stagecoach for the deal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44142258

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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by Moggy » Wed May 16, 2018 1:34 pm

Necro-ing posts? Tut tut. ;)

Taking the train lines back into public hands is a positive, but I would imagine all the Tories will do is spend lots of tax payers money on it, before flogging it off again in a couple of years. Meh.

Interesting that they are able to nationalise things though, isn’t one of Corbyn’s arguments that this is impossible under EU rules?

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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by Peter Crisp » Wed May 16, 2018 1:35 pm

My local train service is on the London - Peterborough route so this may be affected.
We've recently had new trains enter service here as part of the Themeslink 2000 (yeah, it really is that late in being finished) upgrade program so hopefully that isn't involved.

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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by 7256930752 » Wed May 16, 2018 2:05 pm

Irene Demova wrote:Still costs a shitload more to the customer now that virgin run it

But how do you know it wasn't heavily subsidised to reduce the cost to customers?

I'm much like OR and go back and forth between the positives and negatives of nationalisation. In a nutshell I would say my reasons for are long term planning and the ability to invest in plant/equipment/systems that will last for 50+ years, consistent training and skill sets, why I'm against are lack of innovation, lack of any alternative product/service and the difficulty in identifying and removing poor performing staff.

I also don't understand why people believe that regulated businesses will magically improve if they are nationilsed. The government is making all the rules and regulations anyway so they essentially have control.

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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by Moggy » Thu May 17, 2018 7:14 am

Meanwhile, in Japan.

A Japanese rail company has apologised after a train left a station 25 seconds early, the second such case in months.

The operator said the "great inconvenience we placed upon our customers was truly inexcusable".

If the details are anything to go by, customers are faced with slipping standards: a train last November left 20 seconds early while this time it was a full 25 seconds premature.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-44149791


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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by Saint of Killers » Thu May 17, 2018 7:16 am

:lol: Brilliant.

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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by Lagamorph » Thu May 17, 2018 9:52 am

So we can expect a 1 billion percent increase in strike action.

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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by Hypes » Thu May 17, 2018 10:01 am

Why would they strike because the trains were early?

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PostRe: TfL to take back control of London's commuter rail services
by Lagamorph » Thu May 17, 2018 10:17 am

Train workers will literally strike over anything ;)

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