Agenda and draft minutes

Minutes of the last meeting were agreed as an accurate record.

As a matter arising, Councillor Krupski asked the TfL representative about a previous question she asked on the enforcement on the A21 to which she was assured a response.

It was responded that a multi-agency meeting that was organised prior, Councillor Walsh had attended and was given a response to the question, but he will send the data to both Councillor Walsh and Councillor Krupski separately.

No interests were declared.

3.1.        Residents, Members and local groups had submitted questions to transport representatives, who had provided written responses to the questions (appendix).

3.2.        Southeastern gave an illustrative presentation, giving further context to their responses and detailing their plans to improve the service. The following was highlighted in their presentation:

3.2.1.    In November 2022, SE invited expressions of interest from the rolling stock supply market to provide options for new or cascaded/existing trains on the network. SE are drafting rhe desired train specification

3.2.2.    Southeastern and the DfT are considering a range of options, including: Modern rolling stock which is already built and operational and that is fit for the future; Potentially new rolling stock; Improving the current fleet of Networker trains. An online survey for stakeholders is running until 27 June.

3.2.3.    Network Rail, working with Southeastern, are currently delivering several targeted upgrades to Lewisham station: A new security gate and waiting shelter has been installed on platform; Improve signage and wayfinding; re-signing all station directional signage to ease movement of people during busy periods by end of July; relocating the gate line on platform 1 to the DLR concourse which will increase crowd flow capacity through the gate line and address safety and operational concerns due to congestion and crowding on the platform by March 2024; and refurbishing the toilets at Lewisham

3.2.4.    SE are working to balance the needs of stakeholders: customers, colleagues and taxpayers. They are a public sector (not for dividend) company and they operate on a taxpayer subsidy of circa £1m per day. this is driven, in part, by a revenue shortfall of circa £250m per annum versus 2019/20. The Elizabeth Line success removes £20m in revenue (to Mar 24)

3.2.5.    Usage of the service in 2023 is still significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels but has been increasing slowly since the start of 2023 with journeys between  Oct-Dec 22 at 28.7 million and Jan-Mar 23 at 29.4 million. Demand not yet stabilised –SE continue to monitor and adapt where needed.

3.2.6.    SE are running 2.3% fewer trains since April 2022. Some train operators have made larger reductions in services to match demand, while others have made corresponding increases. Since Dec 2022 SE have added services where needed and where funding is available.

3.2.7.    Passenger forecasting since Covid has been continued challenge and is continually being reviewed.

3.2.8.    Funding/subsidy approval is required for additional services. Having a scalable/simple timetable is a key enabler to adding services

3.2.9.    Since January, demand has increased. SE have already introduced extra services in Jan and Feb and added more in May. In total there will be 179 additional trains per week in May 23 compared to Dec 22.

3.2.10.There are 29 additional trains every weekday, Monday to Friday. 34 additional trains on Saturdays. In addition, every weekday 25 of SE trains will have more carriages than before, to provide extra capacity on some of our busiest services including on the Sidcup line.

3.2.11.The changes introduced so far have led  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

Public Transport Liaison Committee Meeting- QUESTIONS

13 June 2023

Hybrid Questions

TfL, Network Rail + Southeastern

1.    Recently we re-launched the Lewisham Station User’s Group (LSUG). Can you commit to attending all future LSUG meetings (quarterly) to ensure that residents views at taken into consideration whenever considering changes to scheduling or services at Lewisham? (Councillor Huynh)

Network Rail

I can commit to making my best endeavours to attend (or, if that is not possible, to sending a deputy to attend) future LSUG meetings.

I cannot commit to ensuring Network Rail attendance at every quarterly session. You will appreciate that across the Southern Region (Wessex, Sussex and Kent routes) there are a substantial number of Rail User Groups and other representative groups of various kinds meeting at a variety of intervals. It is not practical to attend every event held by every group given the resource available in the team, particularly when meetings are held in the evenings.

Nevertheless, I can commit to attend future LSUG meetings, and I would welcome a conversation with you and the group about your objectives and terms of reference so that we can find an appropriate and sustainable level of engagement to make sure that your voices are heard.

Southeastern

Yes, where we have the capacity to do so.

We engage regularly with many stakeholders across our network including councils, MPs, rail user groups and CRPs. In addition, since last October, we have run Meet the Manager sessions at 19 key stations on our network, including Lewisham, at which we talked to customers in person about the timetable changes, both to share our thinking and hear any feedback or concerns from customers directly.

Network Rail, Southern

2.    Can the train operators responsible and Network Rail give information on the performance and any plans in relation direct services to London Bridge from New Cross Gate, Brockley, Honor Oak Park, Forest Hill & Sydenham? (Councillor Hall)

Network Rail

The train operating company is best-placed to discuss service patterns on this line.

On performance, one specific way that we’re focusing on performance and reliability on the Sussex route is through our ‘Golden Corridors’ plan. We developed the Golden Corridors plan to identify critical locations where we have a higher frequency service and therefore a huge impact when things go wrong.

The London Bridge to Anerley (via Sydenham) corridor is one of the five Golden Corridors that we have identified. Together, these account for up to 22% of delay minutes, while only covering 10% of the network, making these areas twice as problematic as the network average. That means we need to work twice as hard here. We’ve created new rules, things we know will impact passenger journeys, to make sure we go above and beyond in these areas, whether that’s increased maintenance, targeting flooding hotspots or installing cameras to warn us of potential hazards before they occur.

Some of these rules include having no trespass and fatality incidents, cleaning up the railway, reducing wet beds and gaining appropriate access  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

TfL Responses to questions raised

Hybrid Questions

TfL, Network Rail + Southeastern

1.      Recently we re-launched the Lewisham Station User’s Group (LSUG). Can you commit to attending all future LSUG meetings (quarterly) to ensure that residents views at taken into consideration whenever considering changes to scheduling or services at Lewisham? (Councillor Huynh)

·         We were happy to attend the first LSUG. We are committed to attending stakeholder meetings to support strategic engagement with the community in Lewisham, where we are able to and where our Terms of Attendance are met. We would be very happy to meet with Cllr Huynh and discuss our attendance at future meetings and how we can best take into account residents views on our projects and services.

All networks

2.      How are you working to improve the quality and amenities of stations across the borough and ensure they are adequate for an inner London Borough? Can you share with us future station improvement roadmaps? (Councillor Walsh)

·         Rail Development and Policy colleagues are currently investigating proposed enhancement ideas have put forward for Lewisham station improvements.

·         Please note that we currently do not have funding committed to any such proposals and that we would need to develop a Business Case for any proposals which would then be subject to funding.

·         These proposed ideas will be communicated by Josh Freestone once updates are available.

TfL + Thameslink (Southern)

At a previous meeting, the written response of South Rail to our question on the re-establishment of a service to East Croydon was that did not have any plans to restore the service and sought to justify that by providing journeys into Crystal Palace, Clapham Junction and Victoria. There is no demand for trains to Crystal as this is served by the TfL service. For the northern section (including New Cross Gate and Brockley) there are faster services to Clapham Junction and Victoria either via central London or via TfL. There is no direct route any longer to East Croydon as neither Southern nor TfL services call there. Can we have statistics showing (a) how many passengers now have to change at Norwood Junction compared with those who would, if the previous service was re-introduced, need to change at Crystal Palace for Clapham Junction and Victoria? (Telegraph Hill)

·         If the Southern services via Crystal Palace are rerouted to Croydon then the capacity they provide will likely need to be replaced on the route to Victoria from Crystal Palace. This will be difficult given the reduced number of trains now available to Southern.

·         Our National Rail datasets show that the total number of journeys made between the stations from New Cross Gate to Anerley inclusive and East Croydon /West Croydon during the year 2022/23 is c0.7million.

·         Over the same period the total number of journeys made on Southern services that traverse the link between Sydenham and Crystal Palace that would need to interchange if these services were withdrawn is c0.9 million.

·         The passenger volumes therefore support the retention of the current service  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.