LONDON TRANSPORT
LOROL has worked hard to improve reliability year-on-year. LOROL has remained focused on operational performance, looking at areas where it can improve and innovate. For example, ill passengers were identified as a significant cause of disruption and so we have taken steps to ensure that they are helped more effectively.
We have also successfully reduced the number of fleet technical incidents by 36% and fleet delay minutes by 53%. The latest ATOC figures also show that LOROL has improved the number of delays per incident (DPIs) by over 40%, currently the best improvement in the UK.
Working closely with Bombardier this year, LOROL also introduced new train monitoring technology which logs performance data, enabling the fleet team to respond to issues quickly and reduce delayed minutes.
In addition, by focusing on our biggest asset – our employees – we have also created a highly engaged workforce. Evidence that this investment in staff is paying off comes directly from customers in surveys and feedback.
By putting people, both employees and customers, at the heart of the company we have created a rail service that is strongly supported by passengers both for the level of customer service provided and the value for money it offers.
Ongoing programme of station refurbishment
It has been a priority to improve and maintain station environments and ambience since day one of the London Overground and this underlines our commitment to creating a safe environment for passengers and staff, as well as the local community.
Ongoing investment in CCTV, lighting, painted finishes and clean canopies, as well as high-quality signage, have made a real difference for customers, as have transport links such as bus stops, shelters, cycle racks and short-term parking bays.
Station refurbishment works completed at Willesden Junction last year also demonstrate what can be achieved on the railways when different organisations pull together, and further emphasise the successful way in which LOROL has encouraged multi-party working and improvement schemes on the network since it took over the concession.
The scheme was funded by Network Rail, TfL and the London Boroughs of Brent, Ealing and Hammersmith and Fulham, with project support from LOROL, along with the main
contractor, Walkers Construction, and the local community group, the Harlesden Town Team.
Five-car trains on the Overground network
Demand for the London Overground has grown and will continue to do so as the population and employment in London increases. This means the business always needs to look ahead in terms of the next service improvement or project.
While a fleet of new trains were introduced in 2009 and capacity has doubled since then, it is clear that more capacity is needed to meet this demand. It is therefore vital we work with TfL to further expand the railway whilst continuing to deliver punctual trains and first-rate levels of customer service.
The London Overground Capacity Improvement Project (LOCIP) involves extending most of our trains from four to five cars, increasing capacity by 25% on our electric routes to help carry more passengers and reduce crowding on trains. This will not just benefit our customers and stakeholders, but industry partners and the company as a whole.
This £320m project, funded by TfL, includes the improvement and extension of platforms at 25 stations and the delivery of an extra 57 carriages. Improvement works are also taking placed at Silwood sidings, New Cross Gate depot and Willesden depots, plus reconfiguring of signalling and track is needed also. (RTM included an interview about this with Huw Edwards, head of programme delivery at London Overground, in our Dec/Jan 2014 edition).
The first five-car trains will be officially running on the East London Line by December 2014 and the project will be completed on the North London Line in 2015.
Extending the network
Partnership working was one of the key contributing factors to the successful opening of the extension from Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction on the Overground network in December 2012, completing London’s first orbital railway for 128 years.
This extension means an increase in the number of trains on the network around the capital from 945 to 1,088 every day. TfL estimates that each year more than 12 million passengers will use the new route, which provides the south London area with greater options for travel. Rather than rail journeys into London terminals such as Victoria or London Bridge stations, the new extension has given passengers the option of
going around the city.
TfL also has ambitious plans to extend the London Overground over the next two years. In April, TfL confirmed that West Anglia services between Liverpool
Street station
to Enfield Town, Cheshunt and Chingford will come under their management in May 2015 and will be operated as part of the Overground. This is great news for the London Overground network.
The future
LOROL’s recent success has fundamentally been down to our highly trained and skilled workforce and the strong partnerships we have formed with other TOCs, stakeholders, industry partners and our local community. What best sums this up is our vision: ‘developing our railway together, proudly connecting communities around London’.
The most recent National Passenger Survey confirms that LOROL remains industry leading. Again we were voted as one of the best rail services in the UK with high scores in areas such as punctuality, reliability, cleanliness and helpfulness of staff. And with a plethora of awards for operational performance and European commuter operator of the year, it seems we’re on the right track.
Our work and commitment to deliver TfL’s vision
for the London Overground was
rewarded when we secured a two-year extension to operate the network until November 2016. The extension recognises the efforts the team at LOROL and our partners have made and the excellent operational delivery that has been achieved.
We have different challenges to meet in the future, but we are determined to do so whilst continuing to maintain our excellent levels of industry-leading punctuality, performance and customer service that the London Overground has become recognised for.
Peter Austin
FOR MORE INFORMATION
www.lorol.co.uk
rail technology magazine Apr/May 14 | 131
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