Figures published today by Transport for London claim that the Tube’s ‘long-term trend of improvement is continuing’.
The transport operator published the figures on the same day that the London Assembly released their report claiming Tube delays have risen by 20% between 2009/10 and 2010/11.
TfL said delays are ‘now down by 35% since the programme of work to upgrade the network began’ in 2003/04.
Transport for London admit ‘there was a dip’ in performance in the autumn and winter of 2010/11, ‘attributable to a number of factors including strikes’.
Some difficulties also ‘arose with the new systems being introduced to improve capacity and customer journeys on the Jubilee and Victoria lines’, TfL said.
TfL said that LU has since ‘introduced a programme of actions to improve reliability and speed up incident recovery, and performance has now returned to the levels seen before last year’s dip – with delays and Excess Journey Time during the first four periods of this year down to below the levels of last year’.
TfL said that ‘although there is still a great deal of work to be done performance has improved significantly from the period that the report looks at and LU is working hard to ensure that this trend continues’.
Work is underway to review industrial relations, with LU Managing Director Mike Brown and the RMT’s Bob Crow having agreed to a ‘fresh approach including that the union has agreed that any future individual tribunal cases will follow the normal processes for resolving individual disputes, including exhausting the ACAS process, in advance of any ballot for industrial action being called.’
Negotiations with all unions on pay and on working arrangements over the Olympics are also ‘continuing positively’.
Mike Brown, MD of London Underground said:
“The Tube is approaching 150 years old and we are currently undertaking the biggest upgrade in its history – replacing signaling, trains and track to boost capacity and provide passengers with more reliable and more comfortable journeys.
“This can’t be achieved overnight and some disruption is inevitable as the work takes place.
“However, Londoners rightly expect reliable journeys, and we are completely focused on making sure that we deliver that.
“There clearly was a dip in overall performance at the end of last year, but the programme of measures that we have introduced since then has meant that we have turned that around, as the latest figures show.
“Now that we are free from the inefficient PPP, and have completed work on the Jubilee line, we are delivering some huge improvements on the Tube and we continue to make the case to the Government for the investment needed to ensure this continues.
“We will also do all we can to make sure that, where upgrade work means that closures are necessary, we complete the work in the quickest possible time and give our passengers all the information they need on what we are doing and how to avoid disruption.”
