Public Transport (London) (Hansard, 24 July 1984)

§ Mr. Ridley

I have today written to the chairmen of British Rail and London Regional Transport setting out my proposals for closer co-operation. I have formed a new committee, the London Passenger Transport Group, comprising myself and the two chairmen. The first meeting of the group is being held today.

The full text of my letter is as follows: An important aim of the Government, in proposing the measures now enacted in the London Regional Transport Act, is to promote closer co-operation between London Regional Transport and the British Railways Board's London commuter services, within a common framework of objectives, so that they can work together better in improving transport services for London. This is a large task, and I am writing to you both to set out how I want to carry it forward in a common programme of work.

Network and Service Levels

I want to see:

—a better match between demand for services and their supply;
—a better interchanges between rail, bus and underground;
—better co-ordinated services, routes, timetables and information to passengers, helped by through-ticketing and travelcard arrangements;
—no wasteful duplication of services provided;
—innovation in improving services, facilities and value for money of public transport in London, involving the private sector where appropriate.

I do not want to see a programme of major route closures, for which there will be no need in an efficient public transport system covering a substantial part of its costs.

556W

Standards of Services I enclose with this letter a set of service standards for London commuter services which British Rail have developed over several years, based on market research into what travellers on these services see as most important. I would like to see service standards developed for the Underground, in the same way. They help to show the value of the subsidy, and to guide service planning and investment. I know that your two organisations have already worked together on joint marketing, and common ticketing and information systems. We must review this and consider how it should be developed. We shall certainly need to consider quickly the extension of the Travelcard system to British Rail services, and in the slightly longer term automatic ticketing. London Regional Transport have a statutory duty to have regard to the needs of disabled people and to report on steps they have taken to cater for them. I should like us to have an early joint assessment of measues to foster easier travel for people who are frail or disabled. I know that the British Railways Board have already done very welcome work in this field.

Subsidy and Fares It is part of my responsibilities to set financial objectives for the two organisations. On 20 July I set a subsidy target for London Regional Transport for 1987–88. The Government had already in October 1983 set a target for the central Government PSO grant to British Rail in 1986. I now propose to consider with British Rail the financial projection for the London and South East sector for 1987–88 in their 1984 Corporate Plan. The targets set do not require large fare increases if costs are controlled. I have already said that British Rail should not use their market position to raise fares unreasonably, and after any initial adjustment to strike a fairer balance between travellers and ratepayers, British Rail and underground fares should maintain a broadly consistent relationship with each other. I hope your organisations will work closely together to produce fare systems easily understood by customers and convenient for them and cost-effective to administer, while having a close and increasing regard to the costs of different forms of provision.

Investment We shall need to work to bring together a coherent investment programme for rail services for London. We must quickly develop a special programme for improving interchanges. The right first step is to review the current programmes for investment in the Underground and in the BR services, and the priorities as seen by the two organisations, and to consider whether there are important gaps, and the weight to be given to financial and nonfinancial considerations. Improved information on costs of services will also be important here. If any necessary joint developments are delayed by disagreement over sharing of costs, it will have to fall to me to decide the issue. For my part, I shall also want to give special attention to those links which are of national importance, particularly services to the international airports, and to interchanges including links with the M25".

ANNEX Service Standards (BR London Commuter Services)

Load Factors

(a)Maximum load factors should not exceed the following figures, taking the train as a whole over the busiest section of its journey. The figures are for the number of people in the train as a percentage of the number of seats: 100 per cent. for compartment stock, 110 per cent. for other slam-door stock, 135 per cent. for sliding door stock.
(b)No passenger should have to stand for more than about 20 minutes on a fast train, or about 15 minutes on a stopping train.

Punctuality At least 90 per cent. of trains should arrive at their destination on time or within 5 minutes of it.

Cancellations 557W Taking the year as a whole, not more than 1½ per cent. of all booked trains should be cancelled.

Train Cleaning Every train should be washed externally every working day, and should receive heavy internal cleaning every four weeks.

Telephone Enquiries 95 per cent. of calls to telephone inquiry bureaux should be answered within 30 seconds.

Ticket Offices Customers at ticket offices should not have to wait for more than 5 minutes for attention at peak times, or three minutes at off peak times.