Review of Rail Network Performance in the Snow of December 2010
1 Introduction On the afternoon of Tuesday 30 th November 2010 heavy snow began to fall in London and Kent. From the early evening of this day, train services began to be badly affected by these conditions resulting in a nightmare commute home for thousands of South Eastern Trains (SET) customers and even resulted in several trains being stranded overnight. On Wednesday 1 st and Thursday 2 nd December 2010 no train services nor bus replacement services were available for passengers to travel from Tonbridge into London. Only from Friday 3 rd December were some services eventually restored to London. Many were badly affected by these events, including being stranded in London mainline stations, forced to take dangerously over-crowded trains, and then not being able to travel to work on subsequent days. The (TLC) association have therefore decided to write a document summarising the TLC opinion on the performance of Network Rail (NR) and South Eastern Trains (SET) during this time. Although TLC appreciate that bad weather makes conditions very difficult for both NR and SET to run a good service during such conditions TLC believe that many improvements can be made by both organisations. This report is structured as follows. Section 2 provides a list of complaints about the performance of the Train Operation (i.e. the performance of both NR and SET) during these times. Section 3 recognises that there were good points about the train operation during this period. These good points should be noted and continued in the future. Section 4 then provides a list of proposals that NR and SET should consider in future. Section 5 illustrates some of the problems with photos and screen shots. In addition to NR and SET making changes due to this report, TLC hope and expect the Department for Transport (DfT) to tighten the franchise arrangement to ensure that passengers are provided with a better service. The DfT, NR, and SET must all remember that the travelling passenger ultimately pays their salary through fares and through taxes. All three parties should therefore focus their efforts on providing a better passenger service during periods of severe service disruption due to bad weather, fire, accidents, or terrorist action. TLC would also like to recognise many staff of NR and SET who worked in often freezing conditions to get trains operating again thank you! TLC are happy to work with any of the DfT, NR, and SET if they want to test any ideas or improvements they want to make. 2 Complaints about Train Operation during snowy weather TLC have received complaints from many of our members concerning the train operation during the snowy weather. These are listed in Table 1. These complaints have been grouped into the following categories:
Info: complaints about the information provided to passengers Station: Complaints about the stations including information at stations Service: Complaints about the service Train: Complaints about the train service In several cases additional information such as screen shots or photos are available in the appendix of section 5. no category complaint Additional Information Information on the South Eastern Trains and National Rail website could not be C101 Info believed: See Appendix C101 in section 5.1 - real time information could not be and 5.2. believed - list of train routes not running was not believable Information on South Eastern Trains and C102 Info National Rail website not updated See Appendix C104 in section 5.3. sufficiently and not always time stamped C103 Info Internet did not give information to know even if each station was open n/a C104 Info Network overview was good. However it could be improved. For example Sevenoaks Line had no service but Hastings and Ashford line both reported "Severe Delays". However Hastings and Ashford line both run over Sevenoaks Line. Should be "Part Suspended". Clicking on this should then give a break down on each section of line. This is how Transport for London report such conditions See Appendix C104 in section 5.3. C105 Info Not possible to understand contingency timetable - in particular how many trains were running from London to Tonbridge? See Appendix C101 in section 5.1. C201 station Train staff at Waterloo East and London Bridge seemed clueless as to what was happening and what to do n/a C202 C203 C204 station station station London Bridge was dangerously overcrowded in parts No announcement at WAE and LBG that passengers can use HS1 with no additional charge Platforms were not cleared of snow and gritted along the full length of the train n/a n/a This was particularly noticeable at Hildenborough station where a lack of grit and man power resulted in ice build up on the platforms and more
no category complaint Additional Information alarmingly on the steps on the bridge crossing the tracks. Several people were reported as slipping on the steps. Only a week after the original snow was the problem finally rectified. C205 station Car Parks were not gritted See Appendix C205 in section 5.4. According to one of our members a Porsche recently slid down the ramp to the roundabout in Tonbridge straight into a Land Rover. Severe problems were also reported at Hildenborough where the steep C301 C302 C401 Service Service Trains Service controllers did not appear to know where all the trains were located Trains were dangerously overcrowded on Tuesday 30th November causing great stress to many passengers Electostar trains appear to break down easier than Hitachi HS1 slope also was not gritted. One TLC member was stuck on a train overnight just outside Sevenoaks. Apparently service control staff were surprised to hear that passengers were stranded there. n/a n/a C402 Trains De-icing trains were out of action in maintenance Refer to: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standar d/article-23905529-de-icing-trainssent-for-service-in-the-big-freeze.do Table 1 Complaints about the Train Operation during the snowy weather 3 Good points about Train Operation during snowy weather There were some good aspects about the train operation during this period. These are listed in Table 2. SET and NR should be looking to build on these positive points in the future. no category good point G101 info Good points about SET website: - network overview was useful although could be improved - list of services actually running. However it should include the last time that this was verified See appendix G101 in section 5.5. G201 station Station staff at some stations were good and took the initiative, actively informing passengers where trains were using their service control monitors
G301 G302 service Shuttle services is a good concept. i.e. London to Tonbridge, Tonbridge - Hastings, Tonbridge to Ashford, etc service Complimentary upgrade to High Speed 1 provides good alternative options as HS1 appears to run when Electrostars do not Table 2 Good points about the Train Operation during the snowy weather 4 Suggestions for improvements during future snowy weather Several TLC members have suggested improvements that NR and SET should make during future snowy weather and other periods of major disruption. These are made in Table 3. The DfT should also take a look at these and perhaps enforce these as part of future franchises. TLC are happy to work with any party who is wanting to take these ideas forward. no area suggestion S101 Info Tell people in advance not to show up, like the airlines do. Make sure this information is communicated clearly and widely (i.e. radio, websites, TV). S102 Info Get the National Rail Enquiries website & South Eastern website updated frequently with time stamps indicating when the information was last updated. S103 Info Wrong information is as bad or worse than no information S104 Info Contingency timetable is impossible to understand. I am not sure if you have seen it but can you work out how many trains are supposed to run through Tonbridge and at what times? Information customers can't understand is as useless as no information. S105 Info The boards need to be accurate. It's no good showing all trains and saying they are all delayed. What are their customers supposed to do with this information? S106 Info Advertise alternative routes over tannoys - e.g. use High Speed 1 route to get to Ashford and beyond, and even to Tonbridge S107 Info Using the tannoy provide updates on the service for each line including: - expected time of next train - expected number of trains in next hour - any problems and locations on this route - suggested alternative routes and travel advice S108 S109 S110 S201 Info Info Info Station On website provide a function so that you can see the location of ALL south eastern trains, along with destination and calling pattern, and distance travelled in the last 5 minutes (an indication of problems on the line), and any train specific information. If service controllers have access to this information, why don't the passengers who pay for all this information through fares and taxes! Test the information screens on real passengers. I am sure that TLC and other committees will volunteer to do this for free Make more information visible to service controllers available to the general public. On the platforms themselves there needs to be much more staff and they should be clearly identifiable.
no area suggestion S202 Station The tannoy system needs to be employed more readily, with much more information being provided much earlier. S203 Station Organise a one-way system so that people can move around the station. S204 Station Discourage crowds from settling around the information boards as this creates bottlenecks. S205 Station Hand out leaflets displaying information, alternative routes and how customers can claim compensation. S206 Station Equip station platform staff with mobile devices where they can receive e-mail or similar from a central control room. NB. Information to these devices should not be dependent on GSM network as this can become overloaded S207 Station Have practice emergency sessions at least twice a year where station staff practice giving out real time information using the standard format developed. These emergency's should cover. - snow - fire - terrorist attack S209 Station Standard Tannoy Announcement over tannoy: 1) What train is cancelled/delayed. 2) Why it is cancelled/delayed - preferably informative and in a language customers can understand 3) What is being done to fix the issue - are engineers on the way to the train? Are they already there looking at the problem? Is it being moved from the line? Is an ambulance on a way to treat an ill passenger? etc. 4) When is the problem expected to be fixed? Is the issue expected to be resolved in 10 minutes or 2 hours? 5) When is the train reasonably expected to arrive? 6) When will we receive the next update on the situation? S210 Station Better information boards at the far ends of major stations - i.e. London Bridge & Waterloo East S211 Station Ensure stations have a decent stock of grit S212 Station At each station identify key areas that must at all times be free of ice (e.g. stair cases on exposed bridged). Ensure that these are gritted before snow or ice is expected to form. S212 Station As soon as there has been heavy snowfall deploy groups of staff to go out as a team and remove fresh snow and grit station platforms and common walkways around the station. Particularly at smaller stations there are insufficient staff available to provide customer service AND make safe the platform and other walkways. S213 Station Ensure that roads in station car parks are gritted along with the walkways from the car park to the station. S301 Service Start some trains at London Bridge as by the time the trains got there from Charing Cross, they were already full hence the congestion at London Bridge doesn't dissipate. S302 Service Have a service controller with fixed responsibility for providing up-to-date passenger information for a single line. He will take ownership of helping commuters on this route get back home as quickly as possible and provide travel recommendations. He will also be responsible for providing up-to-date service information to staff on the station platforms
no area suggestion S303 Set the points in such a way that if they freeze it is still possible to run an emergency schedule. In the past platforms at Tonbridge were divided as follows and points set accordingly: Service - Platform 1: Redhill - Platform 2: Hastings - Platform 3: Ashford - Platform 4: London Table 3 Complaints about the Train Operation during the snowy weather 5 Appendix: Example of problems This appendix provides screenshots and photos which relate to the complaints and good points of the train operation during the snowy weather. The code at the start refers to the number of the problem in Table 1 or Table 2. 5.1 C101: Wrong information #1 Information on the South Eastern Trains and National Rail website could not be believed: - real time information could not be believed - list of train routes not running was not believable As an example please find attached screenshots from the National Rail network on Wednesday 1 st December 2010 recorded at 14:25. The full internet page took 3 screen shots. As can be seen this information was updated at 14:23 on 1 st Dec 2010. It clearly states that trains are running on most lines in Kent. Certainly from Tonbridge no trains were running!
Figure 1 Poor quality information., page 1 of 2
Figure 2 Poor quality information., page 2 of 2. Figure 2 also highlights the fact that it was not possible to infer how many trains were going to Tonbridge in the emergency time table. If two trains were travelling from Charing Cross to Ashford and two trains were travelling from Charing Cross to Tunbridge Wells then either 2 or 4 trains are travelling from Charing Cross to Tonbridge which? 5.2 C101: Wrong information #2 Another example of wrong information came from the real time information available on the national rail site. At 9:24 on the morning of Thursday 2 nd December the following screen shot was taken of real time train information from Tonbridge to Waterloo East. It shows all trains On Time when in fact no trains were running!
Figure 3 Poor quality real time information no trains were actually running! 5.3 C104: Inconsistent information #1 The network overview diagram was useful but could be improved. For example Sevenoaks Line had no service but Hastings and Ashford line both reported "Severe Delays". However Hastings and Ashford line both run over Sevenoaks Line. See the figure below. This figure also highlights the fact that this page does NOT have a last updated at time. This is always useful so users feel confident the information is up-to-date.
Figure 4 Inconsistent data and NO updated on timestamp. 5.4 C205: Car parks not gritted Several of our members have complained about the car parks not being gritted. TLC have photos taken at Tonbridge Station car park on 9 th December over a week after the initial snowfall which clearly shows that ice is still on the car park. This lies on the main pathway from the cars to the underpass that leads to the station. Another photo showed that when it next snowed on December 22 nd car parks again were not gritted.
Figure 5 Tonbridge station car park not gritted #1 9 th December 2010 Figure 6 Tonbridge station car park not gritted #2 9 th December 2010
One member reported a Porsche recently slid down the ramp to the round-a-bout straight into a Landrover. Photos taken on 22 nd December 2010 after fresh snow fall clearly show how this was possible. Figure 7 Tonbridge station car park not gritted #3 22 nd December 2010 5.5 G101: Useful Information The list of services actually running was useful. An example is shown in Figure 8. However SET should have included the time that this information was updated. There is always a concern that information has not been updated and that old and wrong information is being displayed.
Figure 8 List of service running was useful. However a last updated timestamp should be added