A brighter future for tube passengers with Great London Transport
Tube passengers are promised a better and more efficient service with a greater role for the private sector under the biggest shake-up of underground transport in the capital in decades.
Services on eleven lines will come under accountable national leadership, bringing to an end many years of inadequate unsustainable locally-based travel provision.
A new state-owned body, Great London Transport (GLT), will allow the government to dictate the infrastructure, collect fare revenue, plan the network, set fares and specify timetables, formalising the temporary role of benevolent overseer imposed during the pandemic.
The new brand name has been chosen as a nostalgic nod to the glory days of London Transport, but with the word Great inserted in front to make it sound more patriotic.
The iconic roundel will be retained as it remains the most widely-used and best-recognised symbol of London, but will be recoloured blue as a reminder to the Mayor of who's really in charge.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:
I am a great believer in the tube, but since I left the helm in 2016 passengers have not had the level of service they deserve. By creating Great London Transport and holding the purse strings of the network, this government will deliver a tube system the rest of the nation can afford.
Yesterday the government announced that the concession model used by Transport for London in its successful Overground and DLR services is to be used as a benchmark for new rail services operated by Great British Railways. This model will therefore be extended to each of the individual tube lines overseen by Great London Transport, with Passenger Service Contracts awarded to competitively procured passenger service operators.
Great London Transport will sub-contract the individual tube lines across London and run them as an integrated system to common goals. If it's good enough for the railways it's good enough for the Underground, even if practically this is a backward step.
The geographic and financial size of Passenger Service Contracts will reflect local markets and needs. The Metropolitan line and Central line will be awarded the largest subsidies as they serve suburbs beyond the London boundary so are more deserving of levelling-up funding. Most stations in Islington will be closed.
Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary said:
The pandemic has seen the government take unprecedented steps to protect services and jobs. It’s now time to kickstart reforms that give the tube solid and stable foundations for the future, unleashing the competitive, innovative and expert abilities of the private sector, and ensuring voters in the red wall see us being tough on London.
The Secretary of State for Transport will be accountable to Parliament for how the tube delivers for passengers,
communities, the economy, the environment and taxpayers. The current system frustrates the government's ability to
exercise democratic control and run the system the way it sees fit.
GLT must drive significant efficiencies in the tube's inflated costs, reducing complexity, increasing flexibility, changing working practices and making it easier and cheaper to invest. Preference will be given to passenger service operators keen to reopen long-closed ghost stations, slash staff pensions and introduce driverless trains.
If you think you have what it takes to run the Victoria line for profit, or have innovative plans to monetise the Bakerloo, be sure to submit a tender document. In line with existing good practice, companies whose directors are friends or relatives of current Cabinet Ministers will be given preference.
Shaun Bailey, Chair of the Tube Review, said:
Overcomplication is built into many aspects of the tube network. There are around 7 different types of train in passenger service on today’s network and as an expert I don't see why there shouldn't be just one, reducing costs in maintenance, regulation and crew training. No commercial airline would have that many types of aircraft, so let's just have one type of tube train.
Recent designs of new trains have compromised on passenger comfort, with hard seats in close configuration and features such as tables no longer commonplace. In future tube trains will be made more pleasant to travel on and easier to work aboard, except in East London where cramming in passengers like cattle should continue to be the norm.
Great London Transport will be expected to develop fresh revenue streams that benefit customers. This could involve building housing above overground tracks, incorporating advertising within the mobile fares app or delivering high-quality freight access where it is most needed.
Unnecessary duplication of lines will be ended to reduce costs. This means the Piccadilly line will no longer run between Acton Town and South Kensington, the Metropolitan line will be truncated to start at Wembley Park and the Hammersmith & City line will be withdrawn except for a shuttle service between Liverpool Street and Aldgate East.
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said:
(nothing, because the tube is not his plaything any more)
Confusing fares undermine trust and damage passengers' confidence that they are getting the best deal. Great London Transport will use its leadership role to muddy the current Oyster and contactless system with a selection of innovative, frictionless payment options including double taps for part-time season ticket holders and the introduction of advance purchase tickets printed on small rectangular pieces of card.
Please note that to match any reductions in certain fares, other fares will need to be increased. Please note that frequency intervals on the Circle line will not be permitted to exceed service provision on railways in Hartlepool. Please note that the Bakerloo line extension will not be funded until every Yorkshire mining town has been connected to the rail network.
As we build back better London must not be seen to have a better transport network than the rest of the country. The imposition of Great London Transport is the first step in taking back control, rewinding to a golden age of Edwardian entrepreneurship and levelling down.
Tube passengers are promised a better and more efficient service with a greater role for the private sector under the biggest shake-up of underground transport in the capital in decades.
