Archives for May 2010

So the train pulls away from, say, Bank station, as it goes round a bend and passengers are greeted with an almost deafening high-pitch scream.

Over the last couple of weeks, it seems the Northern line is the worst affected, though in the past I've experienced Central line trains in and out of Bank (mainly during summer months) testing my hearing to the limit.

I had intended to record the offending noise and put it up on the blog, but let's face it, it wouldn't be a popular clip.

Is it rails expanding in the heat? Or the brakes? What say Transport for London?

At certain locations depending on the geometry of the track and the weather conditions there can be high noise levels.

We control this with track lubrication but getting the correct amount of lubrication on the track is an exact science and we are constantly adjusting and readjusting it to get the balance right.

However there is always going to be some noise when you have steel wheels on metal tracks.

In a straw poll to find the worst affected lines, some of your responses to @BBCTravelAlert on Twitter were as follows:

@silken1987 - I'd say the central line is a good contender! Have to turn the volume all the way up on my mp3 player lol

@EdwynUK - Central line is ear splinteringly loud

@CazRudd - The Central Line, especially on the section between Stratford and Mile End is very noisy.

Any more for any more? TfL are aware of the issue and say they are doing something about it, but just how noisy are you finding the Tube when the weather's warm?

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The oyster card was aimed at making travel on London's public transport network quicker and more environmentally friendly - replacing the huge amount of paper tickets we use each day.

But a few years into the scheme, just how robust is your oyster?

In garnering anecdotal evidence, colleagues in the office have told me of their card becoming bent through having it in their back pocket, then it not working. And another card seizing up after getting wet.

Here's one esteemed colleague on his experience with his little blue friend:

"It would be silly to suggest that I prefer carrying around spare change or buying a paper ticket for each journey, but Oyster cards have created a new set of problems...

Is there a greater a breach of commuter etiquette (apart from standing on the wrong side of escalators) than waiting for the very last second as you reach the ticket barrier, and holding up the long queue for several seconds more than is strictly necessary, before you start fishing around in your pockets/handbag/wallet for your Oyster card? Why can't people have it ready in their hands?

And what of the embarrassment when your Oyster card fails?

Big red letters tell you to seek assistance, the barrier refuses to open, the person behind starts tutting and you slink away to the back of the queue.

This can happen even though you have enough cash or a have valid season ticket!

This also happens on the buses. Sometimes the driver will wave you through regardless; sometimes they insist on cash payment.

In the last 12 months, I've had to replace my Oyster card twice. Once because it got wet and another time because it had split.

Even now, with an annual season ticket and cash credit on my Oyster, I'll still fall occasional victim to the dreaded red dot on the swipe interfaces.

So, Oyster cards... Great, but it's a love/hate thing."

However the majority of replies on our Twitter feed, @BBCTravelAlert, feel differently:

@CazRudd - My son's Oyster washed in it's wallet 3 times still working! For travelcards prefer paper but buying PAYG credit is easier

@MarcusBoyland - Love it. Damn tough &much prefer to the old paper tickets. Also good you don't have to take it out of wallet-signal goes thru.

@roamingray - I only use oyster for season tickets. Don't trust it with pay-as-you-go, use paper for day traversal.

And one of you has a method for not carrying the card at all:

@perching - I have removed the RFID chip from my Oyster card and have it sewn into the sleeve of a jacket

So since the birth of the plastic, what do you prefer?

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Up in front of the Transport Committe of the London Assembly and we get some clarity about the Tube upgrade timetables from London Underground's Mike Brown.

In a nutshell, it's going to be very, very tough to meet the initial deadlines for the Northern and the Piccadilly Lines (2012 and 2014).

Clearly, Tube Line's upgrade of the Jubilee Line is already late and Mike Brown said he'd be surprised if that was finished by October.

He's "very concerned" about the Northern Line upgrade being ready for the Olympics as I mentioned last week. And it'll be a "real stretch" for the Piccadilly Line to be ready by 2014.

That does not bode well and I'd be amazed if any of those deadlines are met.

He said they'd know more when they looked at the books of Tube Lines on June 30th when they hope to take it over.

Another interesting point. This deal to buy out Tube Lines is not by any means a done deal.

He said he's 90% confident it will happen, and said he was optimistic. He also said he would look again at block closures of the Northern Line - I feel replacement bus services looming at Tooting Broadway.

See the video above for some of what he said...

UPDATE: 5pm

Later in the hearing, Transport for London admitted that the brand new East London Line trains had to be refitted with better cameras as drivers couldn't see the doors closing.

After questioning by the Liberal Democrat's Caroline Pidgeon, Ian Brown from TfL told the London Assembly that the line couldn't be opened as early as was hoped due to reliability problems.

The fleet of new trains cost £260 million and Ian Brown said TfL wouldn't be paying for the improvements to the trains and it had a claim outstanding with the train manufacturer, Bombardier.

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Freedom of Information requests can be a great way of finding things out. Although many times organisations simply turn them down on cost grounds (you know who you are!)

However, my colleague Julia Ross, the BBC's Freedom of Information researcher passed some information my way about Stratford International.

On one of the pages of the minutes of meetings in January between the Department for Transport and the developers Westfield it says Eurostar won't be running services out of Straftford International. Ever.

Now that doesn't go down well with those investing in that area like Westfield who want international links.

Eurostar categorically deny they have made a decision about services from Stratford - they probably want to see how the development at Stratford pans out.

But somehow the Dft got the impression and put it in the minutes of an important meeting that Eurostar didn't want to run services from that station. Incidentally other operators are looking at running international services from Stratford...

The only thing I could get from the Dft:

"Eurostar operates on a fully commercial basis and any decision to stop at Stratford International is a matter for them."

Here's what the Mayor of Newham, Sir Robin Wales, has to say:

"It's exciting we have a government that is committed to high-speed rail. But in Stratford International we have a station that is only international by name. That simply does not make sense.

"This is meant to be the jewel in the crown of the much-heralded transport network and Eurostar trains are nowhere to be seen. Transport was key to securing the Games and International transport will be essential to securing a legacy for East London.

"Newham Council is in agreement with major private sector stakeholders that having international rail at Stratford is an opportunity that should not be missed, because having the means to flit between Europe and home will bring in millions of pound in foreign investment and also encourage huge talent to London and the UK as a whole."

Crossed wires? Anyway here's my report from Tuesday:

UPDATE: 4 June 2010 Eurostar said no to stopping before 2012 last May...

We've had some more Freedom of Information requests come back about Stratford International. However, as my colleagues at the BBC's FOI unit report by no means all.

However, in one extract from Eurostar's board meeting dated 29th May 2009 it says:

"The Board noted and approved the proposed strategy of not planning to stop at Stratford International before the Olympics in 2012. A few key local politicians and stakeholders would be updated on Eurostar's position."

As I've written before there are doubts now that Eurostar will ever stop at Stratford. Although it says a decision hasn't been made. But the phrase "a few key local politicians and stakeholders would be updated" hardly shows Eurostar want to sing the decision from the roof tops... Why would they?

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Only two months until London's Bike Hire scheme goes live and you've probably seen the work going on right across Central London. The work is for the docking stations and they'll house 6,000 bikes.

The Mayor's Office won't say how many docking stations exactly will be live on the day but they say it will be very close to 400. The phrase they use is "a dense network."

They also admit there will probably will be teething problems. And expect a scheme sponsor to be announced soon. The rumour mill says it might be Sky and it'd certainly fit with their past sponsorship - they also sponsor the UK's professional cycling team Team Sky and the Skyrides in the capital.

I spoke to Tom Bogdanowicz from the London Cycling Campaign about the plan. Watch the extended interview in the video above.

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On the Politics Show on Sunday at 12.30pm on BBC One I'll be looking at the spending cuts and how they could affect the transport budget in London.

Transport for London (TfL) gets about £3 billion a year from the Department for Transport (DfT).

Crossrail will cost the Dft 5 billion by 2017. And roughly £8 billion is being spent on rail in the next five to six years. All of which will be presumably be looked at.

The Mayor is meeting the new Transport Secretary next week.

Hopefully we'll get more information then but there have been a series of pre-emptive strikes by City Hall about protecting investment in transport infrastructure.

Is the DfT listening? Is there anything it can do about it, if its budget is cut by 25% as some are suggesting may happen?

Noticeably no-one is now putting a deadline on completion of Crossrail - it wouldn't surprise me if the 2017 deadline is moved to cut costs.

And already insiders have told me it's extremely unlikely the Northern Line upgrade will be ready in time for the Olympics.

The message from most parties and commentators is if you cut transport budgets in London then you could derail the recovery.

The business group London First make a good point though - could some of the projects be done cheaper? And for that they want strong leadership...

And Professor Stephen Glaister of Imperial College suspects we won't see salami slicing of transport budgets. It will be the big ticket items where the cuts come and perhaps deadlines will be shifted...

There's no doubt this is a real test of the Mayor and his relationship with the new coalition government...

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Lots and lots of responses on what people think of the new Routemaster or "Borismaster" as one person called it. Please keep them coming.

A couple of nuggets for you that I've come across.

A few people have asked me what happened to the original design competition winners of "The New bus for London".

You'll probably remember the winner was Foster + Partners and Aston Martin and also the bus manufacturer Capoco.... They split the 25 grand prize.

Well, basically those sleek designs didn't make the cut as Aston Martin were working with the bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis. And I'm told Capoco tendered themselves.

Transport for London in the manufacturing tendering process went with Ballymeena's Wrightbus and hired in another designer.

However, due to the competition rules they owned the competition designs and could take some of the design ideas on.

A number of the designers at the time did grumble to me (but not publicly) about this transfer of creators' "copyright" but there was nothing they could do about it (apart from not enter).

And in the competitive world of buses you won't get bus manufacturers slagging off one of their biggest clients - Transport for London.

Another interesting point that I mentioned on Monday is that we won't be getting dedicated conductors on the new Routemasters presumably on grounds of cost.

In central London hardly any cash changes hands anymore due to the success of Oyster card.

What they'll do is use PCSO's and maybe Police Officers from the Safer Transport Teams to police the buses at busy times.

That will be when the 'hop on, hop off' shutters at the back are most likely to be open. So it's quite a canny revision of the platform concept.

However, when your Oyster card doesn't work, don't try and ask the PCSO for help... And, of course, those PCSOs could have been elsewhere on the network and not confined on the new Routemaster.

A lot is resting on those five prototypes as well. New technology such as individually battery driven rear wheels, for a start.

Next up for the Mayor's team: London's Cycle Hire Scheme. Watch this space.

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July 6th 1952. As the last tram rolled into New Cross depot, Lord Latham, head of the London Transport Executive (LTE), proclaimed "Goodbye old tram."

A piece of London heritage disappeared for 48 years.

Fast forward to 2000, and trams were out again, this time in Croydon with a service linking to Beckenham, New Addington and Wimbledon. And now it's ten years old.

As a former user, I found it great for getting to Croydon from Wimbledon - which luckily was the route. Are you a regular trammer? Has it made your journeys around South London that much easier?

More trams anyone?

So why has the tram's London renaissance stopped with Croydon?

Certainly, there have been projects ongoing that haven't made it off the drawing board - notably in West London, along the Uxbridge Road and the Cross River Tram which would travel between Camden and Peckham/Brixton.

Transport for London told me what happened on the West London Tram Extension (along the Uxbridge Road, between Uxbridge and Shepherd's Bush).

"[It] was actually cancelled under Ken Livingstone's administration, simply because it became apparent that Crossrail, if approved, would effectively replicate its route.

So it seemed a waste of public money to develop, build and then find no one would use it because they could let the train take the strain."

As to the Cross River Tram...

"Put simply TfL just did not have at its disposal the £1.3 billion necessary to build it, and it is extremely unlikely that the private sector would be willing to fund the project in the current climate. We really don't see that situation changing quickly."

... the Cross River Partnership's, website is very much alive and they're living in hope that it'll be "hello new tram."

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So, as Tom reveals Routemaster: The Next Generation, how are you liking it?

When Transport for London ran the competition in 2008 to find the replacement for the bendy bus, I spoke to Alan Ponsford, design director of (eventual winners) Capoco Design on what he saw as vital to a new Routemaster.

Fuel efficient with disabled access and an onboard conductor were the essential assets of the new vehicle, along with an open entrance at the back.

This last feature was the moot point for the Routemaster because of safety concerns. Indeed Colin Curtis, one of the designers of the original Routemaster told BBC London that in his revamp there wouldn't be an open back.

It seems the will of the people has won out.

However, the Routemaster story has always sharply divided opinion and your initial reaction to the new bus has been no different.

Here are some of your tweets to @BBCTravelAlert

@benoliver999 - Love it! It's like it's from the 50s 'future'

@alanfoss - she looks rather beautiful :)

@djgarethm Good god... that new routemaster is one of the ugliest things I've ever seen!!

@BorisWatch It's not a Routemaster, It's not a Routemaster, It's not a... (etc. etc. as no one's going to listen anyway)

@meadowend What does the design matter? It's a bus. It takes up less space, and is less dangerous to cyclists than a bendy bus.

Routemaster co-owner and Radio 2 presenter Ken Bruce had this to say...

"In looks, it seems reminiscent of Alexander's 60s bodywork for the Leyland Atlantean and Daimler Fleetline, so a bit of (non-London) nostalgia there. But in general, it's impossible to say whether the public will take it to their hearts - a bit like catchphrases; you can't make them up, they just happen."

Before I go, a quick reminder of what the original Routemasters are up to now.

A couple of years ago, BBC London 94.9 presenter Simon Lederman and I embarked on a Hunt to track down as many of the iconic buses as possible.

We started on this website and got a huge response that culminated in a radio programme over Easter in 2007.

When they were taken out of service a few years ago, most of them did not go out to pasture. They became wedding venues, nightclubs and playschools. You can see the gallery here.

Keep your thoughts coming faithful commuter...

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I'm at Battersea bus garage with Boris Johnson and London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy.

The Routemaster is a London icon and we're all excited about the new design. Here's a sneak preview:

Do you like it?

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And so it's over.

That unlikely alliance of campaigners, the councils, the residents and environmentalists have won.

The third runway has been scrapped by the new Government. A campaigner I've met many times over the years said she couldn't stop crying when she heard the news this afternoon.

When I asked her what she's going to do now, she said she's going to go back to being a mum. There will be parties tonight in Sipson which was due to be demolished.

It was always common ground between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.
As Transport Xtra point out.

There is caution from campaigners because there's a history of broken promises over expansion at Heathrow.

Campaigners say they'll be pushing for a timescale now on how long the third runway will be ruled out for. They want an indefinite committment.

Analysts have told me the airline industry will now be looking to make contact with the new Government to put its case for expansion elsewhere.

They will be very disappointed and will have fears Heathrow will no longer be competitive. And there is still serious concern it could hit jobs and the economy.

Take a walk down Coldharbour Lane in Hayes and most there will probably think a lack of capacity at Heathrow will be a huge blow.

The airport's owner BAA aren't saying much. A spokesperson said:

"We will work with the new Government to ensure that airports policy provides the strong international trading connections on which the UK's jobs and future competitiveness depend."

Crossrail executives did tell me on Monday though that they were confident the funding would appear.

And what about Transport for London?

No comment from them at the moment. But could the Government's grant to them be cut as part of the comprehensive spending review?

Is London's position now stronger with a Conservative dominated Government and a Tory Mayor?

And will Boris Johnson's relationship with David Cameron make a difference?

Let me know what you think...

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This isn't really a quest of Middle Earth proportions, but there I was at Bank station at the beginning of March and the escalator down to the DLR from the Central line is closed, meaning a drag down to a congested Northern line platform, down the steps and into a one-way system to the DLR.

I could see the escalator I should have come down teasing me in the distance.

I paused.

"Hang on", I thought. "Wasn't this escalator closed last year for absolutely ages?"

Turns out, that it wasn't (must have been the other one).These repairs at Bank (and at other Tube stations) have been going on for some time with many more months of disruption to come, and might be seen as a minor irritation. But does it badly disrupt your trip to work?

Tom Edwards of this blog parish emailed me on Monday saying the escalator at Bounds Green was broken, and that "people with disabilities and wheelchairs are being told to get the bus to Wood Green..."

Speaking to Transport for London recently, it became clear that work on escalators at Bank were necessary. They said:

"Without these works the stations would not be able to continue to operate and serve the growing number of customers. These escalators have previously been kept going through intensive repair works and a planned programme of maintenance, but we have reached the point where regular repairs and maintenance are not adequate and a long-term solution must be found."

TfL went on to say that prior to replacing the 15 escalators at Bank, they had worked to "extend the life" of some of them while the replacements were on their way.

Make no bones about it, replacing an escalator is a long, tricky job - mainly because the area engineers have to work in is very restrictive and every escalator is different. Fair enough.

But what about the ten-year-old Jubilee line extension? Surely escalators at Waterloo, London Bridge and Canary Wharf don't need replacing?

TfL again:

"Around 650,000 people use the Jubilee line every weekday and to ensure that escalators can carry this volume of passengers, planned maintenance needs to be carried out on escalators at stations from time to time.

"The spacious design of some of the newer stations on the Jubilee line extension means there are often other escalators which can be used by our customers. For example Canary Wharf Tube station has 20 escalators.

"Even though London Bridge and Waterloo are on the Jubilee line extension these stations are much older with some escalators dating from the 1970s. The refurbishment work on these escalators is part of a planned programme of maintenance."

So faithful traveller, are repairs to an escalator near you upsetting your journey? Or is it just a minor bother?

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It was meant to be a press conference by the Mayor, London First and the London Chamber of Commerce this morning about protecting transport investment in the capital.

In fact, it got totally overshadowed by the buyout of Tube Lines announced late on Friday.

Boris Johnson looked like he didn't really want to put the boot in to Gordon Brown's pet project the PPP.... but he couldn't resist eventually after being asked about it by Alan Jones from the Press Association.

He said the PPP had been "ruthlessly scuppered" while the Prime Minister was "clinging on" to power.

A couple of points worth noting about this deal.

There are those who have told me that the Bechtel and Amey shareholders got a "fantastic deal" out of this. Not a view supported by TfL who say it was a "fair deal".

Also it's not totally been signed off yet so its not completely done.

Also there is a remarkable absence of dissenting voices from all sides. In fact, the respected commentator Christian Wolmar calls the PPP the scandal no-one noticed... Apart from the RMT Union who want assurances over jobs.

Most say its going to cost millions but TfL have made the best of a bad job.

One other point of note, this time about the Thames Estuary airport... No mention of it in the Mayor's transport strategy, as blogged by Ross Lydall at the Standard .. you can draw your own conclusions from how much emphasis is now placed on that policy idea.

Here's the full interview I did with Peter Hendy, Transport Commissioner.

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So finally the beginning of the end for Gordon Brown's controversial Public Private Partnership.

It's being hailed as a good deal for passengers and tax payers.

The big question will be how Transport for London affords the £310 million to buy the shares. Its budget is already being squeezed. And previously it had said it couldn't afford a £400million funding gap in the PPP.

TfL says it will be able to make efficiencies on the work and is "confident of generating substantial savings" - but that will be tough as the official in charge of the PPP has already found previously London Underground costs were far higher than Tube Lines.

However, the Mayor's Office also says it can also cut out middle management fees and reschedule the debt at a better rate.

For passengers it also says the number of weekend closures for example on the Northern Line will be cut from 84 to 12.

Supposedly the deal had been worked on for two weeks but couldn't be announced due to election "purdah" rules and it was only signed by all parties late last night.

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In case you missed it due to the hung parliament (and most people probably did) there was a very, very interesting piece on page 49 of The Times about London Underground buying the shares of Tube Lines.

We also covered it but it did get drowned out by the election.

This type of deal has been tried before and as I've mentioned previously it didn't come off then. It looks like this deal is further down the track.

Some are saying a deal will be announced "within days" other insiders have told me there's a way to run on this.

Either way someone wanted to make a splash transport-wise on what could have been the first day of a new government and it didn't quite come off...

So will it happen? Well it sounds more probable than possible but it reminds me of when two of your friends are in the process of a long, acrimonous split. You've listened to both sides of the story for months and each slagging the other off.

And then suddenly both sides are sweetness and light and they agree to separate amicably as "friends" and it's as if the last four or five months never happened.

She will keep the dog, he will keep the car and you feel a bit of a mug?

Both London Underground and Tube Lines are issuing exactly the same statement.

There is always the lurking feeling that the "amicable separation" could unravel at any minute and, perhaps, you're not far away from shirts getting shredded?

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So, if all goes to plan, we'll be getting the new London Bike Hire scheme on the 30th July. More on them and the pricing here.

One thing worth noting from the prices announced in December is it won't actually be completely free for the first half hour.

You will have to pay a daily access charge of £1.

Access fee

• 24-hour access - £1
• Seven-day access - £5
• Annual access - £45 (members only)

Usage charges

Up to 30 minutes free then:

• Up to 1 hour: £1
• Up to 1 hour and 30 minutes: £4
• Up to 2 hours: £6
• Up to 2 hours and 30 minutes: £10
• Up to 3 hours: £15
• Up to 6 hours: £35
• Up to 24 hours (maximum usage fee): £50

So the hire charges ramp up the longer you have the bike.

Re-dock it before the 30 mins and use it for less than half an hour later in the day and there's no extra charge.

So the pricing is designed for small little trips around town and presumably to price it around the cost of a bus fare. But look at these "other charges".

These will hurt, and one of these could change your mind about the bikes...

Other charges:

• Late return charge: £150
• Damage charge up to: £300
• Non-return charge: £300

And what's a late return charge? Aren't the bikes meant to let you return them whenever you want?

Transport for London say that's for when your 24 hour access fee runs out and you've still got the bike in your shed... Ouch.

A number of transport commentators have said this scheme is going to be very significant politically and infrastructure wise.

It will show if Boris Johnson and his team at Transport for London can deliver and maintain new transport schemes.

This is the first major project coming to fruition from that team. They say they're confident it's on track.

The project will also ask all sorts of questions about cycling in London; its joys and perils including relative novices taking to two wheels.

It'll eventually mean 6,000 hire bikes and 400 docking stations in Central London.

The cost in total is £140 million over six years paid to the contractor Serco for setting up and running the scheme by Transport for London.

The set-up costs are £91.6 million (incidentally that's nearly double the amount touted before a contract was awarded). TfL will keep the "farebox".

I had a look at the bikes and they handle pretty well. I also outlined some of the concerns about safety and novice cyclists.

However, there's more grumbling afoot from within the bike industry, in particular concerns over maintenance and the number of technicians the contractor Serco will employ.

"Industry sources" quoted by bikebiz.com say Serco won't be able to cope. However, Serco in London will employ 29 technicians for 6,000 bikes and they say they'll be able to run and maintain a good scheme.

Now, maintenance is clearly going to be a big issue for these hire bikes in London probably more so than in Montreal whose scheme we're adopting. Expect to see lots of this.

There's already been some criticism that the bikes aren't being built in the UK.

In Montreal, they have fewer bikes 5,000 and they're only operational for eight months of the year due to the harsh winters and the bikes were brand new. But even there the replacement rate was between 3 and 5 per cent in the early days.

With each bike costing an estimated £350 that will add up for the operator (I'm basing that on the French velib bike - we don't know the exact figure as it's "commercially sensitive").

But London's bikes will be on the streets a third longer every year in London (an extra 4 months) without that break for serious repairs and presumably London's will be used more.

Serco will have 29 maintenance staff in London compared to 15 in Montreal.

I've asked TfL for its estimated replacement rate. So far they haven't got back to me but if the replacement rate is the same as Montreal (and it won't be .. you'd think it'd be much higher as they're outdoors the whole year) it will cost Serco between £63,000 and £105,000 a year.

However, it could cost the operator even more. Compare it to the French Velib scheme and the cost to Serco could be far far higher.

With that scheme in 18 months all of the 20,000 bikes have been replaced due to them being vandalised or nicked.

If that scenario played out here in London then that would cost Serco 6,000 x 350 = £2,100,100 for every total replacement of the bikes... If that happened surely it wouldn't be long before Serco wanted the contracts redone?

All of this doesn't mean it won't be a success - bike hire has been extremely popular wherever it's been introduced.

So long-term will it work? What d'you think about the charges?

If your bike gets nicked while it's in your possession will you be happy paying £300? Will it be ready by 30th July?

And do you think £140 million is money well spent?

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• - What's this?