Minutes of ETUG Meeting - 22nd November 2024 at 19:00 hrs
Held in the Conference Room of the Enfield Civic Centre
Chair’s Welcome
Chair Dave Cockle welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Apologies
Apologies received from Cllr Peter Fallart, John Williams, Phillip Ridley and Faye Medcalf.
Members present: Sean Cirillo, John Prior, Petter Jeffrey, Dave Cockle, Basil Clarke, Lindsay Rawlings, Ann Jones and Guest Speaker Chris Cole
3. Presentation by Chris Cole
Superloop 2: Early optioneering work is underway to determine which
locations and routeings are viable for the next tranche of
Superloop routes. There are no updates at present.
Sunday and frequency data: TfL regularly reviews bus route frequencies, including off-peak services on all days, and implements changes when there is a business case. Bus schedules are available on TfL’s website: Bus Schedules. Publicly available in the 'BUSTO' section at Crowding Data with a user guide provided in the accompanying PDF.
LR: “Do people not use the bus on a Sunday because of its infrequency?”
CC: “Running buses costs money. Agrees with the principle.”
Rerouting the 444 and the 456 at North Middlesex Hospital: TfL has no plans to reroute routes 444 or 456 onto the private road within North Middlesex Hospital grounds. The 456’s use of a west-facing stand on Bridport Road makes rerouting it onto the hospital road unfeasible, while rerouting the 444 would reduce service frequency in its current area and complicate the network. Rerouting the 444 and 456 northbound via the hospital grounds or adding traffic lights at Sterling Way and Gloucester Road are potential options to alleviate traffic issues, but these have not been prioritised. TfL assessed the possibility of adding traffic lights at the Sterling Way and Gloucester Road junction. The junction was categorised as low priority due to below-average traffic volumes. Traffic lights will not be installed at this junction in the near future.
Route 125’s Reliability: We apologise for any inconvenience caused to passengers of Route 125 due to construction works at Colindale Station since June 2024. These works, aimed at upgrading the station with a larger ticket hall and step-free access, have necessitated the station's closure until December 2024. Typically, driver changeovers occur at Colindale Station, with drivers utilizing the Northern Line for access. The station's closure has disrupted this process, leading to the implementation of a temporary schedule that has affected service reliability. To mitigate delays, operators have occasionally had to curtail bus services.
SC: “Raised a more look on its operator and control of the service.”
BC: “Raised if it's from the long nature of the route?”
Route 491’s Frequency: TfL has reviewed Route 491 and decided not to increase peak frequencies at this time. Increases for Sunday daytime, weekend evenings, and early mornings will be introduced with the new contract starting in the summer of 2025.
DC: “Raised not providing temporary bus stops in light of disruption at Enfield Chase Station”
Secretary to add this onto the tracker, regarding Enfield Chase.
CC: “TfL has a long-term plan to better organise road works within Greater London which would aim to reduce delays on bus routes.”
Improving London Overground Services:
The proposed peak service changes deferred from December 2024 and the off-peak 3+3 service can both be supported by the existing train fleet so there is no need for the procurement of additional trains to support these service increases.
London Overground is finalising timetable adjustments for December 2025 on the West Anglia Routes. Focused on providing more even service intervals during Monday-Friday peaks to balance passenger load, reduce station wait times, and enhance operational performance. Extending the 4 trains per hour service from Liverpool Street to Enfield Town until 19:00 and adding a Liverpool Street-Cheshunt service between 18:30 and 19:00 to close service gaps.
Work on 3+3 timetabling and diagramming feasibility will resume in March 2025, following submission of the December 2025 timetable, and is expected to conclude in Summer 2025. Originally planned for Autumn 2024, this work was delayed due to the rail industry's decision to defer the ECML/WAML timetable recast to December 2025. The peak service on the Cheshunt branch will remain at 2 trains per hour (tph) between Cheshunt and Liverpool Street via Seven Sisters.
Rail Replacement services at Bush Hill Park: Re-routing the Overground Rail Replacement Bus Services to Bush Hill Park Station would increase journey times. Therefore, whilst some customers may benefit from improved accessibility to Bush Hill Park Station, other customers would have longer journey times.
New Southgate Station: The facilities and infrastructure team will include this project for review in early January during the budget and underspend evaluation process. The project will also be incorporated into plans for the following year. The Enfield Transport Group has supported this initiative through a recent consultation response.
Cambridge stopping services: With regards to a frequency increase, this would require funding. We are working on a potential case for increases in the years ahead, potentially with a 24-month type timescale. That said, we will likely retain the calls at Alexandra Palace in any event given the wider connectivity benefits.
Full-length opening at Harringay, Hornsey and Drayton Park: The train is effectively close to an “exact fit” at these locations. In practice, this makes it vulnerable to driver error in the event of drawing up slightly short of the stop-car mark. Selective Door
Opening eliminates the potential safety risk of the rear doors opening on the ramp end or clear of the platform.
DC: “Dec 2025 update on the GN frequency increase?”
Additional Bay Platforms at Stratford: No response from Network Rail.
Piccadilly Line performance: Train cancellations on the Piccadilly line have decreased significantly and are now within target levels. The "Percentage of Service Operated" measures the actual versus scheduled trains on the line. The average percentage of service operated increased from 89.7% (May to July) to 94% (July to November), indicating a positive trend. The 2023-24 target was set at 86.2% due to anticipated challenges with driver availability and fleet delays, but current performance surpasses this goal.
JP: Raised regarding “if any action has been conducted regarding noise levels on the tube?”
CC: “TfL is required to maintain rails every night to reduce noise levels on the tube.”
DC: “Can operators get compensation for roadworks or disruption?”
CC:” Operators could get fined if the control was at fault with the operator.”
BC: Raised a lot of bunchings and gaps on the 329, worse reliability since the route changed to Wood Green bus garage.”
SC: “The service controller is operated by the garage, therefore would be best to enquire the garage specifically.”
BC: “Bus lanes were meant to be open 24 hours daily rather than peak times on Green Lanes”.
CC: “To forward this with an enquiry regarding this. Feasibility study to implement bus priority measures joint with Haringey Council.”
JP: “Raised regarding delays on the 191 bus route.”
4. Matters arising from the previous meeting
The committee agrees on the minutes from the previous meeting.
5. Updates from Train Operating Companies
Greater Anglia: Best national operator. 94.1% On-time 95% Pre-covid usage and 110% on leisure travel.
Weaver Line: 92% of London Overground users returned to pre-covid levels. 93.2% On-time.
Great Northern: 79.2% On-time for Great Northern and Thameslink: 75%, Cancellation: 6% for Great Northern and 89% pre-covid users recovered
London Underground:
New trains delivered in the UK. The new Piccadilly Line trains have been delivered in the UK. Testing on the line will commence once infrastructure works are completed.
There's still work to do before all London Underground stations have mobile coverage, including installing the infrastructure, building the connection points and testing systems. All of this will need to be done while continuing to run a busy underground transport system.
6. Update on bus services
Bus Performance Stats
High Frequency Routes
251: 0.55
W8: 0.72
184: 0.74
192: 0.76
191: 0.79
318: 0.79
307: 0.85
125: 0.88
SL1: 0.96
349: 1.03
34: 1.05
2. Low Frequency Routes
317: 89.57%
377: 89.2%
384: 88.46%
491: 86.08%
382: 85.96%
B. Bus Stats for 2023/2024
Top 10 most used routes:
1. Route 18 - 13.02 million (=)
2 Route 149 - 12.34 million (=)
3. Route 29 - 11.54 million (=)
4. Route 207 - 10.90 million (+7)
5. Route 86 - 10.67 million (-1)
6. Route 25 - 10.49 million (-2)
7. Route 5 - 10.24 million (-1)
8. Route 279 - 10.05 million (+1)
9. Route 36 - 10.01 million (-2)
10. Route 35 - 9.95 million (+1)
C. Timetable Changes
Route 298 will have its timetable restored to its full-service level from the 30th of November. Service currently runs 30 minutes and will restore operating every 20 minutes during Monday to Saturday daytimes.
Route 192 (Enfield Town to Tottenham Hale) was increased in frequency from every 15 minutes to every 12 minutes during the evenings from 12th November.
D. Updates on electric buses for the 279 bus route.
The 279 new electric buses have been delivered and are aimed to enter service around December this year. This is subject to driver training and charging infrastructure being ready in place.
E. Network Changes
There are no updates regarding future planned network changes such as the Meridian Water bus review or the Superloop 2 project. TfL still aims to publish the review by the end of the year. Superloop 2 aims to start with a consultation next year with the Woolwich to Thamesmead service to be consulted with the public.
7. Transport Accessibility
BC: “Raised regarding Palmers Green step-free access”
DC: Responded, “There have been difficulties whilst trying to assign contractors, aims to have lifts installed around 2025/2026.”
8. Updates on ETUG’s Website
A total of 110 views on the ETUG website over the last three months.
1 new member has joined ETUG with Ann Jones being the most recent.
An average of 65.3% for email openers within the whole membership.
ETUG retains a total of 44 members, including the committee members.
9. A.O.B
JP: “Raised if fixed stops can be installed to improve Hail & Ride sections?”
PJ:” Raised regarding Cockfosters car parking housing development”
Dave Cockle ended the meeting by thanking everyone for attending
Next Meeting 26th February 2025
