Glynn Barton, COO of Transport for London (TfL) apologies for recent delays on the Central line.
The delays have been caused by a shortage of trains due to repair works needed on defective traction motors.
During a visit to a train depot at Hainault, engineers are hard at work repairing trains to get them back into service.
The delays have been caused by a shortage of trains due to repair works needed on defective traction motors.
During a visit to a train depot at Hainault, engineers are hard at work repairing trains to get them back into service.
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TravelTranscript
00:00 So the teams here are working really really hard to make sure we've got as many trains out on the
00:05 Central Line as we can possibly muster each day. We are having difficulties at the moment,
00:10 the Central Line's a really old fleet, we've got a massive capital investment program in
00:16 the Central Line coming up but unfortunately we are seeing failures cropping up in motors especially
00:23 in other parts of the trains which is meaning that we aren't getting as many trains out as we'd like
00:28 to on the Central Line. So what the teams are doing here is they're trying to get those motors
00:32 which causes the issues at the moment back on the trains as quickly as possible so we can provide
00:36 the best service for customers. What I can guarantee is we're absolutely working around
00:39 the clock here, we've got as many people as we can do, given safe working time etc to ensure that we
00:45 can get that fleet out on the network and serve our customers. It's absolutely essential so they're
00:50 not new trains on the Central Line, what they are refurbished trains, completely refurbished,
00:55 so stripped down, new wheelchair bays, new CCTV but crucially as well a new traction system so
01:01 we moved from the old DC to AC traction on the Central Line. Unfortunately that program's been
01:07 delayed with uncertainty around government funding etc, we're really keen to crack on with that because
01:12 it's really important that we get those refurbished trains out on the network as soon as possible so
01:17 our customers experience the service we want to give them. I think the first thing to say is to
01:21 apologise to our customers who are experiencing delays on this line, I would like to assure them
01:26 that we are doing as much as we can to get as good a service as we can do given the fleet that we
01:30 have. What we have done though is we've significantly increased the amount of customer information we
01:35 have have out on the network, allowing customers to understand what is happening to the service.
01:41 We're also supplementing some of the key bus routes that run alongside the Central Line,
01:46 particularly out on the branches to ensure that there's a bus alternative and we can shuttle bus
01:51 on as well. Now alongside that as well we're looking at what we can do timetable wise around
01:57 the Central Line to see if we can regulate the service a little more so customers know
02:01 what to expect when they turn up at the station.