London seeks massive rail devolution
Author: Mark Smulian, LGC |
London mayor Boris Johnson has bid to take over National Rail commuter services in the capital.
If the Department for Transport agrees, this would see the largest devolution yet of responsibility for rail services to local government.
Mr Johnson has initially asked for control of services provided by the Southeastern franchise between London, Bromley and Dartford, and the West Anglia franchise services from Enfield, Hertford and Chingford.
He said neighbouring transport authorities had raised no objection and could jointly specify services running beyond London into their areas.
Mr Johnson said: “The fractured organisation of London’s suburban railways is totally inefficient and needs a complete overhaul.
“Devolving the commercial franchises would allow us to invest millions of pounds in improving stations and to simplify the ticketing system.”
The idea is based on the success of Transport for London’s London Overground network – a collection of suburban lines formerly part of National Rail but now run with greater frequencies, line extensions and better rolling stock.
According to TfL, the idea would work financially because it would take the revenue risk for these services, as it does for its Underground trains and buses.
Rail franchise holders normally bid with substantial premiums to cover revenue risk, which feed through into needlessly high operating costs and fares, TfL argued.
Without this financial burden, it could afford to provide a ‘turn up and go’ service on Southeastern and West Anglia from the £100m of risk premium saved over 20 years.
A report The Mayor’s Rail Vision said Mr Johnson sought to take over these two networks first because “service quality is currently identified as poor”. But it made clear that TfL seeks control of the entire London local network.
It noted that since its inception in 2007, London Overground passenger numbers have doubled from those of the previous operator, and that customer satisfaction had risen from 65% to 92%.
An Association of Train Operating Companies spokesperson said: “Devolving powers over rail from Whitehall to local bodies works well in a number of different parts of Great Britain and is something that is being considered as part of a broader programme of reform by the government.”