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Paul Davies in the Camden Town station control room |
Another four years of misery
Northern line boss admits service is below par but repairs must wait to 2011
TRANSPORT chiefs have finally admitted what many Tube users have always thought – the service on the Northern line is simply not good enough.
In an exclusive briefing with the New Journal, David Millard, the line’s operating manager, pledged to sort out the ‘Misery Line’ once and for all, but warned that funding for repairs would not be available for another four years.
Mr Millard said on Friday: “Workers on the Northern line are just as frustrated as we are. The service isn’t good enough but I wouldn’t be doing this job if I didn’t think I could make a difference.”
He said he was battling with breakdowns caused by some of the oldest equipment on the Tube network and dealing with unexpected levels of customer use.
Mr Millard said: “The Northern line is older, signalling is older, but it is in the process of improving. We have a huge way to go but we are in the process of introducing a new timetable.”
Mr Millard’s open admission that travelling on Camden’s main Tube route is not much fun coincided with a survey which shows dissatisfaction with the Northern line has hit a new peak.
Conservative parliamentary candidate in Hampstead and Kilburn, Chris Philp, has put the issue at the forefront of his campaign.
He received more than 800 replies after distributing surveys outside Tube stations earlier this year. Results showed 73.6 per cent thought the service was “poor” or “very poor”, 80.2 per cent that recent fare increases were too high and 95.8 opposed reduction in frequency of trains.
Mr Philp, who is also a Camden councillor, has now set up a meeting with Tubelines, the private company running the line, for next month when he will present the survey and demand improvement.
He said: “Service on the Northern line is very poor and thousands of passengers suffer daily delays because there has not been enough investment in signalling, which causes the delays. Instead of tarting up the outside of stations, they should fix the signals.”
He called for signalling repairs planned for 2011 to be brought forward and said that Tubelines should be fined for further delays.
Mr Millard spoke to the New Journal as part of a drive to make the running of the Northern Line more accountable to travellers
He said that the increase in passenger numbers had not been foreseen and caused trains to run more slowly.
“On other lines, the trains are driven by machines. But on the Northern line, the driver opens and shuts the doors with a handle and you’ve got a variability of driving ability,” he added.
A Transport for London spokeswoman said: “There’s been under-investment in London Underground – it has got a huge challenge ahead. We would hope to shed the Misery Line tag in the near future.
“In 2011, we should be delivering a great service and it would be great to be known as the Northern line again.”
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