An anonymous TfL project manager speaks to Natasha Clark about the complexities of delivering a 21st century service operating on Victorian infrastructure
I am a project manager working for Transport for London, improving the current network and delivering the mayor’s strategy. Our funding is tight, as it is in most public bodies, so we are consistently looking for ways to get the best value. My average day involves working with external suppliers, liaising with key stakeholders and seeking advice and information from specialist areas of the business – all with the overarching aim of improving transport according to Boris Johnson’s goals.
The main bodies that affect me are the London boroughs: we are generally developing infrastructure and line extensions within their jurisdiction, so we want to make sure what we build works for them as well as our customers. They are generally supportive, providing you give them a well thought out and positive design, which we always try to do. We’re working on step-free access schemes across the busiest parts of the tube network, following the implementation of ramps on all of London’s buses.
If I was running the Department for Transport, my priority would be to improve communications with other departments that we work with. While some are generally happy to help, the widespread use of emails means that requests often get lost at the bottom of a growing pile. I’d like to get these communications more streamlined: urgent needs to mean urgent, and a better system of prioritisation for requests would be very helpful.
'Too much focus is put on flagship projects like HS2'
One of the big implications of the 24-hour tube that will come in later this year is the fact we will lose engineering hours to make repairs on some lines on Fridays and Saturdays. While there will be ways to work around this, projects beginning construction will need to bear this in mind and we will need to plan for this extra constraint.
I’ll be sad to see Boris Johnson go – I think he’s done a lot for Londoners in terms of transport and many of his policies have come to fruition in a very positive way. I haven’t been in my current role during a mayoral change before, but if the next mayor has a very different vision, it could change our priorities as a business. I think the most important thing for the government to keep in mind is that things don’t happen overnight – if there are big changes, these will take time to implement.
The most important thing we can do as the network develops is draw lessons from other exemplary networks around the world. We are continually increasing capacity, with the Victoria Line running 34 trains per hour at its peak, but growing a railway within a finite tunnel is not an easy thing to do. We can look at examples like the punctuality of the Shinkansen in Japan, or the speed of the Shanghai Maglev to find other ways to improve services for our customers. We are working with 150 year old infrastructure so there may be things we cannot do, but I would like to see us become more agile and take a more open-minded approach to future developments.
For TfL as a whole, Crossrail will go a long way to easing congestion on the network and will make journeys more comfortable for millions of passengers every year. However, I think too much focus is put on big, flagship projects like HS2. I do believe it is going to be a great way to provide fast North-South transport but more money should be spent on improving local bus and train routes to get people in smaller towns and villages into the bigger cities. Britain is facing a housing crisis, so improving suburban transport links will provide an attractive alternative to city living. This won’t solve the problem on its own, but may help people struggling to pay high city rents and ease the pressure on city councils.
More generally, I wish the government would place a higher focus on improving local transport around the UK. While I’m working in London it’s easy to get around, and even if there is a problem on a Tube line there is generally a bus that can get me to my destination. Once I get home (which is outside the London boroughs), I’m at the mercy of one mode of public transport. There is a bus service as well as a train service, but it’s so infrequent you can’t rely on it. I’m lucky that I have a car but, if I didn’t, I don’t know how I would get around. I’d like to see transport companies outside the capital improve their standards, and I believe the DfT should be championing this.