From:
http://www.economist.com/news/britai...s-commute-loop

London Overground

*In the loop*

WHEN Transport for London (TfL), the authority behind the city’s roads and
Tube network, took over what is now known as the London Overground in 2007
it was in a sorry state. The route, which incorporated several rail lines,
was overcrowded, with neglected stations and rickety trains. How the line
was transformed illustrates some of the ways that infrastructure projects
can alter a city.

Since it opened in 2010—with extensions in 2011 and 2012—the London
Overground changed two things. First, the way that commuters get around the
capital has shifted. In 2008, 33m passengers zipped up and down the
service. Last year 120m did. Fully 64% of those who use the network are
getting to and from work. This initially lightened heavily congested trains
on the Southern service (another line running along the route) with 46% of
new passengers swapping from other train services.

Passengers started to take the train instead of buses or crowded
underground carriages. Stations with an interchange, such as Highbury &
Islington in the north-east and Canada Water in the south-east, became more
important. Each weekday around 60,000 people travel to and from Highbury &
Islington on Overground services. By the end of 2011 total peak passenger
volumes had increased by a third on the east London route.

Second, areas that were once underdeveloped became more popular. According
to Savills, an estate agent, between 2007 and 2012 the average value of
property sold in Haggerston, a stop in one of the poorer areas of Hackney,
jumped by 34% (the average value of property sold in London as a whole
increased by 25%). Some of this is down to more people buying houses rather
than flats. But better connections helped too. In Peckham Rye, another stop
on the service in the south-east, average values went up by 24%. In New
Cross, also in the south-east, the average value of property sold increased
by 12%. Many buyers are young professional families, says Abdallah Osman of
Winkworth, another estate agent. By contrast, average property values in
Highgate, a leafy suburb in north London fell by 8%, while those in Muswell
Hill, also in the north, fell by 3%.

As prices go up across London, younger families and rich professionals are
pushed farther east. These areas were also boosted by the introduction of
the Jubilee line extension in 1999 and the Victoria line upgrade in 2011.
Such new connections opened up the terrain to young professionals, helping
gentrification—already well-advanced in places such as Shoreditch by
2007—to spread farther east and south.

But the continuing success of the Overground will not come smoothly. TfL
predicts that several parts of the line will be crammed with commuters by
2016. Trains and platforms may have to be extended. Squeezed buses and
Tubes in the East End have not seen the decline of 6m passengers originally
predicted. New passengers have simply taken the place of those who have
swapped to the Overground.

Despite this, the model of the Overground looks likely to catch on. Unlike
other rail services in Britain the line is run on a concession service,
rather than under a complex franchise structure. This means TfL taking some
of the financial risk of running the line, giving them an incentive to make
sure it works well. Already TfL has announced that it will take over the
West Anglia route under a similar concession scheme, running commuter
trains from Liverpool Street from 2015. Other routes—such as the
Southeastern—could follow. Homeowners, as well as trainspotters, will be
watching out.

In message

, at 09:27:00 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013, Recliner
remarked:
Unlike other rail services in Britain the line is run on a concession
service, rather than under a complex franchise structure. This means
TfL taking some of the financial risk of running the line, giving them
an incentive to make sure it works well.

Unless so failing that they fall into cap-and-collar, why is this any
different to a classic franchise?
--
Roland Perry

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message

, at 09:27:00 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013, Recliner
remarked:
Unlike other rail services in Britain the line is run on a concession
service, rather than under a complex franchise structure. This means
TfL taking some of the financial risk of running the line, giving them
an incentive to make sure it works well.

Unless so failing that they fall into cap-and-collar, why is this any
different to a classic franchise?

Cap and collar is not total. There is still gain and pain.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On 2013-10-05 14:27:00 +0000, Recliner said:

Stations with an interchange, such as Highbury & Islington in the
north-east and Canada Water in the south-east, became more
important. Each weekday around 60,000 people travel to and from Highbury &
Islington on Overground services.

Indeed Highbury is a busy place but unlike Canada Water it's an old
station that should have been modernised given the key interchange with
the Victoria Line. At present, the down escalator is out of service too.

E.

On 05/10/2013 18:19, eastender wrote:

On 2013-10-05 14:27:00 +0000, Recliner said:

Stations with an interchange, such as Highbury & Islington in the
north-east and Canada Water in the south-east, became more
important. Each weekday around 60,000 people travel to and from
Highbury & Islington on Overground services.

Indeed Highbury is a busy place but unlike Canada Water it's an old
station that should have been modernised given the key interchange with
the Victoria Line. At present, the down escalator is out of service too.

Thankfully the escalator works should be finished in a couple of weeks
or so (best avoided at peak times till then).

The station had a new entrance open, doubling the size of the gateline,
which is a significant improvement over what there was.

On 05/10/2013 15:27, Recliner wrote:
From:
http://www.economist.com/news/britai...s-commute-loop

London Overground



Since it opened in 2010—with extensions in 2011 and 2012—the London
Overground changed two things. First, the way that commuters get around the
capital has shifted. In 2008, 33m passengers zipped up and down the
service. Last year 120m did.

Is that a like-for like comparison, or is it comparing (say) just the
inner bit of what was Silverlink with that plus all the pax on what was
LU's East London Line, bits of Southern, etc?

Fully 64% of those who use the network are
getting to and from work. This initially lightened heavily congested trains
on the Southern service(another line running along the route) with 46% of
new passengers swapping from other train services.

Passengers swapping, or the service swapping and the passengers
obviously having to swap too? A few years ago, Southern went from
carrying zero passengers to carrying as many as Connex SC had, and that
was achieved overnight!

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

On 05/10/2013 15:33, Roland Perry wrote:
In message

, at 09:27:00 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013, Recliner
remarked:
Unlike other rail services in Britain the line is run on a concession
service, rather than under a complex franchise structure. This means
TfL taking some of the financial risk of running the line, giving them
an incentive to make sure it works well.

Unless so failing that they fall into cap-and-collar, why is this any
different to a classic franchise?

Depends how far it goes, but a concession can be about just running the
required trains to meet performance targets (which contractors are good
at), rather than trying to second-guess government transport, fares and
economic policy over a multi-year period (which they aren't good at).

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

On 2013\10\05 15:27, Recliner wrote:
From:
http://www.economist.com/news/britai...s-commute-loop

Already TfL has announced that it will take over the
West Anglia route under a similar concession scheme, running commuter
trains from Liverpool Street from 2015.

Why haven't they put the West Anglia lines on the tube map yet, in order
to drum up business before they take it over? The Jubilee extension was
on the tube map at least 5 years before it opened.

Basil Jet wrote:
On 2013\10\05 15:27, Recliner wrote:
From:

http://www.economist.com/news/britai...s-commute-loop

Already TfL has announced that it will take over the
West Anglia route under a similar concession scheme, running commuter
trains from Liverpool Street from 2015.

Why haven't they put the West Anglia lines on the tube map yet, in order
to drum up business before they take it over? The Jubilee extension was
on the tube map at least 5 years before it opened.

Surely it's in TfL's interest to do nothing to drum up business for its new
WA routes before it gets and upgrades them? That way, the growth in
ridership under TfL's stewardship will look so much better.

On 2013\10\06 01:12, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Sat, 05 Oct 2013 21:40:08 +0100, Basil Jet
wrote:

On 2013\10\05 15:27, Recliner wrote:
From:
http://www.economist.com/news/britai...s-commute-loop

Already TfL has announced that it will take over the
West Anglia route under a similar concession scheme, running commuter
trains from Liverpool Street from 2015.

Why haven't they put the West Anglia lines on the tube map yet, in order
to drum up business before they take it over? The Jubilee extension was
on the tube map at least 5 years before it opened.

They haven't concluded the detailed negotiations with Greater Anglia
and the DfT yet. They do not know how much budget will transfer nor
what stock, drivers or where the trains will be maintained. The
franchise scope is dependant on knowing what budget there is and there
is still a need to procure the concession operator (possibly the same
one as for Crossrail as the procurement paperwork allowed for that).

The transfer is not until late 2015 anyway and by then TfL loses a
cumulative £1bn in funding due to Government and Boris imposed cuts. I
am not expecting a repeat of the "magic wand" that transformed
Silverlink Metro on the West Anglia lines. All the financial
indicators show it will be a very tough thing to find money for.

Thanks Paul. Have you ever considered writing a transport column for
Private Eye or The Standard or something? There must be vanishingly few
people around who know what you know and can write with such eloquence.