[crossposted to uk.transport.london and uk.railway]


Today Mayor Ken takes over the ex-Silverlink Metro routes such as the
North London Line as London Overground (LO). I specifically say Mayor
Ken as I don't think it would have happened without him lobbying the
government for this transfer of responsibilities. The inclusion of the
North London Railway (as the Silverlink Metro routes are now
collectively known) under TfL management was the result of the Mayor
and his team successfully persuading the DfT that this was the way
forward.

I think this is genuinely good news for passengers as TfL will work
hard to improve the whole travelling experience on what were unloved
lines.

The most immediate change is the introduction of Oyster Pay-as-you-go
acceptance across all the LO lines - something that a great number of
passengers will appreciate, and I think will go some way to persuade
TOCs in and around London that this is the way to go. There is still
some uncertainty as to how Oyster PAYG fares are being implemented
from Carpenders Park up to Watford Junction as those stations are
outside the London zones 1-6 - but this will become clear and it
shouldn't detract from the fact that as a whole this will be an
immensely popular change for Londoners who use LO lines.

Other changes will take longer to implement - as the Mayor has already
made clear, such as in his comments in this Metro newspaper article:
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=74974

New trains are coming in 2008, and in 2011 3-car trains will be
extended by the addition of a fourth carriage.

Lots of other comments have already been made as to what the new
branding will be, whether existing trains will get new liveries, what
signs will be replaced and when. I don't think ephemeral changes such
as this are really the important ones - it's real changes that people
care about.

One very big early change is that there will be staff at all stations
(except the GOBLIN stations) for all the hours that the trains are
running - this is a big change for the better and will help people
feel more secure and cared for. I understand that station ticket
offices will be open for longer, whilst there will also be station
staff on and around the platforms, and there will also be roving
security staff who travel on the trains too (and these staff will be
monitoring GOBLIN stations). Trains will run later at night.
Passengers might actually have their tickets checked too - this was
previously a very rare event on these lines!

Station improvements are already underway and are having a noticeable
effect. TfL has already been funding station improvements across
London for the past 5 years or so, with the introduction of better
lighting, CCTV, improved ticket offices and booking halls and other
improvements to the station environment. But on the LO lines TfL has
already been hard at work making significant improvements to the
previously grotty facilities - booking halls and ticket offices at
Acton Central, West Hampstead, Hampstead Heath and Canonbury are just
some of the places where there have been significant rebuilds. Instead
of pokey ticket office windows (which used not to be open for business
that often anyway) there are now large all-seeing windows, and a
number of stations are having ticket gates installed (I noticed brand
new ones at Acton Central just the other day).

Many of the stations have also recently been painted. I suspect this
was TfL funded too, though it may have been National Express (owner of
Silverlink) making a rather late and forlorn attempt at impressing TfL
so they might be in with a chance of winning the concession to operate
the LO service. But the point is stations are now starting to look
clean and cared for, rather than grotty unkempt untidy graffiti-ridden
holes.

Lastly, I'm pretty sure that someone's actually got round to washing
many of the previously dirty seat cushions on the class 313 trains.
This shouldn't be a miracle, but it is! These trains only have to last
until next year, so I don't expect big changes (or a new damn livery)
but if TfL can ensure they each get a bit of an internal scrub - or
even (to use the fashionable term) a 'deep-clean' - then it'd be a
great and very visible improvement.

One of the big challenges on the North London Line remains either late
or broken down freight trains disrupting the passenger services. It'll
be interesting to see how successful TfL is in tackling this. I get
the feeling that Silverlink just gave a Gallic shrug of their
shoulders, instead of attempting to improve the situation. Whilst
Silverlink County was the favourite son, Silverlink Metro very much
felt like the unwanted black sheep - tolerated, but not embraced.
TfL's attitude is of course very different - it is not a reluctant
custodian, but a positive and attentive parent.

All in all things are looking up. Despite their neglect the North
London Line and the West London Line have become incredibly popular
routes, and at last the people who are running them actually seem to
really care about them.

Welcome, London Overground, and the best of luck to you.

On Sun, 11 Nov 2007 06:07:42 -0800, Mizter T wrote:

[crossposted to uk.transport.london and uk.railway]


Today Mayor Ken takes over the ex-Silverlink Metro routes such as the
North London Line as London Overground (LO). I specifically say Mayor
Ken as I don't think it would have happened without him lobbying the
government for this transfer of responsibilities. The inclusion of the
North London Railway (as the Silverlink Metro routes are now
collectively known) under TfL management was the result of the Mayor
and his team successfully persuading the DfT that this was the way
forward.

One very big early change is that there will be staff at all stations
(except the GOBLIN stations) for all the hours that the trains are
running - this is a big change for the better and will help people
feel more secure and cared for. I understand that station ticket
offices will be open for longer, whilst there will also be station
staff on and around the platforms, and there will also be roving
security staff who travel on the trains too (and these staff will be
monitoring GOBLIN stations). Trains will run later at night.
Passengers might actually have their tickets checked too - this was
previously a very rare event on these lines!

These are my very limited observations from a little walk to Walthamstow
Queens Road earlier today (already posted to a Yahoo group)

New ticket machine from Shere was alive and well and under its new
purpose built canopy. Apparently operated by Silverlink Trains
according to a label on the machine - ahem! Card and coin / note
acceptance was evident and obviously Oyster compatible with reader
and ability to load Oyster seasons or PAYG. The scrolling display
said tickets for today plus after 4pm it can sell you a ticket for
tomorrow which was a nice touch. Oyster readers were activated and
housed in the same units as used on Docklands stations. I don't
recall signs pointing out what they were though.

There was a metal portacabin present with the word "canteen" on it
but no one was inside and no windows uncovered. There was an
Overground employee present and he was on the Barking platform with
the passengers as a train was due. No outward change to the Class
150 when it arrived with a decent number of people on board and
about half a dozen boarded it. When the train left the employee came
over to the Gospel Oak platform.

The main platform indicator on the Gospel Oak platform was showing a
train for 10.23 being delayed until 11.07 but as it was after 11.07
when I got there I think that was defective. There were other
displays in the modular waiting rooms and these seemed to be showing
the correct details.

Platform posters showed the new Tube and Overground map that's valid
from today. In addition there was a "under new management" poster
showing this was now a TfL service and that immediate decorative
improvements would be made shortly. There was a full timetable and
that was more in the LU house style with New Johnston text and
orange line identity.

Not startling changes but clearly there's been an effort to get
things working and in line with the new operating requirements from
TfL.

Welcome, London Overground, and the best of luck to you.

I'll second that.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

Mizter T wrote:

Lastly, I'm pretty sure that someone's actually got round to washing
many of the previously dirty seat cushions on the class 313 trains.
This shouldn't be a miracle, but it is! These trains only have to last
until next year, so I don't expect big changes (or a new damn livery)
but if TfL can ensure they each get a bit of an internal scrub - or
even (to use the fashionable term) a 'deep-clean' - then it'd be a
great and very visible improvement.

Maybe there should be a rule that you can't put new livery on a train
without doing a deep clean too.

(half-joking)
--
Michael Hoffman

On 11 Nov, 14:46, Michael Hoffman wrote:
Mizter T wrote:
Lastly, I'm pretty sure that someone's actually got round to washing
many of the previously dirty seat cushions on the class 313 trains.
This shouldn't be a miracle, but it is! These trains only have to last
until next year, so I don't expect big changes (or a new damn livery)
but if TfL can ensure they each get a bit of an internal scrub - or
even (to use the fashionable term) a 'deep-clean' - then it'd be a
great and very visible improvement.

Maybe there should be a rule that you can't put new livery on a train
without doing a deep clean too.

(half-joking)
--
Michael Hoffman

As Tom Anderson likes to say - APPROVED!

On 11 Nov, 14:43, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Sun, 11 Nov 2007 06:07:42 -0800, Mizter T wrote:
[crossposted to uk.transport.london and uk.railway]

Today Mayor Ken takes over the ex-Silverlink Metro routes such as the
North London Line as London Overground (LO). I specifically say Mayor
Ken as I don't think it would have happened without him lobbying the
government for this transfer of responsibilities. The inclusion of the
North London Railway (as the Silverlink Metro routes are now
collectively known) under TfL management was the result of the Mayor
and his team successfully persuading the DfT that this was the way
forward.

One very big early change is that there will be staff at all stations
(except the GOBLIN stations) for all the hours that the trains are
running - this is a big change for the better and will help people
feel more secure and cared for. I understand that station ticket
offices will be open for longer, whilst there will also be station
staff on and around the platforms, and there will also be roving
security staff who travel on the trains too (and these staff will be
monitoring GOBLIN stations). Trains will run later at night.
Passengers might actually have their tickets checked too - this was
previously a very rare event on these lines!

These are my very limited observations from a little walk to Walthamstow
Queens Road earlier today (already posted to a Yahoo group)

New ticket machine from Shere was alive and well and under its new
purpose built canopy. Apparently operated by Silverlink Trains
according to a label on the machine - ahem! Card and coin / note
acceptance was evident and obviously Oyster compatible with reader
and ability to load Oyster seasons or PAYG. The scrolling display
said tickets for today plus after 4pm it can sell you a ticket for
tomorrow which was a nice touch. Oyster readers were activated and
housed in the same units as used on Docklands stations. I don't
recall signs pointing out what they were though.

I was around Acton earlier in the week and fiddled around with some
Shere ticket machines at Acton Central and at South Acton. Not an
initially promising start as I seemingly managed to crash one at Acton
Central, though it reset itself some minutes later! The same thing
happened after a lady bought a ticket from it - the 'take your tickets
and change' confirmation screen just stayed on screen for ages.

However I'm pleased to report that I failed to get either of the two
machines at South Acton to crash! Some more observations on them - the
software loaded displayed London Overground branding on screen and the
TfL web address, albeit with some Silverlink colours on the menus (but
so what). The Oyster facilities were already alive on the machine -
but to activate the Oyster reader you need to press the "Oyster
products" 'button' on the touchscreen menu then touch your card on the
reader.

There is no 'View Journey History' facility as there is on LU ticket
machines. One can however buy a season Travelcard or bus pass starting
any day within the next seven days. Additionally the range of
Travelcard seasons offered seemed to encompass all the six London
zones, plus some (if not all) or the range of Travelcard season out to
zone D. Hence one can buy a season Travelcard for zones other than the
one the station is in, something that mirrors what (I think) is
already offered on LU ticket machines.

As Matthew Dickinson has already reported in a previous thread you can
top-up your Oyster PAYG credit in 5p multiples (unlike LU machines
which nowadays don't take 5p pieces any more). The proceedure for
topping up with cash is somewhat less user-friendly than the LU
machines - you have to enter on the virtual touchscreen numberpad the
amount you wish to top up by, then enter the appropriate cash.
Entering pennies rather than pounds is fiddly as the 'button' that
denotes the decimal point isn't marked as such, so you just have to
guess which one it is - something that needs to be amended. However
this method does allow you to top-up a certain specified amount by
cash and then get change (i.e. top-up £1.50 and get 50p change from a
£2 coin), potentially useful to some.


There was a metal portacabin present with the word "canteen" on it
but no one was inside and no windows uncovered. There was an
Overground employee present and he was on the Barking platform with
the passengers as a train was due. No outward change to the Class
150 when it arrived with a decent number of people on board and
about half a dozen boarded it. When the train left the employee came
over to the Gospel Oak platform.

I'm as certain as certain can be that at least one Silverlink class
150 livery already features a TfL roundel - presumably to indicate
that TfL paid for many extra services on the GOBLIN. However a quick
internet search has not revealed any photos to prove this.


The main platform indicator on the Gospel Oak platform was showing a
train for 10.23 being delayed until 11.07 but as it was after 11.07
when I got there I think that was defective. There were other
displays in the modular waiting rooms and these seemed to be showing
the correct details.

I don;t know whether that platform indicator is a new one, but there
are certainly new bright orange scrolling LED PIS displays going up
around the LO system, some at stations that I don''t think have ever
had any PIS screens or displays before (Kensal Green is one, I think
some stations on the GOBLIN are also in this position).


Platform posters showed the new Tube and Overground map that's valid
from today. In addition there was a "under new management" poster
showing this was now a TfL service and that immediate decorative
improvements would be made shortly. There was a full timetable and
that was more in the LU house style with New Johnston text and
orange line identity.

The new Tube map featuring the LO lines is now available on the TfL
website.

I'm going to make the presumption that TfL has been sensible and has
not paid for a new run of timetable booklets for the very short period
until 9 November, and will instead continue to hand out the existing
Silverlink Metro ones (which state on them that they're valid until 8
December). I'll test this at some point in the coming weeks!

Have any of the other new franchises wasted money by printing new
timetable booklets? I genuinely hope they haven't, but I fear at least
one might have - perhaps not least because the outgoing operator
refused to play along with such a plan (I wonder if Virgin is guilty
of this with regards to Cross Country, wishing to protect the Virgin
brand and all that - a report from the front line on this would be
interesting, less they get damned as a result of mere speculation!).


Not startling changes but clearly there's been an effort to get
things working and in line with the new operating requirements from
TfL.

Welcome, London Overground, and the best of luck to you.

I'll second that.
--
Paul C

Admits to working for London Underground!

..

Have any of the other new franchises wasted money by printing new
timetable booklets?


The answer is yes i picked up an Arriva crosscountry one dated
11/11/07 until the 08/12/07 from East Croydons platform 1 and 2
information booth on Friday night. It is the replacement guide to
Virgins VT2 timetable and internally is exactly fonted and styled the
same as the previous edition(apart from the first 4 pages which are in
new Crosscountry font and style) . Interestingly on the back is a
crosscountry map which is pretty much the same as the previous Virgin
rail map(Even down to route colours) obiously omitting the west coast
routes but including the previous Central routes between Birmingham
and Stanstead,Derby and Cardiff central. I am surprised they did not
design their own routre map and that Virgin allowed them to use their
design.

I will have a look around the Overground network after work tommorow i
am really pleased their revenue protection is to improve (The new
barriers at West Hampstead should be wiorking tommorow) i have used
the West Hampstead to Kensington Olympia line for the past three
months during the peak twice a day and still am yet to have anybody
inspect my ticket.

On Sun, 11 Nov 2007 07:42:48 -0800, Mizter T
wrote:

I'm as certain as certain can be that at least one Silverlink class
150 livery already features a TfL roundel - presumably to indicate
that TfL paid for many extra services on the GOBLIN. However a quick
internet search has not revealed any photos to prove this.

There was one (I've seen it) but it might not still carry that livery
as I haven't seen it for some time.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

"Mizter T" wrote in message
ups.com...
[crossposted to uk.transport.london and uk.railway]


Lots of other comments have already been made as to what the new
branding will be, whether existing trains will get new liveries, what
signs will be replaced and when. I don't think ephemeral changes such
as this are really the important ones - it's real changes that people
care about.

...... of the places where there have been significant rebuilds. Instead
of pokey ticket office windows (which used not to be open for business
that often anyway) there are now large all-seeing windows, and a
number of stations are having ticket gates installed (I noticed brand
new ones at Acton Central just the other day).

I always think that is an improvement many older tube stations should
have...

Many of the stations have also recently been painted. I suspect this
was TfL funded too, though it may have been National Express (owner of
Silverlink) making a rather late and forlorn attempt at impressing TfL
so they might be in with a chance of winning the concession to operate
the LO service. But the point is stations are now starting to look
clean and cared for, rather than grotty unkempt untidy graffiti-ridden
holes.


A number of recent threads have mentioned that LO branding wouldn't appear
unless a particular station has reached an acceptable state, so that state
must be typified by Highbury & Islington, where the platform name boards are
LO style including the orange roundel, I wasn't too impressed by the white
on orange text for the station name though. So IMHO there are a couple
along towards Willesden Junction that meet that sort of condition and could
be 'LO'd' quickly. Also heard from a fellow traveller that the LO platforms
at Harrow and Wealdstone have been 'done'.

Lastly, I'm pretty sure that someone's actually got round to washing
many of the previously dirty seat cushions on the class 313 trains.
This shouldn't be a miracle, but it is! These trains only have to last
until next year, so I don't expect big changes (or a new damn livery)
but if TfL can ensure they each get a bit of an internal scrub - or
even (to use the fashionable term) a 'deep-clean' - then it'd be a
great and very visible improvement.

Can report some trains have a large black on white vinyl 'London Overground'
on the side, the one I travelled in had good clear Overground network maps
and up to date 'tube+overground' maps fittted neatly over the old Silverlink
maps, many pax seemed quite interested in these...

Paul S

Innes Ferguson, TFL Design Manager, say that the Class 313s will be
lettered black New Johnston-on-white which implies some sort of
sticker but it wasn't clear if this would read "London Overground" or
"Transport for London", nor if the roundel would be included. Maybe
they can dig out some old orange-enamelled 1970s Underground cap
badges for the staff to wear!

I'm starting a separate thread to hopefully track the spread of the LO
"brand" across the network.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Innes Ferguson, TFL Design Manager, say that the Class 313s will be
lettered black New Johnston-on-white which implies some sort of
sticker but it wasn't clear if this would read "London Overground" or
"Transport for London", nor if the roundel would be included. Maybe
they can dig out some old orange-enamelled 1970s Underground cap
badges for the staff to wear!

I'm starting a separate thread to hopefully track the spread of the LO
"brand" across the network.


Good luck with that - although it ought to be a bit more straightforward
than Roland Perry's attempts to track the 1000^1300^1700 new rail
carriages...

Paul