Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Resolved /-

That apologies be noted and received from Councillor’s Mohammed Ayub (Bolton Council), Councillor Norman Briggs (Oldham Council), Joanne Marshall (Wigan Council), Mark Angelucci and Caroline Whittam (TfGM).

Danny Vaughan, Head of Metrolink, TfGM introduced the Metrolink quarterly performance report which provided a performance summary for the rolling 12-month period.

Members were provided with a further update on emerging issues since the publication of the report and most notably it was reported that patronage had continued to increase and by early December, levels had reached circa 76% of pre-pandemic levels. The highest weekday patronage since March 2019 was on 2 December and had reached 86 and the strongest levels of recovery still appeared to be leisure travel. This however was prior to the implementation of the “plan B” government guidelines, which requested people to work from home where possible. Since then, patronage had decreased to 40% pre-Covid levels and face covering compliance had increased from 23% to 62% as the wearing of face coverings once again became mandatory on public transport.

The Committee were advised that operational performance during periods 7 and 8 continued to be affected by staff shortages, especially within the driver cohort. A combination of seasonal and Covid related absences had resulted in driver absence between 10-15% and as a result service changes had been implemented.  Boxing Day services operated every twenty as opposed to every twelve minutes. Furthermore, short notice service changes were necessary on New Year’s Eve, the Airport, Ashton and Eccles routes were withdrawn from 5pm until the end of service, with bus replacement services operating between Ashton and Piccadilly., A more permanent reduction in timetable similarly implemented across rail services had been considered, however it had been recognised that staff absence had now gone past the peak and would no longer be necessary. Performance had improved, however there were still some gaps in services particularly over the weekends due to staff absence.

Members were informed of two fatal accidents across the network in December 2021. In one case a male fell from the platform into the path of a double tram as it departed Deansgate Castlefield. In the other, a female fell from the auto-coupler while climbing between trams from the street side at Droylsden tram stop. Both incidents were currently under investigation by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and KeolisAmey (KAM) were also carrying out their own inquiries. It was advised that the incidents reflected the usual spike in safety issues in the run up to the Christmas period as more passengers travelled across the network. It was recognised however that the most recent Christmas period had been notably more serious from a safety aspect than previously.

It was reported that discussions continued with DfT regarding funding for Metrolink beyond March 2022 as the ongoing support remained uncertain, however, any decision was unlikely to be until early 2022. Following similar discussions, TfL had agreed in principle with Government that they would achieve operational financial sustainability by March 2023, but this would require significant changes in their operation. 

More positively, Members were informed of the partnership work with GMP to tackle ASB and the recent funding as part of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Simon Elliott, Head of Rail Programme, TfGM provided an update to members on rail service and operation across Greater Manchester over rail periods7 and 8 between 19 September – 13 November 2021. 

Operational performance remained broadly consistent in period 7 but had declined in period 8, largely due to weather-related events. PPM was reported to be in the higher 80% for the longer distance operators, around 90% for Northern and almost 95% for TPE. Right Time at Destination figures for both Northern and TPE remained strong at around 70%. Cancellations stayed relatively low, however total delay minutes had more than doubled across Network Rail’s Manchester Delivery Unit. Delayed minutes in period 8 were reported to be adverse to target for the first time in ten periods, by 16%.

Train operating companies experienced crew availability issues as a direct result of Covid and services were subject to both pre-planned and some late-notification cancellations, further details of the mitigations were outlined in the report.

Patronage levels over the period continued to increase, with Northern reporting around 78% of pre-Covid levels at its highest and TPE 68% of pre-Covid levels. However, since the introduction of Plan B restrictions due to the Omicron wave these had decreased overall to approx. 60%.

Members were reminded that face covering compliance on services in the previous period had decreased, however, the change in government guidance had resulted in an increase between 65-80% although this appeared lower at weekends and amongst younger travellers.

An update regarding the Manchester Recovery Taskforce was provided and Members were advised that there had been a consultation for the proposed timetable changes to be introduced in December 2022. TfGM had made strong representation on behalf of the Committee and the GMCA regarding infrastructure commitments to deliver future service improvements.

It was advised that TfGM continued to work with local communities and station groups on various projects in the region, an overview of the projects was detailed in the report. Furthermore, ongoing support was provided to local Community Rail Partnerships (CRPs) and on behalf of the Committee, South Lancashire CRP were congratulated on recent wins at the national community rail awards for the Hate Crime and Sunday Rivington bus projects.

Due to the Omicron variant, the agreed Community Day event for Community Rail Groups scheduled for December 2021 would now be arranged by TfGM officers for February or March 2022 subject to government guidance.

Members were informed that the next round of funding for the Rail Station Accessibility Programme for 2024-29 was accepting bids. It was agreed that the Committee would receive an updated report on the approach to the Access for All programme prior to submission in April 2022 at the next meeting.

In discussion the Committee considered the financial challenges faced by the rail industry and reassurance was provided on the assistance and communication to customers travelling at Manchester Piccadilly station regarding stair lift access. 

Resolved /-

1. That the report be noted.
2. That the recent announcement by DfT on Access for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Friday 11 March 2022 at 10:30am