posted on 2024-11-15, 21:53authored byN Badstuber, C Smales
Abstract: London Overground illustrates the successful transformation of underused and fragmented urban railway infrastructure into an orbital service boasting record passenger satisfaction and popularity. London’s metropolitan transport authority Transport for London achieved this through a combination of measures. In addition to station upgrades and new trains, the provision of integrated transport services, such as integrated ticketing and customer information, marketing and branding contributed to London Overground’s success. In 2007, Transport for London took over the concession to operate and manage the neglected railway routes. Since then, London Overground has become one of best performing train operators in Great Britain. London Overground patronage has nearly quadrupled since Transport for London took over the management of the concession – surpassing demand forecasts and necessitating further capacity enhancement investment. As well as providing new radial connections, London Overground has also managed to attract passengers from London Buses, National Rail and London Underground, and thereby freed capacity on these stressed services. This paper will describe all of these transformations and draw out some principles that will be of use to other similar initiatives. Citation: Badstuber, N. & Smales, C. (2014). London Underground - a Success Story: Transforming Neglected Urban Railway Intrastructure to Meet Capacity and Connectivity Demands. In: Campbell P. and Perez P. (Eds), Proceedings of the International Symposium of Next Generation Infrastructure, 1-4 October 2013, SMART Infrastructure Facility, University of Wollongong, Australia.