Heads up (via London Reconnections and commentor Mark Lee) on a interesting developing story - Oyster PAYG integration on South West Trains (one of the really big PAYG-free areas that Boris pretty much has to get signed up in order to fulfill his commitment) apparently depends on a franchise agreement with the DfT that releases SWT from the obligation to introduce Oyster PAYG if they and TfL can’t come to an agreement. In Mark’s words:
Basically there’s a mega opt-out clause that states that if the train operator and TfL cannot agree to the terms of implementing Oyster, then the train operator is released of their obligation.
In other words, SWT, knowing that Boris politically can’t fail on this one, can effectively write themselves a blank cheque from TfL funds. Remember that the consequences of PAYG will be increased use of the trains (which is a bad thing for SWT, since they’re already crammed and there’s not much prospect of capacity increases) and increased costs to SWT in maintaining the readers and sales equipment. The main reason Oyster PAYG isn’t yet available everywhere on National Rail is that it’s introduction is not good news for national rail operators - my notes from the last TfL Board meeting webcast summarise Peter Hendy’s rather revealing views as:
what TfL wants for London isn’t compatible with the interests of commercial operators taking revenue risk
Boris’s reaction to this was to make reassuring noises about wanting the ‘whole ball of wax’, but platitudes, however worthy, cut no ice in the desperate world of privatised rail franchising going through the uncharted waters of its first recession. It’s the privatised railways structure itself that makes it difficult.
Of course, this isn’t Boris’s fault (except that as a Tory he’s a confirmed supporter of rail privatisation, so in that sense can suck it down, baby), but it’s his problem, and indicates that when dealing with privatised rail companies it’s not enough to have a big summit where everyone’s a jolly good chap, it requires negotiating skills and deep familiarity with contract details. Also, since the real power lies in the franchise agreement between the DfT and SWT, it requires cordial relations with central government, which isn’t something Boris has been cultivating recently (*cough* Sir Ian Blair *cough*). Boris and the team therefore have some bridges to build with the new DfT team, all the time with the risk of a Tube Lines PPP cost overrun or bankruptcy hanging over them.
Part of the problem with Boris’s committment to PAYG on National Rail is that TfL is pretty much powerless without gaining the DfT’s agreement - the point about the most effective NR PAYG rollout, London Overground, is that TfL persuaded the DfT to let it try running its own franchises (concessions, actually, the difference being that TfL takes the revenue risk and sets fares). The results were spectacularly good, but there’s no immediate prospect of this being extended, as the South Central franchise specification shows. Boris, in making a big thing of his promise to introduce PAYG on National Rail, is again letting his mouth write a cheque his team can’t cash, as he’ll find out when he sits down with the grim-faced men from Stagecoach (prop. Brian Souter, amongst whose other interests are building buses and being rather Old Testament towards the gay community) and they start talking hard cash terms.
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Grrrr.
OK, so I’ve had a look at this in a bit more detail (thanks to First Great Western kindly giving me a little more ’spare time’ on my journey this evening), and the franchise agreement makes pretty grim reading for anyone wanting to see Oyster PAYG on South West Trains any time soon.
South West Trains are obliged to accept Oyster PAYG on their network from January 2009 if, and *only* if:
- TfL upgrade all card readers and valiators on the South West Trains Z1-6 network to be both Oyster and ITSO compatibile by 01/01/09, and TfL do not change the price agreed for works.
- TfL upgrade all card readers and validators on TfL tube stations, rail stations, trams, and buses to be both Oyster and ITSO compatible by 01/01/09, and TfL do not change the price agreed for works.
- Oyster fares on SWT services are equal to those of equivalent paper tickets.
- Oyster fares for a combination of SWT services and TfL services are equal to those of equivalent paper tickets. (SWT currently add a premium of about £4 to +Zone 1 tickets for onward tube travel)
- Daily price caps are equal to travelcard prices.
- Where journeys incorporate both tube and rail journeys, Oyster PAYG revenue is allocated between operators on the same principles of as paper (non-travelcard) through tickets.
- TfL reach agreement with SWT on issues which are “material to the performance of the obligations on terms that are fair and reasonable on the basis of an arm’s length commercial transaction between informed and willing parties”
Now let’s have a look at these points in a bit more detail:
- TfL reader upgrades - has this been happening? I don’t know, but my inclination is that it isn’t.
- TfL reach agreement with SWT with regards to the roll-out of Oyster. It’s difficult to prove that SWT are not being reasonable, but it’s not impossible. Precedent has been set by other operators (such as FGW), and theoretically you could use this to prove that SWT is not being reasonable in this regard.
- Fares - this is really the killer. The fares structure proposed here goes against several aspects of PAYG - firstly, daily price caps are currently cheaper than travelcards. Secondly, allocating OPAYG revenue as per non-travelcard agreements will see a disproportionate amount going to SWT if users reach their fare cap. Finally, charging train + tube journeys at the cost of paper equivalent would completely disincentivise usage of the cards - currently SWT charge about £4 premium for any passenger foolish enough to ask for a through ticket to a tube station.
I’d be amazed if TfL would cave in to these requirements, and therefore the agreement is pretty much worthless. A cynic might suggest that OPAYG was included by the DfT to get good headlines, but in practice, it’d be difficult to hold SWT to pretty much anything.
Even if the DfT did want to hold SWT to their commitments, the only financial penalties I could hunt down in the document are tangential; there’s a £2000 fine for every 28 days they fail to appoint a Smart Card Project Manager (which is still far cheaper than appointing a decent project manager), and a
£200 fine for every 28 days they fail to provide an update on Smart Card Implementation. (p89)
With such weak franchise obligations, TfL (and, to be fair to him, Boris), have a pretty uphill struggle here to get Oyster PAYG out to SWT. But, if you were worried that the DfT have been entirely toothless and caved in to South West Trains when drafting the agreement, then have no fear. The DfT did manage to win the following vital franchise obligation: “The
Franchisee shall re-locate the vending machines from the bottom of the footbridge on Platform 5 at Wimbledon by 30 September 2008.” At least they got the important stuff right, eh?
They’re not called DafT for a reason, you know.
Thanks very much for that - I couldn’t get it to download (is it the 300 page document sswtnation.pdf?).
SWT are the 3rd biggest TOC in London by number of stations. They and SouthEastern (biggest TOC) are the only two where Oystercards are not now being installed.
What happened at the famous TfL & TOC summit on 21 October? It seems to be the best-kept secret since the affair between John Major and Edwina Currie! TOCs responding to my letters and e-mails since then are still giving start dates long into the future.
This even applies to NXEA, where the stations Maryland to Harold Wood on future Crossrail had readers installed in the first week in September 2008, now 10 weeks ago.
I gather people (meaning Mark Lee) have been searching for obscure documents.
This link
http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/SWTrains/Emotion/InsideStory/Issue31_InsideStory.htm
which includes these two paragraphs
” The gates are also prepared for the future as they are equipped with Oyster readers and will be able to accept Oyster pay as you go when introduced later in 2009. They are also ready for smartcard ticketing when it comes on stream later in the current franchise. Watch this space! ”
” Can I use Oyster pay as you go?
No. The gates will accept Oyster travelcards and paper rail tickets but cannot yet recognise Oyster pay as you go. Implementation of pay as you go is planned as part of a pan-London project under the direction of Transport for London, due before the end of 2009. ”
is on the South West Trains website! It is in their ” e-motion ” magazine for November and December 2008.
It contains more useful info than I get by writing to most Train Operating Companies, apart from any real estimate of the start date for Pay as you go Oyster, of course.
[...] West Trains, Southern, South Eastern and Thameslink. Brands that are despised for their lack of Oyster useage, a lack of safety at these poorly lit hell holes and their refusal to run trains at times that suit [...]