Delays on Tube system are worse than 10 years ago

A survey today reveals what hundreds of thousands of Tube commuters already know to their cost - the service is worse now than it was 10 years ago despite the billions of pounds spent.

The number of delays lasting 15 minutes or more is higher than in 1996/7 - a total of 2,740 during the last 12 months compared with 2,656 a decade ago.

Latest official statistics also show the District, Metropolitan, Northern and Victoria lines are all worse than in 1996/97.

The District and Northern, two of the busiest lines on the system, are together used by more than 1.3 million passengers a day.

When delays of five minutes or more were taken into account, figures show;

Delays on the Northern line are worse now compared with four years ago;

On the Metropolitan line delays are worse now than they were three years ago;

In the last two years service on Piccadilly and Victoria lines has worsened.

Passengers' Excess Journey Time - time taken for the journey compared with what is expected - is currently four minutes 50 seconds. In 2003, it was two minutes 55 seconds.

The figures were obtained by former Tory transport secretary Theresa May through Parliamentary Questions and a Freedom of Information request to London Underground.

Brian Cooke, chairman of London TravelWatch, said the figures make for "grim reading".

Talks continued today in an effort to avert a three-day strike, due to begin next Sunday at 6pm, among Metronet maintenance staff in a dispute over working conditions.
Bob Crow, the RMT union leader, said: "We hope that we will now be able to move forward to an agreement, but in the meantime the three-day strike ... remains in place."