Elizabeth Line: Tokyo Metro part of new Tube operator

Japanese trains are renowned for their efficiency — and now the operators of the Tokyo Metro will be hoping to bring better punctuality to the Elizabeth Line.
The £18 billion line, which runs from Berkshire to Essex via central London, has been welcomed by passengers since opening in 2022, but punctuality has been an issue, with almost a fifth of trains turning up late.
The Elizabeth Line had been operated by the Hong Kong industrial giant MTR since its opening but Transport for London confirmed that operations would be transferred to a consortium made up of Go-Ahead, Tokyo Metro and the Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo, known as GTS Rail Operations.
It will be the first time Tokyo Metro has operated a service outside of Japan, though it has consulted on operations in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam.
Newcastle-headquartered Go-Ahead will be the majority partner. It already operates the Govia Thameslink Railway, which runs Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern services, alongside a French partner, Keolis.
Three out of every ten services operated by Govia were late, or cancelled, in the second quarter of this year.
By contrast, delays are sufficiently rare on the Tokyo Metro that commuters can download “delay certificates” to prevent any issues with clock-watching superiors at work. Only 1 per cent of Tokyo Metro’s trains missed their scheduled arrival time by more than five minutes in 2022.
“Working together with Go-Ahead, the two companies will utilise Tokyo Metro’s know-how, gained over nearly 100 years, in achieving high-quality railway operations with outstanding safety and punctuality,” a statement from the Japanese firms read.
While Elizabeth Line commuters enjoy a service far more punctual than the national average of 70.1 per cent, occasional severe delays come with unique problems.
Passengers stuck for four hours in December of last year began “misbehaving”, according to an Office of Rail and Road report, due to a lack of toilet and charging facilities. Drivers were forced to ask passengers to stop trying to kick the doors open.
GTS will be tasked with bringing ten new trains into operation as the line extends to Old Oak Common, eventually linking up with the southern leg of HS2.
The size of the contract — which involves the consortium being paid a concession to run the line, adjustable with bonuses for performance — was not disclosed. MTR was paid a nominal £1.4 billion over the course of the ten-year contract that began in 2014. Transport for London will retain control of both setting and retaining fares.