London Underground Announcements

The request was refused by Transport for London.

Dear Transport for London,

I am writing today to request a DVD-ROM CD drive containing any of the announcements that are used under TfL (i.e Underground, Overground, Tfl Services, Bus, Train, tramlink etc...)

I've also heard that you currently supply the following announcements:

• Bus ibus announcements
• Croydon Tram onboard announcements
• Ferry services (Riverbus Ferries)
• Ferry services (Woolwich Ferries)
• London Overground onboard announcements
• London Overground station announcements
• London Underground Jubilee/Northern/Piccadilly line announcements
• TFL Rail (Crossrail class 345) onboard announcements

I would appreciate if I had a copy of these announcements along with any other announcements available, with agreement that these will be used for personal use only.

Yours faithfully,

Tony McIntosh

FOI, Transport for London

Dear Tony McIntosh

 

Our ref: FOI-0487-2021/GH

 

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 26
June 2020 asking for announcements.

 

Please note, the Government has announced a series of measures to tackle
the coronavirus. It is essential for London, that we continue to provide a
safe transport network for essential journeys.

 

In current circumstances, we are not able to answer FOI requests readily
and we ask that you please do not make a request to us at present.

 

Answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the
attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. In
any event, please note that our response time will be affected by the
current situation and so you may wish to reconsider the timing of this
request. Please notify us as soon as possible if you would like to
withdraw your request at the current time.

 

Should you wish to proceed with the request we will aim to issue a
response by 27 July 2020 in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act
2000 and our information access policy. We publish a substantial range of
information on our website on subjects including operational performance,
contracts, expenditure, journey data, governance and our financial
performance. This includes data which is frequently asked for in FOI
requests or other public queries. Please check
[1]http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar... to see if this helps you.

 

We will publish anonymised versions of requests and responses on the
[2]www.tfl.gov.uk website. We will not publish your name and we will send
a copy of the response to you before it is published on our website.

 

In the meantime, if you would like to discuss this matter further, please
do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Graham Hurt

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

 

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar...
2. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/
3. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/

Dear FOI,

I look forward to hearing your response,
Yours sincerely,
Tony Mcintosh

FOI, Transport for London

1 Attachment

Dear Tony McIntosh

 

Our ref: FOI-0487-2021/GH

 

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 26
June 2020 asking for announcements.

 

Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and our information access policy. I can confirm that
we do hold the information you require.

 

However, we are refusing your request under section 14(1) of the Act. We
consider that providing the requested information would place an
unreasonable burden on us at this time. As you will be aware, it is
essential for London, that we continue to provide a safe transport network
that enables them to make the journeys they need to and our staff are
working hard to support them and protect all Londoners. We consider that
answering this request would represent a disproportionate effort and would
require the redirection of limited specialist resources and the attention
of staff away from their core functions who could be supporting other
essential activity.

 

We do wish to clarify that whilst we consider that your request falls
under section 14(1) of the FOI Act, this does not reflect a conclusion
that it has been your intention to place an undue burden on our resources.

 

On the specific application of section 14(1) we have been steered by the
ICO guidance on the use of that exemption that can be found on its website
here:
[1]https://ico.org.uk/media/1198/dealing-wi...

 

To be clear, it is the current context in which the request has been made
that is central to our decision to apply the exemption set out in section
14(1) in response to your request.

 

We have responded to several hundred requests for audio recordings over
many years. However, due to alternative working arrangements aligned with
the Government’s measures to tackle the coronavirus, the FOI Case
Management Team do not currently have access to the necessary hardware
required to create CDs of audio announcements in response to FOI requests
and so we are unable to process these requests remotely.

 

Additionally, whilst we have also explored alternative technological
solutions, it is an unavoidable consequence that processing requests of
this nature would require critical employees to be diverted from their
operational responsibilities and, in the current circumstances, we
consider that our priority must remain on providing and maintaining an
effective transport system to essential workers across the capital and
that our limited resources are utilised as effectively as possible to
ensure that happens. Therefore we are refusing your request under s14 of
the FOI Act.

 

The impact of current circumstances on TfL’s resources means we are not
able to answer FOI requests readily and we ask that you please do not make
a request to us at present.

 

Answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the
attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. In
any event, please note that our response time will be affected by the
current situation.

 

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to
appeal.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Graham Hurt

 

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

 

show quoted sections

 

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/media/1198/dealing-wi...
2. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/