Dear Mr Lukic,

Our ref: FOI-3169-2324

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 04 December 2023 asking for our London Underground on-board announcements.

Your request will be considered in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy, and we will issue you with a response by 04 January 2024. 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 and EIR requests or other public queries. Please check http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar... to see if this helps you.

We will publish anonymised versions of requests and responses on the 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.

Yours sincerely,

Tahsin Prima
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London

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Dear Mr Lukic,

Our ref: FOI-3169-2324

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 04
December 2023 asking for our London Underground on-board 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.

We have given out the on train announcements for the Jubilee, Northern and
Piccadilly lines previously, as our commercial agreement allows us to do
this, however, with regards to the London Underground station
announcements and the on train announcements for the other lines, we are
not obliged to supply these audio files as the information is subject to a
statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section
43(2).

In this instance section 43(2) has been applied as disclosure of the
information requested would be likely to prejudice the commercial
interests of TfL and/or the company used to provide the recordings. The
recordings in question were provided to London Underground under a signed
contracts which contained explicit conditions concerning disclosure and
distribution.

These contracts specify that the recordings are solely to be used for the
purpose for which they were created and for broadcast on the London
Underground network only. If TfL were to disclose these recordings in
response to an FOI request, it would constitute an actionable breach of
contract and would be likely to result in a valid legal claim against
London Underground or the license to use the recordings being withdrawn,
which would impose additional, unnecessary, costs. TfL wishes to protect
its commercial interests and ability to participate in future commercial
activity. The disclosure of this information would be to the detriment of
present and future business activities for both parties.

The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public
interest in relation to the disclosure of the information concerned. TfL
recognises the need for openness and transparency within public
authorities and the degree of public interest concerning London transport
announcements. However, in this instance this is outweighed by the damage
that would be done to TfL’s ability to use these recordings and any future
contractual negotiations that may take place regarding the London
Underground announcements.

If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached
information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely,

Tahsin Prima

FOI Case Officer

General Counsel

Transport for London

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