The London Assembly’s transport committee calls on Mayor Sadiq Khan to deliver a “drastic improvement” in how stations can be accessed by cyclists, pedestrians and those with disabilities. Every station, it adds, should be assessed against the charter with help from passengers.

The committee also calls for Network Rail to deliver a plan to introduce more frequent and longer trains on railways in the capital through a series of targeted upgrades, and for the national operator to work with Transport for London to produce one single rail strategy for the capital.

It says passenger satisfaction on the railways in London and the South East has declined in the last year in terms of train frequency, reliability, how operators deal with delays and levels of crowding.

Committee chair Caroline Pidgeon said: “For Londoners and visitors to get around our city, our rail network has to be world class. Currently, it is not.”

Network Rail welcomed the report and said it is developing plans with Transport for London for a joint London rail strategy. A spokesman added that work is being taken forward to deal with overcrowding at hotspots including Denmark Hill and Peckham Rye, to improve reliability on the Brighton Mainline, redevelop Clapham Junction and separate lines at Woking.

In other news, Sadiq Khan has told the London Assembly that an automatic braking system will be introduced to trams on the Croydon network within 12 months. This follows a derailment at Sandilands in November 2016 which killed seven people and injured 62 others.

He said contracts will be let by the end of this year for the automatic braking system and an emergency lighting upgrade. The Mayor described the braking system as a first for the UK tram industry, whereby trams will be slowed and brought to a stop if they exceed the speed limit at key locations.

Progress continues to implement a series of recommendations to make Croydon’s tram network safer, he added. So far they have included a device to detect driver fatigue – introduced last October – speed reductions and better signage around bends. An enhanced complaints procedure developed with operator First Group allows “prompt action” to be taken when a possible safety risk is identified, he said. By next March, strengthened glazing is expected to be introduced across the whole of the tram fleet.

Assembly member Steve O’Connell thanked the Mayor for providing “some reassurance” over enhanced tram safety, but pointed out that half of a list of recommendations made one year after the derailment have yet to be delivered. “The people of New Addington, Sandilands and Croydon would feel it is unacceptable it has taken so long to implement specific recommendations,” he said, asking the Mayor: “Would you agree the delay has been too long?”

Sadiq Khan replied: “Any delay is too long, but some of this is not in the gift of Transport for London. Those (that are) in our gift will happen as soon as possible.” He added that he hoped safety enhancements at Croydon will lead to improvements across the country’s tram networks.

(Photograph: Alan Stanton and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence)