Summary: The complaint is about noise and vibrations coming from damaged tube tracks. TFL failed to take the action it had agreed in response to Mr X’s complaints of noise and vibrations affecting his home, which was fault. TFL will apologise, make a symbolic payment for avoidable distress and time and trouble and confirm when it will complete the works it has already promised to do.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained Transport for London (TFL) failed to complete agreed action to reduce noise and vibrations in his home caused by tube trains. He also complained about poor communication. He said this caused avoidable distress, frustration and time and trouble.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered Mr X’s complaint to us and correspondence from TFL.
5. Mr X and TFL had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

What should have happened

6. Our Principles of good administrative practice are a benchmark for the standards we expect when we investigate actions of authorities. We expect authorities to be ‘service user focused’ by informing people what they can expect and by keeping to commitments.
7. TFL’s website has information for the public about reducing noise and vibration. This says:
• There are no legal limits on noise or vibration from trains, but it was committed to minimising disturbance and treats each complaint individually.
• Noise coming from tracks can be from normal wear and tear, faults or misaligned joints.
• It inspects tracks regularly to ensure safety and reliability.
• The vibration caused when metal wheels roll over tracks is carried through the tunnel and ground to nearby buildings. The walls and floors of these buildings can amplify (increase) the noise.
• It monitors reported noise levels across the tube network. To reduce it, TFL could take different action including grinding rails to remove corrugation. (Corrugation is ridges or grooves on the rail which can increase noise).
• If a person complains about noise, one of its engineers would get in touch and monitor the noise and take measurements. The results tell the level, type and source of the noise.

What happened

8. Mr X reported noise and vibration in his home in around October 2021. TFL investigated and prepared a report.
9. In May 2022, TFL apologised for the impact on Mr X. It explained its technical report was not quite ready.
10. At the end of June, TFL emailed Mr X to say engineers inspected the track and found the rails were rough and had corrugation. It said it would address this by grinding the rails, but resources to do this were limited. It said the next available time would be March 2023 and it was sorry this could not happen sooner.
11. Mr X contacted TFL for an update in March 2023 because the grinding had not taken place. TFL’s customer service team email apologised for the delay and impact on him of the noise. It said it did not have a timescale for when grinding would be taking place. It went on to explain there were few grinding engineering trains and they had to deal with all parts of the network including areas with much higher noise levels.
12. In June, TFL’s customer service team emailed Mr X and apologised again for the delay. It said there was still no timescale for grinding. Mr X complained to us.
13. We asked TFL if it had responded to Mr X’s complaint through its internal complaint procedure. TFL said it had not. It also said the substantive issue had not been resolved due to ‘limited resources and financial constraints’. It went on to say that the managers responsible for the area of work were on long-term leave and so TFL could not say when the matter would be resolved.

Findings

14. In response to Mr X’s complaint of noise and vibrations, TFL followed its published process by inspecting the track. It identified corrugation as the cause of the problem and informed Mr X it would take action to mitigate the issue by March 2023. This was appropriate and there was no fault in 2022.
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16. However, TFL then did not complete the actions it had agreed to take. This was not in line with our expected standards. It was not ‘service user focused’ and this was fault which caused Mr X avoidable frustration and inconvenience and an impact to Mr X from continuing noise.
17. We note TFL’s explanation for the delay was in part due to the absence of managers and limited resources. We would not expect this to have an effect on service delivery where an authority has promised specific action in response to a complaint.
18. There was also fault in complaint handling. Mr X has had to chase TFL for updates on action it had agreed to take. This caused avoidable frustration and time and trouble.

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Agreed action

19. Within one month of my final decision, TFL will:
• Give Mr X a revised date for completion of grinding. It has told us this will be no later than 8 October and it will advise Mr X of the exact date when known.
• Apologise for his avoidable frustration, time and trouble and for the impact of continuing noise and vibration.
• Make Mr X a symbolic payment of £150 to reflect the above.
20. TFL should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

21. The complaint is about noise and vibration coming from damaged tube tracks. TFL failed to take the action it had agreed in response to Mr X’s complaints of noise affecting his home, which was fault. TFL will apologise, make a symbolic payment for avoidable distress and time and trouble and confirm when it will complete the works it has already promised to undertake.
22. I completed the investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman