SouthernNews
Oxted and Redhill routes
Summer 2014
Redhill station gets a real lift
– with access to all platforms
Passengers at Redhill are now benefiting
from refurbished lifts to platforms 1 & 2 and a
newly installed passenger lift and footbridge
which connects the main station entrance to
the subway level, providing step free access
to all platforms.
The improvement work was part of an
Access for All scheme between Southern,
the Department for Transport and Network
Rail. The work is part of the first phase of the
regeneration program for Redhill station and
the wider local area which once completed
will include a new spacious ticket office, a
new station entrance with improved ticketing,
a new multi-storey car park with 450 spaces
dedicated for station users, more disabled
parking bays, a new taxi rank and public
drop off / pick up area, more cycle spaces, a
new public square outside the main station
entrance and improved pedestrian links into
the town centre.
Much has happened since our last issue.
The exciting news is that our parent
company – Govia has been awarded the new
Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern (TSGN)
franchise, which comes into creation in three
stages. The first stage is First Capital Connect
services transferring into the new franchise
this month with a few Southeastern stations
and services joining in December.
In July next year, the current Southern franchise comes to an end
and all Southern and Gatwick Express services will join the new
franchise at that time.
Until we join the new franchise, it’ll be business as usual and you
can be assured that everyone at Southern and Gatwick Express will
be pulling out all the stops to ensure that we do our utmost to deliver
the train service you expect and deserve.
We continue to make improvements to our stations and trains
and I hope you have noticed a difference as you travel around the
network, especially as we have introduced more carriages on some
of our busiest routes. Having said that, I can’t ignore the fact that
the train service has been less punctual and reliable than I know
you expect. There are a variety of reasons for this - some within our
direct control, some within Network Rail’s control and some which
are a result of events that are outside of our control. It has been
an exceptionally frustrating time for us all and we are certainly not
happy with what we’re delivering, but I’d like to assure you that we
and Network Rail are working very hard to deliver the service reliably
every day, despite the challenges.
Finally, as you may know, London Bridge station is being rebuilt as
part of the £6bn Thameslink Programme. However, progress doesn’t
come without some pain, so during the Christmas period, there will
be another blockade where Southern services will not be able to call
there. To find out more about this and what your options are, please
visit our website at southernrailway.com
Thank you for continuing to travel with us.
David Scorey – Interim Managing Director
London Bridge takes shape
London Bridge station is being redeveloped
as part of the Government-sponsored £6.5bn
Thameslink Programme, which will transform
north-south travel through London.
Nearly every weekend there’s been
engineering works at London Bridge or the
tracks approaching from South Bermondsey
with no Southern services in or out of the
station and we know you’ve had to put up with
a much reduced service.
But there is gain at the end of the pain. Once
completed, bottlenecks will be removed to
enable new, more spacious trains to run with
Tube-like frequency every 2-3 minutes at
peak times through central London by 2018,
reducing pressure on the Underground. The
overhaul of London Bridge station itself will
result in a bigger, brighter, station that is
unrecognisable from today. When complete,
the station will be longer than the Shard is
tall, with a new single concourse larger than
the pitch at Wembley at street level to provide
more space and easier connections to other
rail services and the Underground.
The entire length of the new, longer platforms
at London Bridge will be covered to ensure
passengers make full use of them during all
weather conditions to making boarding trains
more efficient. Stunning ‘eyebrow’ arches
over north-facing glass will let light flood the
platform and the new concourse being built
directly below.
Things have been moving on apace for some
months now with the reconstruction of
Southern platforms. At the end of March this
year the first new platforms (14 & 15) came
into operational use, followed by the new
platforms 12 & 13 earlier this month.
Last month saw the station closed to
Southern and First Capital Connect services
for nine days, with passengers getting to their
destinations using alternative arrangements.
In December, a similar blockade will take
place over the Christmas period. This will have
wide-ranging effects on the Southern network,
so to see how you will be affected, details of
alternative arrangements can be found on our
website at southernrailway.com.
Longer trains for Southern passengers on the West London route
Passengers travelling on Southern trains on
the West London Line to stations between
Milton Keynes Central and South Croydon and
Watford and Clapham Junction are enjoying
longer trains. Most services on the line are
being lengthened and are formed of either
five or doubled in size to eight coaches.
Platform lengthening at Clapham Junction,
Imperial Wharf, West Brompton and
Shepherd’s Bush plus the introduction of
another 40 new carriages into the Southern
fleet has enabled Southern to lengthen
trains on this very busy line.
The introduction of the 40 new carriages
on the West London Line route completes
Southern’s investment in new trains
during the current franchise, bringing the
total number of additional carriages on
its network to 227 since the start of the
franchise in 2009 – resulting in a net gain of
over 10,000 extra seats.
Community Rail Partnerships flourish on Southern network
Southern and the Sussex Community Rail
Partnership (CRP) has marked 10 years of
connecting the community with their railway.
The CRP focuses on local attractions,
business and schools, encouraging travelling
by rail through their free information guides for
the local community and visitors.
It harnesses the volunteering spirit through
station partnerships and community events,
and it promotes sustainable travel as well as
helping more people access their local railway.
Founded in 2004 on just two routes, the
Sussex CRP has since grown to encompass
five of Southern’s rural lines working with
Southern between Uckfield & East Grinstead
and Oxted, Seaford and Brighton, Hastings
and Ashford International, between Tonbridge
and Reigate, and on most of our West
Coastway route.
The CRP also works with Southern on the
station partnership scheme which has
encouraged local people to make their sta­
tion a focal part of the community and 39
partnership have been signed up across the
network so far.
Activities range from simple or extensive
gardening and artwork, to history displays and
charity bookshelves.
Meet the Managers
Your chance to meet Senior Managers and
Directors and talk with them
9 October
London Victoria 07.30 to 10.00
6 November
London Bridge
4 December
London Victoria 07.30 to 10.00
07.30 to 09.30
Southern does it again by leading the industry in smartcard development
Southern’s smartcard – the key – has flexed its muscles once again with the introduction of three new industry leading developments. Flexi Seasons,
pay-as-you-go style transactions called keyGo and Travelcards.
FlexiSeason
keyGo
Travelcards
Southern is conducting
a trial of its Flexi
Season product on
the key smartcard.
This means that (for example) someone who
works three days a week can buy ten ­carnet
tickets for the same pro-rated cost of a weekly
season ticket, but have enough tickets to
travel to and from work for more than two
weeks. Because this is a flexible system, if
just one ticket is used during the week, the
others can be used at any time up to three
months ahead! The limited trial is taking place
from Brighton, Haywards Heath and Horsham
to London Victoria.
Southern has again broken new ground with
the introduction of a pay-as-you-go style
product called keyGo on the key smartcard.
This is a multi-modal product, enabling
passengers using the key smartcard to travel
on rail, on Brighton & Hove Buses and on
Metrobus routes in the Gatwick / Crawley
area. Passengers who are registered on the
key smartcard and sign up for keyGo simply
travel anywhere between Horley and Ifield or
between Brighton and Falmer / Preston Park
/ Shoreham-by-Sea touching in and out with
their key smartcard. At the end of the day, their
online account will simply be debited with the
best walk-up rail fare for the journeys made.
Southern’s recent introduction of season
tickets to nine London Terminals on the
key smartcard has revolutionised travel for
thousands of our commuters, but that’s just
half the story – what was missing was the
addition of a Travelcard to make the journey to
the final London destination complete.
This is now a reality and you can now
purchase Travelcards on the key smartcard to
use on London Underground, on London Buses
and on Tramlink. You can also buy Season
Ticket Travelcards on your key smartcard.
For information on how to apply for your key
smartcard, visit: southernrailway.com/thekey
No need for a car parking ticket –
pay by phone at another
24 stations
Southern stations set for
accessibility and passenger
information improvements
Southern named Best Green Business
Following the success of pay-by-phone
car parking at 20 stations on the Southern
network, Southern has extended the
facility to another 24 stations. It’s really
easy to pay by phone – by visiting
southernrailwayparking.com to register, all
it takes is four simple steps to get set up.
There’s no need to display a ticket either
- car park attendants will simply enter the
registration number using their mobile
computer to check validity. To find out if your
station car park has pay by phone, give our
Customer Services a call on 03451 27 29 20.
The more we know, the more we
can improve – Altitude is the key
Southern has introduced a new tracking system
to its Class 377 Electrostar fleet. Altitude is a
system which provides live positional data,
performance and safety information.
During journeys, the system reports on a wide
range of metrics, including where the unit is, its
speed and the signal aspect shown at the time
of passing amongst others.
Altitude is now providing Southern with a
wide range of benefits, including increasingly
accurate performance information and more
effective timetable planning.
Over £1m worth of accessibility and
passenger information improvements are set
to be made to stations across the Southern
network in the coming months.
Investment will be made on access
improvements at 10 stations, including
Brighton, Bognor Regis, Gatwick Airport and
East Croydon.
Suggestions for improvements have been
put forward by passengers and staff so that
Southern can invest in improvements that are
most needed and valued by our passengers.
Southern has been named the Best Green
Business by the Croydon Business Awards.
Southern was also highly commended in the
Best Green Business category at the recent
London Business Awards. As a result of the
efforts of everyone across Southern, 76%
of waste is recycled across the company,
with 86% recycled at stations alone, and the
organisation has achieved a 25% reduction in
non-traction energy usage since 2009.
Southern was also a finalist in the
Commitment to the Community award,
recognising the range of charity and
community work undertaken across the
network, including over £62,000 and
1,100 hours invested in 2013, and in the
Best Business for Apprenticeships and
Employment for Young People award,
focusing on the in-depth four year
apprenticeship programme provided within
Southern’s Fleet team.
In other awards news,
Southern’s smartcard, the
key, was commended in
the Passenger Experience
category at the railway
Industry Innovation awards,
and the company was
awarded a ‘Big Tick’ at the Arts and Business
Awards for its Corporate Responsibility work.
Oxted and Redhill News
It’s child’s play getting the safety message across
The town of Uckfield in East Sussex held its
annual ‘Child Safety’ Event this summer where
over 250 children from local primary schools
attended. The annual event, organised by the
Town Council saw various agencies teach
safety messages to all the youngsters.
The Sussex Community Rail Partnership
attended along with Southern’s Rail
Neighborhood Officers and Southern staff
with their dedicated event vehicle, STEvan.
Southern’s local Area Manager, Clare Williams
invented a ‘truth or lie’ game - the children had
to guess if what they were told about railway
safety was the truth or a lie, and although
great fun was had by all, the message of being
safe while using the railway came across loud
and clear. The children all signed a pledge to
keep safe, which will be displayed at Uckfield
Station and took away as many freebies as
Southern and Sussex CRP could supply!
The day saw input from the Fire Brigade,
British Transport Police, East Sussex
Highways, Waitrose, local radio and
many more.
Mitcham Eastfields runner up in awards
Mitcham Eastfields station was runner up
in the small/medium station category in the
Southern Stars and Tsars awards. The awards
recognise the best of Southern’s stations and
depots for delivering great customer service.
Shortlists are created from Southern’s
internal quality audits (called EQuIP*) and
from these a panel of judges tour the network
over two days to decide on the winners.
residency at South Croydon station has
begun. As part of their ‘Fungus Press’ art
project they will display art works in public
areas aimed at providing a space for thought
and reflection in a busy urban environment.
all walks of life out on
two wheels and provides
cycle training with Dr
Bike sessions for local
community groups.
Bikes Revived also run
bike maintenance qualification courses for
disadvantaged youths and individuals from
the local area using donated and reclaimed
station bikes. Once repaired, these bikes
are then sold in the shop to continually
fund the project.
Station Round-up
Improved Cycle Storage Facilities
Work to improve the existing cycle storage
facilities at Sanderstead, Merstham
and Reigate stations has recently been
completed and customers using the stations
now benefit from an increase in overall cycle
storage capacity, with the installation of
secure two-tier storage rack systems as well
as improved CCTV and lighting.
South Croydon
In partnership with Turf Projects, an art
collective based in Croydon, a 6 month
Merstham
Merstham station has recently entered into
a station partnership with ‘Bikes Revived’ a
locally funded project based in Merstham.
Set up in 2012 with funding from Comic
Relief, Bikes Revived aims to get people from
Your comments and concerns
We welcome feedback from you about all aspects of our service and are always open to suggestions that could improve the service
we provide. You are welcome to e-mail us at: [email protected] or [email protected] to let us
know what you think. Our Area Managers will be out and about across the area with their teams on a regular basis, working with local
communities and listening to customers.
PLEASE
RECYCLE