Govia Thameslink Railway - Amazon AWS

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Govia Thameslink Railway - Amazon AWS
The Great Northern station
   master at the Red Bull Soapbox
   race, Alexandra Palace.

                                                                                                  Govia
                                                                                               Thameslink
                                                                                                 Railway

                                                                                              gatwickexpress.com
                                                                                               @GatwickExpress

                                                                                             greatnorthernrail.com
                                                                                                  @GNRailUK

                                                                                             southernrailway.com
                                                                                              @SouthernRailUK

                                                                                            thameslinkrailway.com
                                                                                                 @TLRailUK

We publish connections twice a year to keep you on track with our progress and future plans. Find it on our
websites or in print at larger stations or customer services. All information is correct at the time of going to print.
Govia Thameslink Railway - Amazon AWS
News, views and information for our customers   Autumn 2019

PRIDE IN
PARTNERSHIPS
Govia Thameslink Railway - Amazon AWS
CEO INTRO

                                      C O N T E N T S
                     On the cover: GTR’s Design and Content Apprentice Maggie Luckhurst in

                                                                                                    12
                              front of the train wrap she designed for Brighton Pride.

                             PATRICK SAYS
                                Our CEO talks                                                 NEW TRAINS

                                                                                                                           Patrick
                                about ensuring                                               Our newest Class 717
                               decision-making                                               trains give passengers

03                            happens as close as
                             possible to passengers
                                                                                                 what they want

                                                                                                                             says...

                  04
                                                                                                                      W
                                                                                                                                   e spoke to GTR’s                                          the imminent completion of
                              TOM MORAN                                                                                            Chief Executive                                           the roll-out of the £240m Class
                              Great Northern /                                                                                     Officer Patrick                                           717 train fleet will make for
                           Thameslink Managing                                                                        Verwer about the latest news             The Summer 2019               our Great Northern passengers.
                            Director Tom Moran                                                                        at Govia Thameslink Railway.           timetable was about             And Angie is strengthening our

        06
                          shares his bold vision for                                                                  Asked about the Summer                  delivering a railway           links with local communities,
                                  the future                                                                          2019 timetable, he said: “It              with customers               such as through the successful

                                                          11
                                                                                                                      was about delivering a railway            at its heart and             partnership with Brighton Pride
     ANGIE DOLL                                                                                                       with customers at its heart              transforming our              this summer.”
MD for Southern/Gatwick                                                                                               and transforming our services.         services. The Winter                Patrick is now looking to the
    Express Angie Doll                                                                                                The timetable provided a                  2019 timetable               future of GTR, especially as the
  is focused on one goal;                                                                                             second hourly Brighton to                 will bring further           Williams Review completes.He
                                                            MEET                                                      Cambridge Thameslink service           benefits with greater           said: “The Williams Review is a
 to get customers to love
                                                           SOPHIE                                                     on weekdays. It also added                 connectivity.               root and branch review of the
         their travel
                                                           It’s all about                                             and restored weekend services                                          railway, looking closely at what
                                                           accessibility                                              across the network. The Winter                                         can be improved for passengers.”
                          PURE PRIDE                        for Sophie                                                2019 timetable will bring                                                  GTR is now the 4th most
                          Staff join passengers                                                                       further benefits with greater       possible to passengers. Tom and    punctual railway operator in
                          to celebrate a fabulous                                                                     connectivity.”                      Angie have been enormously         the UK and carries more than
                                                                                                                          The past six months have also   busy over the past few months      twice as many passengers as the
                          Brighton festival

                                                                                       16
                                                                                                                      seen a transformation within        establishing and building their    other three operators combined.
                                                                                                                      GTR. Patrick explained: “We         leadership teams and delivering    Patrick says: “The Review team
                                                                                                                      have completely transformed         better services for customers.     has been really interested in our
                                                                                                                      the business, with two new              “They’re starting in a good    ways of working, especially in
                                                                                                                      managing directors: Angie           place, with Southern’s passenger   terms of partnership operations
                                                                                      COMMUNITY                       Doll for Southern and Gatwick       satisfaction now at a seven-       with Network Rail. The review
        MEET STEPH                                                                 The charity partnerships           Express, and Tom Moran for          year high and Thameslink and       is one to watch, but what is
                                                                                   that continue to flourish          Thameslink and Great Northern.      Great Northern also above          absolutely clear is that we must
        A day in the life of Customer Relations HQ                                   across our network               The objective is to build local     80%, but there’s much more to      build a railway that, even more
        team member, Steph Turner                                                                                     accountability and ensure           be done. I know Tom’s team         so than today, places passengers
                                                                                                                      decision-making is as close as      is excited about the difference    at the heart of everything we do.”

2 _Autumn 2019                                                                                                                                                                                                      Autumn 2019_ 3
Govia Thameslink Railway - Amazon AWS
TIMETABLE
HEADER XXXXXXXXXX                                                                                                                                                                         HEADER XXXXXXXXXXX
                                                                                                                                                                                              BUSINESS UPDATE

                                                                                                                                         the Post Office, where I              them; they really are a huge
                                                                                                                                         held various executive roles          improvement for our customers.
                                                                                                                                         including Operations Director,        I can’t wait to complete the
                                                                                                                                         Commercial & Strategy                 roll-out, replace our ‘313’ trains
                                                                                                                                         Director, and HR Director,            and give all our passengers on
                                                                                                                                         which included responsibility         that route the things they said
                                                                                                                                         for Industrial Relations. On that     they wanted on board: Wi-Fi,
                                                                                                                                         point, the postal sector is one of    power sockets, air conditioning
                                                                                                                                         the few sectors which has similar     and better real-time information
                   RAN
             TOM MO                                                                                                                      levels of union membership and        screens. You can read more about
                                                                                                                                         influence to rail, and I think it’s   them on page 12.
                                                                                                                                         vital we work closely with, and           We have also improved the
        Our new Managing Director of Thameslink and Great Northern has wasted no time                                                    respect, our unions. We won’t         information our customers get
           meeting frontline staff and customers and setting a bold vision for the future.                                               agree on everything and we            at every stage of their journey.
                                                                                                                     I’m excited by

I
                                                                                                                                         need to be honest and bold in         That includes new station screens
    want Thameslink and Great                                                 Above all, that means achieving      our new Class 717     challenging things that need to       at all Thameslink stations which
    Northern to be the best                                                   the reliability they haven’t had     trains, which will    change. I think the best way to       tell you exactly where your train
    railways in the country. And                                              on Great Northern recently, as       be fully rolled out   do that is on the basis of good,      is, which carriages have spare
in my first 100 days, I have been                                             well as building on existing good   for Great Northern     trusted personal relationships        seats, and when the next trains
really impressed with the passion                                             performance on Thameslink,           customers in the      which I want to see between           will be arriving. Great Northern
and abilities of the people here.                                             which has undergone huge change           autumn.          colleagues and union reps at all      customers will be getting the
My job is to inspire, support,                                                in recent years.                                           levels of the business.               screens at their stations soon.
challenge and guide them to                                                      The high standards I am                                    I’m excited by our new Class           We run well over 1,000 trains
deliver a brilliant service for all                                           setting include our culture and                            717 trains, which will be fully       every day and doing our job
our customers.                                                                values. We work in a high-                                 rolled out for Great Northern         well – or badly – is the difference
   Right from the start, I wanted to   so much disruption to passengers.      pressure environment; it’s vital                           customers in the autumn. As           between a good and a bad day
meet as many station colleagues,       I was back a few days later, to help   we are respectful, inclusive and                           well as riding on them (I’m a         for our customers. My challenge,
drivers and engineers as possible.     explain to customers how they          support people to do their best                             customer as well as an employee      working closely with key partners
I’ve been out and about almost         could claim for any disruption         work. That’s where I and my                                         – my local station is        such as Network Rail, is to make
every day in my first few months.      they experienced and apologise for     senior team need to lead by                                          Finsbury Park), I’ve        Great Northern and Thameslink
For example, I helped colleagues       the problems.                          example and learn from the                                           been to our Hornsey         into railways that deliver good
at Finsbury Park until late on the        My number one priority is to        excellent leadership I’ve seen                                       depot to find out more      days for our customers time after
evening of the recent National         make sure our teams deliver the        at stations and depots already.                                      about the trains and        time. We are not there yet, but I
Grid ‘power surge’ which caused        brilliant basics customers expect.        I joined GTR from                                                 how we maintain             am confident we can get there.

4 _Autumn 2019                                                                                                                                                                                        Autumn 2019_ 5
Govia Thameslink Railway - Amazon AWS
TIMETABLE
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                                                                                                                                                                                                                      BUSINESS UPDATE

                                                                                                                         operations to reduce passenger
                                                                                                                         accidents to zero. It’s an ambitious
                                                                                                                         target but we’re making good
                                                                                                                         progress so far.                                                                One of my proudest
                                                                                                                                                                                                         moments this year was
                                                                                                                         CUSTOMERS FIRST                                                                 being part of the Brighton
                                                                                                                         Southern and Gatwick                                                            Pride celebrations in
                                                                                                                         Express play a core role in the                                                 August (see page 8). I was
                                                                                                                         communities we serve whether                                                    overwhelmed by the size and
                                                                                                                         people are going to work,                                                       positivity of the crowd.
                                                                                                                         school, hospital appointments,                                                     Our staff took part in the
                                                                                                                         airport or anywhere else. We                                                    event and were brilliant.
                                                                                                                         must collaborate with our staff,                                                They planned a GTR float,
                                                                                                                         industry partners and customers.                                                designed our own ‘trainbow’
                                                                                                                            We need to be really listening                                               and worked closely with
                                                                                                                         to passengers and taking on                                                     event organisers to make
                                                                                                                         board their feedback to improve                                                 sure it all went smoothly.
            ANGIE DOLL
                                                                                                                         the service and be more                                                            Stuart Meek, Train
                                                                                                                         proactive than reactive. We’ve                                                  Services Director for
                                                                                                                         just completed a major feedback                                                 Southern, said: “It was a real
      The Managing Director of Southern and Gatwick Express says a strategy and structure                                exercise on how we spend the                                                    honour to be part of Brighton
              will drive one goal; to get customers to love their travel experience.                                     £15m Passenger Benefit Fund                                                     Pride and serve the LGBT+

I
                                                                                                                         (see page 9) and how to improve                                                 community, Brighton and our
    t’s a really exciting time for                                               Together we will deliver our new        stations. I genuinely think we are                                              colleague network. We are
    our staff and for customers.                                                 strategy for the benefit of our staff   getting better at consulting with                                               already looking forward to
    We’ve made changes that will                                                 and our customers.                      and responding to our customers.                                                next year’s event.”
drive our new simple, sustainable                                                   The second priority is to               In the past year, Southern has
strategy: to get our customers to                                                develop a business plan to              seen significant improvement
love us.                                                                         deliver our strategy. It’s based        in performance, reliability             inclusivity of our service.          35 years in May. A whole
   My new role and team will be                                                  on three pillars: brilliant basics,     and customer satisfaction. We              Customer attitudes are            calendar of events took place over
even more accountable to our                                                     strong partnerships and shifting        exceeded punctuality targets for        shifting positively; we’re getting   the birthday month, celebrating
customers. I will have the capacity                                              perceptions. I’m working with           the past 13 months, which helped        more staff praise than staff         the heritage and the people
to look beyond day-to-day                                                        my senior team to implement             us to achieve a 12 per cent rise        complaints now. It feels different   behind the brand.
operational issues and be able to         six appointments so far. I want        quick wins immediately and              in customer satisfaction score          now, but my challenge is to build       The big opportunity for
look ahead and focus on reaching          a diverse team in terms of skills,     medium and longer-term activity         in the most recent National Rail        on that, to improve constantly       both Southern and Gatwick
our goals.                                knowledge, and life experience,        to improve the experience of            Passenger Survey.                       and be the best.                     Express over the next couple of
   I have set two key priorities for      but who all share a common set         our customers.                             This year is about improving                                              years is the desperately needed
my first 100 days. First, to recruit      of principles of being customer-          For example, we’re driving           every aspect of the service we          CELEBRATION                          redevelopment of Gatwick
the right management team to              centric, inclusive and demonstrate     towards a zero-harm safety              provide to our customers and            AND PREPARATION                      Airport station. Work is
drive our new strategy; I’ve made         exemplary values and leadership.       culture across our people and           staff are critical as the face of our   Gatwick Express celebrated           scheduled to begin on the station
                                                                                                                         business. Customers are telling us                                           concourse next May. We’ve been
                                                                                                                         they are happier with the service                                            busy behind the scenes on plans
                                       Did you bag a bargain this summer? Our Southern Summer Advance fares              they get from our teams. We’re                                               to maintain high quality services
           SOUTHERN’S                  to destinations including London, Brighton, Portsmouth and Southampton            investing more than ever in our                                              and minimise disruption while
            SIZZLING                   were a huge hit with customers. Colourful promotions in national and
                                       regional press, posters, London Underground, roadside ads, and online
                                                                                                                         people, including training and on
                                                                                                                         better devices to help them keep
                                                                                                                                                                                                      the building works will restrict
                                                                                                                                                                                                      some access to the platforms.
                                       offered customers great value days out with single fares from as little as        passengers fully informed. I want                                            Engagement with stakeholders
                                       £5 each. Keep an eye out for more great value fares across the network.           us to be world-class in terms of                                             and passengers on a revised
                                                                                                                         the information, accessibility and                                           timetable will start in the autumn.

6 _Autumn 2019                                                                                                                                                                                                               Autumn 2019_ 7
Govia Thameslink Railway - Amazon AWS
NEWS                                                                                                                                                                                              NEWS

                                                                                                                 ON TIME,
                                                                                                                TOGETHER
                                                                                                                W
                                                                                          Caption in here
                                                                                          lorem ipsum
                                                                                                                             e’ve made changes to help set us up to

A
          multicoloured ‘trainbow’                                                        lorem ipsum                        be ‘On Time’. A customer information
          helped us go all out at                                                                                            campaign and operational updates are
          this year’s Brighton &                                                                                part of our commitment to a new industry-wide
Hove Pride weekend.                                                                                             measure of punctuality, ‘On Time’.
   The Class 700 rainbow-themed      queuing system to help people            Stuart Meek, Train Services          It means only classifying trains as punctual if
train entered service on 18 July     queue for the right train when they   Director at Southern and chair       they arrive at a station within 59 seconds of their
bearing livery designed by Maggie    left. Additional and longer trains    of the LGBT+ network, added:         scheduled time, not five minutes as under the
Luckhurst. Maggie is a Design        ran overnight on the Saturday         “Our staff and passengers have       previous system.
and Content Apprentice in GTR’s      evening to help visitors get home.    had a fabulous Pride! The crowds        Emma Pickard, Head of Performance,
marketing team and a member of          Paul Kemp, Managing Director       cheering on our float were           explains: “‘On Time’ performance is a more
GTR’s LGBT+ network.                 of Brighton & Hove Pride 2019,        amazing and passengers loved         transparent measure for our passengers, and this
   The design also featured on       said: “Pride is an important          our ‘trainbow’ Thameslink train.     campaign aims to show we all have a role to play
GTR’s inaugural parade float         event for our city, with visitors     The extended rainbow queuing         in achieving a punctual railway.”
and on the t-shirts of colleagues    coming from across the UK and         system was praised by Pride-goers       Amy Gatt, Campaign Manager, says:
from the LGBT+ network and           worldwide. We are extremely           and our additional overnight         “We identified several ways that customers can
across the business who rode         heartened by the positive working     services really paid off, keeping    have an impact on a train leaving a station on
on the float.                        partnership and support over          queues flowing smoothly, moving      time and created messages for each pinch point.
   We decorated the station          Pride weekend and the enthusiasm      tens of thousands of passengers      The creative has been well received. We look
and used an extended rainbow         from all at GTR.”                     throughout the weekend.”             forward to seeing how effective the campaign
                                                                                                                is over time.”

         Official Red Bull
                                                                    We love a lively event, so Great Northern
                                                                    was the perfect Official Travel Partner

                                                                                                                A
                                                                    for Red Bull’s headline Soapbox Race at
                                                                                                                          four-month consultation      benefit from either £30,000,

         Soapbox sponsor
                                                                    Alexandra Palace in May.                              asking passengers and        £50,000 or £80,000, depending
                                                                       More than 20,000 spectators attended               stakeholders how to          on the level of disruption
                                                                    the event, and most of them travelled       spend a £15m Passenger Benefit         experienced.
                                                                    there by train. We provided the best        Fund has had a huge response,             The team is now assessing
                                                                    seats in the house on a brilliantly         generating more than 4,200             all station-specific and wider
                                                                    busy Great Northern viewing platform        survey responses and over 80           improvement ideas and the
                                                                    designed as a train carriage. The           group submissions covering             schemes selected will be
                                                                    spectators also enjoyed our popular         96% of stations.                       announced in due course.
                                                                    Great Northern game zone and our on-           The fund was established to            The fund is in addition to the
                                                                    course railway track, complete with an      provide tangible improvements          improvement schemes GTR

                                        564,000
                                                                    enthusiastic station master!                for passengers across the              delivers every year for passengers
                                                                       Patrick Ladbury, Great Northern’s        GTR network in recognition             at stations and on trains, and the
                                                                    Head of Partnerships, was one of four       of the disruption experienced          benefits will be delivered before
                                        viewers of the Dave TV      judges at the race this year and was very   following last year’s May              the end of the GTR franchise in
                                          show that evening         impressed by the race-goers’ ingenuity!     timetable change. Stations will        September 2021.

8 _Autumn 2019                                                                                                                                                                              Autumn 2019_ 9
Govia Thameslink Railway - Amazon AWS
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE                                                                                                                                             CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

                                                                                                                                                                            AD
                                                                                                                                                                           IN T AY
                                                                                                                                                                               H
                                                                                                                                                                            LIFE E

          MEET THE MANAGER                                                                  Sophie Court’s role as Accessibility Improvement Manager
                                                                                        does exactly what it says on the tin – makes our trains and stations
                                                                                                       more accessible for every passenger.

                                                                         HOW DOES YOUR                                                        customers can travel as and when
                                                                         DAY START?                                                           they like, whatever their needs. We
                                                                         I arrive at about 8am after a                                        get lots of positive feedback, and we
                                                                         45-minute train commute. I’ve been                                   want to make train travel as seamless
                                                                         with Govia Thameslink for two years                                  as possible for everyone.
                                                                         and part of the Accessibility team
                                                                         since January. There are two of us –                                 HOW IS IT GOING?
                                                                         me and Accessibility Engagement                                      Accessibility has a higher profile
Award-winning London Bridge                                              Manager Antony Merlyn. We                                            all the time. We offer lots of travel
Station was the venue for                                                also have a team of accessibility                                    support tools, such as priority
one of our recent Meet the                                               ambassadors across our network.                                      seating and travel support cards
Manager events.                                                             We cover a wide area: Bedfordshire,                 so customers can show staff what help they
   Passengers on Southern                                                Cambridgeshire, London to Kent, Surrey                 need. But we want to improve awareness as not
and Thameslink services were                                             and Sussex. We work with a range of internal           everyone knows about them. We also look at
able to ask questions, express                                           departments and are often out of the office            things like facilities, such as station lifts and
opinions and even pick up some                                           visiting frontline teams to talk about accessibility   accessible toilets, which can be a vital part of a
refreshments on 14th August.                                             improvements. We also regularly meet disability        customer’s journey.
   These events are a great                                              groups to see how we can work together and                There’s a growing focus on invisible
opportunity to speak to our                                              get ideas and feedback from our customer               disabilities and we need to make customers
customers face to                                                        Accessibility Advisory Panel.                          and staff more aware. We’re making great
face, and hear about their                                                                                                      improvements but there is still plenty to do.
experiences of travelling                                                WHAT’S YOUR AIM?
on our network, and give               Next events:                      Our target is that every journey should go right       DO YOU ENJOY YOUR JOB?
us the chance to explain       10th October                              and that passengers with access needs have             Yes! I get to work with a great variety of people
                                              Victoria (Ticket office)   confidence in travelling. We want to get the basics    and contribute to things that really make a
our plans.
                            7th   November	 King’s Cross                right on every train and at every station so all our   difference in people’s lives.
                                             (Ticket office)
                           5th    December	London Bri
                                                         dge             GREAT JOB STATION STAFF!
                                            (Platforms 10-15)
                                                                         We help around four thousand customers with access needs
                                                                         every week and that number is increasing all the time.
                                                                            “Our frontline teams do a great job in providing accessible
                                                                         travel on our network,” says Sophie, “from helping people
                                                                         on and off trains to offering support tailored to their needs
                                                                         and helping customers with their onward journey. They really
                                                                         make a difference to our customers.”

 10 _Autumn 2019                                                                                                                                                           Autumn 2019_ 11
Govia Thameslink Railway - Amazon AWS
FLEET UPDATE                                                                                                                                                                                                                NEWS

                                                                                                                                                                                                             DID YOU
                                                                                                                                                                                                             KNOW?
                                                                                                                                                                                                    The first dedi
                                                                                                                                                                                                                   cated Gatwic
                                                                                                                                                                                                       Express train             k
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      service
                                                                                                                                                                                                    launched on
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 14 May 1984
                                                                                                                                                                                                    formed of Clas              ,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    s 73 trains
                                                                                                                                                                                                      and specially
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    modified
                                                                                                                                                                                                   coaches to ca
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  rry luggage.

                                    NEW TRAINS
                                    FOR MOORGATE                                                              GATWICK’S
                                    SERVICES                                                                  £150M UPGRADE
                                                                                                                                                                                                                   How the new
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  airport station

                                   N
                                           ew trains for               conditioning, Wi-Fi and the                                                                                                            entrance will look
                                           Great Northern              latest accessibility features, the

                                                                                                            A
                                           Metro services from         Class 717 trains are helping                    s the last streamer blows    Manager Gatwick Express,                  which already accommodates
                                   Moorgate to Welwyn Garden           to transform the passenger                      away from Gatwick            says: “The announcement is                20m passengers a year, and is
                                   City and to Stevenage via           experience along the route.                     Airport Railway              fantastic news for our people and         now at its limits despite rail
                                   Hertford North entered                 Custom-built for the Moorgate     Station’s celebration of 35 years’      customers who have heard a lot of         and air passenger numbers set
                                   passenger service this spring.      tunnels as part of a £240m           service (see panel), new plans          talk about it over the last couple        to grow. The redevelopment
                                     With space for an extra           investment into the route, the       for the Brighton Main Line have         of years. This project is a real          will be managed by Network
                                   100 passengers per service, air     trains have a higher top speed       been announced in the form              opportunity to build a world-class        Rail, in partnership with the
                                                                       and accelerate faster than their     of an ambitious redevelopment           facility that will benefit all that use   Department for Transport.
            100
         more passengers
                                                                       predecessors.
                                                                          We are already looking ahead.
                                                                                                            between 2020 and 2023.
                                                                                                               The upgrade will help to
                                                                                                                                                    or work at the station/airport. I’m
                                                                                                                                                    really looking forward to working
                                                                                                                                                                                              Gatwick Airport Ltd and Coast
                                                                                                                                                                                              to Capital Local Enterprise
           per service                                                 While trains are now operating       improve punctuality and cut delays      with our people and stakeholders          Partnership are co-funding
                                                                       at the maximum length and            across the entire south east by         to shape the future of the station        the project with £37m and
                                                                       frequency per hour that the          reducing platform overcrowding.         and building on the 35 years of           £10m respectively.
                                                                       infrastructure can support,          It will make the station                Gatwick Express success.”                    Stephen says: “We will keep
                                                                       Network Rail is due to deliver       significantly more accessible              The upgrade will massively             you informed of progress as the
                                                                       a digital signalling upgrade on      for all passengers, especially          improve the existing building             project develops.”
                                                                       the route that will enable us to     wheelchair users or people with
                                                                       boost frequency and passenger        heavy luggage. The new concourse
                                                                       capacity even more.                  building will result in twice
                                                                                                                                                        35 YEARS OF AIRPORT SERVICE
                                                                                                            as much space for passengers,              The team at Gatwick Express celebrated
                                                                                                            making it much easier to change            35 years of service with passengers,
   WINTER TIMETABLE                                                                                         trains and, in combination with
                                                                                                                                                       staff and airport partners in May.
                                                                                                            bigger platforms, new lifts and
   The Winter 2019 timetable, valid from 15 December 2019 introduces small changes to                                                                     A string quartet serenaded arrivals, team
                                                                                                            new escalators, it will transform
   services across Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern, however most current train times remain                                                    members handed out commemorative
                                                                                                            the station. It’s a project that
   unchanged. On Thameslink, we will create an additional two trains per hour in each direction                                                        tote bags and cupcakes, and an onboard
                                                                                                            will support the railway, and the
   through London. We advise passengers to check online journey planners as some services                                                              magician were just some of the events that
                                                                                                            airport, to play an even greater role
   may provide additional journey options.                                                                                                             took place throughout the month.
                                                                                                            in the UK’s growth.
                                                                                                               Stephen MacCallaugh, General

12 _Autumn 2019                                                                                                                                                                                                      Autumn 2019_ 13
Govia Thameslink Railway - Amazon AWS
INFRASTRUCTURE                                                                                                                                                                                             INFRASTRUCTURE

                    AUTUMN
              UPGRADES TO IMPROVE
                 PERFORMANCE
 Southern
 Work on lines between
                                           Throughout the work there
                                        will be no Southern services
                                                                                                                         EAST COAST
 Barnham, Chichester and
 Havant will include 2.3km of
 new track. Engineers will be
                                        between Havant and Portsmouth
                                        or Southampton. South Western
                                        Railway and Great Western
                                        Railway services will be running
                                                                               Lewes and                                  UPGRADE
 working over nine days, from
                                        a near normal service to/from
                                                                               Seaford branch                             Engineering works on the East Coast Main Line will
 Saturday 26 October to Sunday
                                                                               Network Rail is closing the signal
 3 November 2019, as well as            Portsmouth and Southampton.                                                    significantly improve reliability for all operators, including
                                                                               boxes at Lewes, Newhaven Town
 Sundays 10 and 17 November,            Trains to London will still
                                                                               and Newhaven Harbour and
                                                                                                                                    Great Northern and Thameslink.
 and Saturday 30 November and           run from Havant (to London

                                                                                                                    T
                                        Waterloo via South Western             moving signalling control to their           he East Coast Main
 Sunday 1 December. During the
                                        Railway) and Bognor Regis              state-of-the-art route operating             Line (ECML) is a key        Work being carried out by
 week, buses will replace trains
                                        (via Southern). During the             centre at Three Bridges. Lines               rail route, carrying over   Network Rail includes:
 between Fareham, Havant and
                                        weekdays, trains to London             through Lewes will be closed:        20 million passengers a year,       • A major upgrade at King’s         • C onstruction of almost
 Chichester and on weekends
 buses will replace trains between      will also still run from               • Th
                                                                                  ursday 28 November –             connecting London King’s Cross         Cross station, including a           2km of new railway line
 Havant and Barnham.                    Chichester (via Southern).               Sunday 01 December 2019            and Edinburgh via Peterborough,        new layout and additional            and a new Platform 5 at
                                        Work on the level crossings                                                 Doncaster, York, Darlington,           tracks to separate long              Stevenage, removing conflict
                                        will result in some diversions                                              Durham and Newcastle-upon-             distance services from Great         between the Hertford North
                                        on local roads.                        West Anglia                          Tyne. Yet its infrastructure is        Northern and Thameslink’s            line and other services
                                                                               ‘Fen’ line                           outdated and decaying, which is        more frequent, short distance     • Upgrading the power supply to
                                                                            Some weekend services between           why Network Rail is carrying out       commuter trains                      allow faster, quieter and cleaner
                                                                            King’s Lynn and Cambridge will          extensive engineering work this     • Transfer of signal control from      trains
                                                                             be suspended from October              year and beyond.                       King’s Cross, Doncaster and       • Cleaning the tunnels on the
                                                                                2019 to allow engineers to             Great Northern and Thameslink       Peterborough to the state-           Moorgate line.
                                                                                get onto the track. The work        services are major users of the        of-the-art York Rail
                                                                               will enable us to run eight-car      southern part of the ECML, and         Operations Centre                 The first major work took place
                                               Moorgate line                trains between King’s Lynn and          along with other services will                                           successfully over the 2019 August
                                                The line between            Cambridge. Work will include:           benefit from the improvements                                            Bank Holiday. We are working
                                                  Moorgate and Finsbury • t wo platform extensions                 when complete.                                                           with Network Rail and other
                                                                                                                       The improvements will allow                                           Train Operating Companies to

                !
                                                        Park will be closed   at Waterbeach station
                                                        over numerous       • o ne platform extension at           more long distance trains, up                                            plan future work in a way that
                                                       weekends from mid-     Littleport station, a new             from six to eight passenger                                              minimises overall disruption as
                                                       December until late    accessible ramp and steps to          trains per hour in each direction                                        much as possible. Keep a look-out
        Passengers planning                             May next year. This   platform 1, two disabled car          between London King’s Cross and                                          for announcements about affected
           weekend travel                               is to allow Network   parking spaces and a pick-up/         Yorkshire, the North East, and                                           dates in 2020.
     in autumn and winter 2019                                                                                      Scotland at peak times.                                                     It all adds up to a better, more
                                                       Rail to thoroughly     drop off facility and;
        are advised to check                                                                                           Great Northern and Thameslink                                         reliable service for passengers
                                                       clean the tunnels    • a new siding to stable the
    with their train operator or                                                                                    services will run more reliably                                          on one of the busiest sections of
nationalrail.co.uk before travelling.                 between Moorgate        eight car trains overnight
                                                   and Drayton Park.          at King’s Lynn.                       across the route.                                                        railway in the country.

    14 _Autumn 2019                                                                                                                                                                                                  Autumn 2019_ 15
Govia Thameslink Railway - Amazon AWS
CSR                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           PERFORMANCE

                                                                                                                                                          O P E R AT I O N A L P E R F O R M A N C E
                                                                                                                    GTR is continuing to roll out one of the biggest modernisation programmes the railway has seen, transforming four networks and
                                                                                                                    increasing capacity. The programme has necessitated a modernisation of infrastructure, trains, technology and the way we do things.

                                                                                                                    There have been some fluctuations in performance over the past year. As a result we are working with Network Rail to introduce more
                                                                                                                    services incrementally. It is extremely important for Network Rail to maintain its infrastructure to allow us to run a reliable service. The
                                                                                                                    PPM (public performance measure), which refers to the percentage of trains arriving at destination within five minutes of scheduled time,
                                                                                                                    has shown sustained improvements and the level of cancellations continues to reduce.

                                                                                                                    To further deliver the modernisation programme, GTR and Network Rail work closely together with other industry partners.

                                                                                                                    YEAR STARTING APRIL                     2015/16                   2016/17                    2017/18                     2018/19
   MORE COMMUNITY
PARTNERSHIPS ON BOARD                                                                                                PPM Target                               85.8%                    84.0%                      83.5%                       83.1%
                                                                                                                     PPM Achieved                             81.5%                    74.2%                      81.3%                       82.7%

O
          ur community rail           gardening volunteers and local MP
          partnerships are going      Heidi Allen.
          from strength to               Our long established Southern                                              DELAY RESPONSIBILITY                    2015/16                   2016/17                    2017/18                     2018/19
strength. In June we welcomed         based Sussex CRP recently voted to
our newest member, Bedford to         formally name the route between         hosted cake sales over the summer.
St Albans City community rail         Brighton and Littlehampton the            In August we announced               GTR                                      35.9%                    38.8%                      34.9%                       37.1%
partnership (CRP), with a special     Sussex Coast Line.                      our three new corporate charity        Network Rail                             59.5%                    57.6%                      60.3%                       57.4%
D-Day themed celebration. We                                                  partners, voted for by our teams in
were joined by the Royal British      PUTTING THE FUN                         each of our key focus areas:           Other Operators                          4.5%                      3.5%                       4.8%                        5.6%
Legion and local community            IN FUNDRAISING
representatives who were treated      Our teams love to get involved and      Young people – For Jimmy
to a special performance by The       fundraise for charities. Many took      Mental Health – Mind                  RECENT MONTHS                       JAN                FEB               MAR                APR               MAY                JUN
Femmes, a 1940s girl group, and       part in bike rides, fun walks and       Homelessness – Noah enterprise
afternoon tea.
   Covering eight stations                                                                                           PPM GX                           66.30%             75.51%             71.74%            78.00%             78.5%             81.4%
between Bedford Midland                  CHARITY DELAY REPAY                                                         PPM GN                           82.69%             82.99%             82.52%            86.79%             85.5%             86.0%
and St Albans, the CRP will
provide opportunities ranging            GTR has launched a charity delay repay initiative giving customers          PPM SN                           86.30%             89.18%             88.32%            91.67%             91.1%             90.4%
from maintaining a station to            the choice to donate their compensation to charity.
                                         We’re working with two charities dear to us, Samaritans and The
                                                                                                                     PPM TL                           82.88%             87.16%             83.70%            87.14%             86.0%             84.7%
       running special events and
          educational programmes.        Railway Children, to continue our long-term support for their vital
                  Meldreth,              work with young and vulnerable people.
                                                                                                                                                            Key:
                Shepreth and                The scheme also aims to reduce the perceived ‘compensation
                                                                                                                                                            GX - Gatwick Express
                 Foxton CRP              gap’, encouraging customers to claim and help charities. A soft
                                                                                                                                                            GN - Great Northern
                  relaunched over        launch began in late September. Look out for more details on our                                                   SN - Southern
                 the summer and          social media and website channels.                                                                                 TL - Thameslink
               were joined by local                                                                                                                         YTD - Year to Date

16 _Autumn 2019                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Autumn 2019_ 17
PERFORMANCE                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              PERFORMANCE

                                    D E PA R T M E N T F O R T R A N S P O R T                                                                                                 C U S T O M E R S AT I S FA C T I O N
                                         C O N T R A C T U A L TA R G E T S
The Department for Transport set us a series of targets on a variety of performance measures. We monitor these and use the               How do we measure customer satisfaction?
measures to shape our action plans. Ongoing driver training, reliable train fleets and robust operational planning are key elements in   We set annual Passenger Experience Measure (PEM) targets to monitor customer satisfaction. The measure is a combination of
a wide-ranging plan of action to bring improved services across all routes.                                                              audits completed at stations and on trains (we call this QuEST), with an independent customer survey led by Transport Focus,
                                                                                                                                         the National Rail Passenger Survey (we refer to this as NRPS).

                                                                                                                                         How are we doing?
                                                                                                                                         The Autumn 2019 National Rail Passenger Survey showed a significant increase in passenger satisfaction, particularly on
YEAR STARTING SEPTEMBER         2015/16             2016/17               2017/18                 2018/19         2019/20 2020/21        Southern, where overall satisfaction levels are at the highest level for seven years.

                           Target     Actual     Target     Actual     Target     Actual      Target    Actual      Target     Target    Some 81% of Southern passengers said they were satisfied or very satisfied, a 12-percentage point increase on the previous
                                                                                                                                         survey, while the proportion of passengers saying they were happy with punctuality rose 20% percentage points to 74%.
 Delay minutes per          19.64      17.98      19.40     19.59      17.90        17.56     12.70      18.36      12.04       11.89
 thousand train miles
                                                                                                                                         Passenger satisfaction on Gatwick Express is two percentage points higher, at 89%, which is also the highest in seven years.
 caused by GTR
 Cancellations             2.10%      1.94%      1.88%      2.20%      2.05%      2.02%      4.08%*     7.74%       1.76%      1.64%     Thameslink, which had fallen to 77% in the autumn 2018 survey following the timetable difficulties in May last year, has recorded
                                                                                                                                         its second highest-ever overall satisfaction figure of 83%.
 Train running with          0%       1.03%        0%       1.42%      1.57%      1.42%         0%       0.8%        0%          0%
 fewer carriages
                                                                                                                                         Great Northern has also returned to last year’s pre-May levels, up nine percentage points on the most recent Autumn survey,
 than planned
                                                                                                                                         with 77% of passengers satisfied, which is broadly similar to the same period 12 months ago.

We publish detailed performance figures on our website every four weeks and monthly updates on the progress of our improvement
plan. You can find these at thameslinkrailway.com/about-us/performance: greatnorthernrail.com/about-us/how-were-performing or
southernrailway.com/your-journey/performance-results/                                                                                                                                             Actual Actual PEM
                                                                                                                                                                       Annual PEM targets                                     NRPS Scores              QuEST Scores
                                                                                                                                                                                                    annual result
* The 2018/2019 target of 4.08% includes trains removed following disruption in May 2018.

                                                                                                                                         2018                                 83.35%                    84.51%            Spring result : 75%       Jan-March: 95.26%
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Autumn result : 75%       April-June: 95.86%
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     July-September:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          95.79%
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    October-December:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          96.23%

                                                                                                                                         2019                                84.00%                     81.42%             Spring result: 81%       Jan-March: 96.28%
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    April-June: 96.36%

18 _Autumn 2019                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Autumn 2019_ 19
PERFORMANCE                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    PERFORMANCE

                             N AT I O N A L R A I L PA S S E N G E R S U RV E Y                                                21     The cleanliness of the outside (Train)                               68%               72%                   80%
                                                                                                                               22     The space for luggage (Train)                                        53%               60%                   49%

The table below shows our scores for the individual indicators that count towards our Passenger Experience Measure (PEM)       23     Punctuality/reliability (i.e. the train arriving/departing           64%               74%                   79%
for 2019, and the corresponding figures for the Spring 2018 survey. Annual Benchmarks relate to the average of the two                on time)
surveys so are shown for indicative purposes.

                                                                                                           Annual Benchmark
                      GTR NRPS INDICATOR                                SPRING 2018     SPRING 2019
                                                                                                                 2019
                                                                                                                                                                                  FA R E E VA S I O N
        Overall satisfaction                                              75%               81%                  N/A
        Overall satisfaction with the station                             76%               80%                  N/A
        Overall satisfaction with train                                                                          N/A          Why does fare evasion matter?
                                                                          71%               76%
                                                                                                                              Fare evasion prevention is important. The rail industry loses millions of pounds a year through ticketless travel and fraud money
                                                                                                                              which could have otherwise been re-invested to improve rail services. This is unfair on the vast majority of you who are honest
                     PEM INDICATOR RESULTS                                                                                    and pay your fares.

 1      How well train company deals with delays                          28%               37%                  49%          We worked alongside other train operators, Transport for London and British Transport Police to limit ticketless travel to 2.21%
                                                                                                                              in the DfT’s most recent survey in July. Fare revenue is paid directly to the Department for Transport.
 2      How request to station staff was handled                          81%               86%                  87%
 3      The attitudes and helpfulness of the staff (Station)              71%               75%                  79%
 4      Usefulness of information provided during delay                   37%               45%                  48%
 5      The availability of staff (Station)                               62%               68%                  65%
                                                                                                                                                                             OUR TARGET FOR
 6      Provision of information about train times/platforms              80%               84%                  83%                                                                                Actual results
                                                                                                                                                                           TICKETLESS TRAVEL
7       Cleanliness (Station)                                             74%               74%                  81%
8       Ticket buying facilities                                          70%               74%                  80%
                                                                                                                               September 2017 to September 2018                    2.5%                2.21%
9       Facilities for car parking                                        41%               48%                  49%
                                                                                                                               September 2018 to September 2019                    2.5%                2.11%
10      The upkeep/repair of the station buildings/platforms              70%               71%                  73%

11      Station toilets (formerly, facilities and services (Station))     45%               43%                  47%

 12     Your personal security whilst using that station                  71%              73%                   74%
 13     The provision of shelter facilities                               69%              72%                   67%            DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT SURVEY                        TICKETLESS TRAVEL
 14     Overall environment (Station)                                     70%              73%                   73%
 15     Availability of seating (Station)                                 46%              51%                   48%
                                                                                                                               Nov 2018                                                     2.06%
 16     The cleanliness of the inside (Train)                             72%              74%                   85%
                                                                                                                               Jan 2019                                                     2.01%
 17     Level of crowding (formerly 'Sufficient room for all              68%              73%                   70%
                                                                                                                               May 2019                                                     2.16%
        passengers to sit/stand')
                                                                                                                               July 2019                                                    2.21%
 18     The provision of information during the journey                   72%              77%                   83%
 19     Upkeep and repair of the train                                    71%              74%                   85%
 20     Your personal security on board                                   73%              71%                   82%

20 _Autumn 2019                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Autumn 2019_ 21
PERFORMANCE                                                                                                                                                                                                              PERFORMANCE

                                          OUR COMMITMENTS
We are committed to continually improve the services we offer. These are the commitments we have made to customers from the start of
the franchise and their progress.

                                               COMMITMENT                            ROUTE                        STATUS                                             COMMITMENT                        ROUTE            STATUS

DEADLINE DATE                                                                                                                          DEADLINE DATE
 2016                             108 new carriages on Gatwick Express         Gatwick Express                  Complete               May 2017         King’s Lynn service half hourly (once      Great Northern      Complete
                                                                                                                                                        upgraded infrastructure in place)
 July 2016                        All day staffing at further 16 stations          Southern                     Complete
                                                                                                                                       July 2017        Investment in improving retail and              All            Complete
 September 2016                   The key top-ups in third party                      All                       Complete
                                                                                                                                                        catering facilities at stations
                                  retailers
                                                                                                                                       September 2017   Programme of upgraded ticket                    All            Complete
 September 2016                   New ticket vending machines                         All                       Complete
                                                                                                                                                        machines and automatic payment
 October 2016                     Introduce a subscription based area                 All                       Complete                                methods at car parks
                                  of the website for over 65s with
                                                                                                                                       September 2017   LED lighting installed at various               All            Complete
                                  promotions and discussion boards
                                                                                                                                                        stations and on older train units
 December 2016                    Introduce more staff for train cleaning             All                       Complete
                                                                                                                                       October 2017     Enhancements to on-train passenger              All            Complete
 December 2016                    Repainting programme for all GTR                    All                       Complete                                information systems
                                  managed stations
                                                                                                                                       January 2018     London Bridge station re-opens          Southern/ Thameslink   Complete
 December 2016                    Enhance and upgrade existing station                All                       Complete
                                                                                                                                       2018             New class 700 introduction                      All            Complete
                                  CCTV and install CCTV at stations
                                  previously without                                                                                   2018             Further upgrades to customer app                All
 January 2017                     Introduce on trial basis an online                  All                       Complete               2019             Class 717 introduction. 150 new            Great Northern      Underway
                                  magazine aimed at 16-24 year olds                                                                                     carriages on the Moorgate route
 January 2017                     Additional £2.5m investment on                      All                       Complete                                Up to 24 trains per hour each way           Thameslink         Underway
                                  improving facilities and information                                                                                  through the core
                                  at stations
 April 2017                       ‘My Journey’ info on train                          All                       Complete
                                  performance for holders of ‘the key’
                                  smartcard

22 _Autumn 2019                                                                                                                                                                                                            Autumn 2019_ 23
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