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Abellio clamps down
on fare dodging
by Peter Brown
Passenger safety and a clampdown
on crime, including fare evasion
are the key elements of the Greater
Anglia franchise, which came into
force on 5 February under the
control of Abellio.
Abellio replaces National
Express East Anglia, which had
been running services between
London Liverpool Street and
Norwich, as well as suburban trains
serving stations in the north east
area of the capital, Hertfordshire
and Essex. Additional Making
Travel Safe Officers (MTSOs) will
nThe railway cost £11bn to run
in 2010-11, according to the
Office of Rail Regulation.
Income from fares was
£6.6bn, with £4bn coming from
government. The ORR measured
significant regional variations in
income and expenditure across the
UK. The highest subsidy was in
Scotland at 15.6p per passenger km
and the lowest in Wessex at 1.7p.
be working in conjunction with
revenue protection officers (RPOs)
and the British Transport Police,
explained Greater Anglia managing
director Ruud Haket.
He said: ‘I want customers to
have complete peace of mind and
the deployment of the MTSO and
RPO team will certainly help. I also
want to make it really clear that I
believe all customers should travel
on a valid ticket.
‘We know that over 90 per cent
of customers buy a ticket; however,
this still leaves one in 10 that
doesn’t and this minority is costing
all rail users in the end.’
The average government
funding across all rail regions was
7.5 pence per passenger km.
The Wessex region –
Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire
– largely equates with the South
West Trains franchise. It has the
highest passenger density, with an
average 143 passengers per train.
Scotland has the lowest, at 84
passengers per train.
Superintendent Gareth
Williams of BTP has welcomed the
initiatives to make the routes safer
and tackle crime.
He told Rail Professional: ‘The
MTSOs will be a valuable addition
to the existing police presence and
will provide further reassurance for
passengers across the network.
‘We already have officers who
tackle crime and passenger safety
issues on trains and at stations
across Essex and East Anglia, but
these additional teams will play a
significant role in supporting our
efforts by patrolling the lines across
the Greater Anglia route.’
ORR reveals true costs of rail
The average fare was 12.1p
per passenger km. ORR said its
objective was to shine a brighter
light on the costs and funding of
the railway.
Director Cathryn Ross said:
‘As the rail industry works hard
to improve efficiency and cut
costs, this data will improve
understanding of how the money
flows across the rail industry.’
Old fleets to
be given new
lease of life
Alstom is to convert a fleet
of 36 five-car units to enable
longer trains to run on South
West Trains routes into
Waterloo during peak hours.
Porterbrook, which owns
the trains, has asked Alstom to
lead on the work, as it originally
built the Class 458s and 460s
that will be used for the £42m
project. Some of the work will
be carried out at Wabtec’s
Doncaster-based plant, under
Alstom’s supervision.
Terence Watson, managing
director of Alstom Transport
in the UK and Ireland, said:
‘We look forward to bringing
Alstom’s local expertise to the
fore in this key project that
shows how industry partners
can work well together to
provide innovative, value for
money proposals to meet
rolling stock requirements.’
The Class 458s are
currently used by South West
Trains, while the Class 460s
were formerly used on the
Gatwick Express route. The
modifications will include
work to cabs, couplers and
gangways, as well as the
conversion of baggage areas
into passenger saloon areas.
ScotRail conductor Alan Mitchell, 63, has returned to work after time off following a train incident viewed two million times on YouTube. He
confronted an alleged fare dodger, who was then ejected from the train by a second passenger. The Crown Office has now decided no one will be
prosecuted over the fracas
Page 10 MARCH 2012