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Rail Business Awards 2011 Review
Grainge Photography
Chris Burchell
Burchell ‘thrilled for staff’
at three award wins
Southern wins three awards, including the overall
Rail Business of the Year prize, and two Highly
Commended certificates
Southern came out on top at the 2011
Rail Business Awards, taking home three
awards – Environmental Innovation;
Safety and Security Excellence; and the
winner of winner’s prize of Rail Business
of the Year.
The judges were impressed by ‘several
standout candidates’ in the race to be
named Interfleet Rail Business of 2011.
Southern, though, was commended
for being a winner, finalist or highly
commended in five categories, and was
duly awarded Rail Business of the Year
2011.
Collecting the award on stage, Chris
Burchell was ribbed by BBC presenter and
Rail Professional columnist Paul Clifton for
the fact that the award-winning franchise
is going to be swallowed up by a new
Thameslink franchise when the current
franchise agreement ends in 2015.
‘We’re not disappearing for a little
while yet,’ retorted Burchell. ‘We’ve got a
franchise contract that runs until 2015, so
we’ve got a lot to do – a big agenda. We’ll
focus on that.’
He also confirmed, unsurprisingly, that
Govia will be interested in bidding for the
Thamelink franchise, which will consist
of the current First Capital Connect
franchise, coupled with Southern and parts
of Southeastern.
But he couldn’t hide his delight at
winning the evening’s top award.
‘I’m genuinely thrilled. Actually there
are thousands of fantastic people in the
railway industry – but for our 4,000 for
Southern and Gatwick Express, to get some
recognition for all the great work they do
day in, day out. I’m just thrilled for them.’
After the ceremony, he added: ‘We’ve come
so close so many times to winning the
overall title and now that we’ve won, we
won’t be complacent.’
Southern’s best ever reduction in waste
and emissions was achieved in 2010-11 and
earned it the Environmental Innovation
award. These results were achieved thanks
to a series of innovative projects, including
the use of solar panels, smart metering,
intelligent lighting at stations, rainwater
harvesting, increased recycling and
regenerative braking.
The outcome was a reduction in gas
consumption of more than a third, and a
reduction in electricity consumption of 12
per cent. Southern’s team of environmental
champions was recognised for its work in
helping to achieve these results.
Judge David Hatcher says: ‘From its
Frontline Champions to the UK’s first
carbon neutral station, Southern has
a well-managed and visible strategy
achieving measurable results including
regenerative braking. It demonstrates
a very well articulated strategy, strong
on evidence with actual results, not just
trials.’
It was the work of Southern’s Safer
Travel Team that caught the judges’ eye in
the Safety and Security category. The team,
comprising rail neighbourhood officers
and British Transport Police officers, was
cited for its work in reducing crime and
improving safety on the Southern network.
The stand-out feature in this entry
was the use of Southern’s low-level
crime fighting tool, Eyewitness. This is
an industry-first scheme where staff and
passengers using a smartphone can report
incidences of low-level crimes, as they
happen, to the Safer Travel Team, enabling
it to respond quickly and effectively.
The results speak for themselves, with
detection of antisocial behaviour raised
37 per cent and detection of staff assaults
increasing more than 17 per cent.
Southern was also highly commended
for its Making Every Journey Better staff
engagement campaign in the Internal
Communications category, and in the
Rolling Stock entries for the refresh of its
Class 313 trains.
‘the stand-out feature
in this entry was the
use of southern’s lowlevel
crime fighting
tool, eyewitness’
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