March 2021

Keeping you moving

See how we're making sure everything's safe and ready for when we can travel more freely.

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Hello

Patrick

from

03 Hello from Patrick

A word from our CEO

04 Supporting our communities during

the pandemic Celebrating those who've gone above and beyond

07 Customer satisfaction

Help us shape our future priorities by joining our online Passenger Panel

08 The colleagues

keeping you safe Get to know Sophie, an Area Station Manager; and Allen, our Senior Contracts Manager

10 Making every

journey safer What we're doing to support our customers

12 Community matters

We're making a positive difference in our local communities

16 Making our stations

even better

A snapshot of over 1,000 projects under way at 250 stations

18 Always improving

The latest innovation and improvements to our services

20 Current and future

engineering works

The latest on King's Cross, Gatwick Airport station and the Arun Valley line projects

22 Looking after you

Tips and resources to help you during these uncertain times

23 How we're performing

Our latest customer service and on-time performance targets

It goes without saying that the last year has been an unprecedented one for us all. Who would have thought so much could change, and that we would all manage to adapt so quickly to a world which continues to be in flux because of the pandemic?

COVID-19 has challenged everything we do, from our operations to customer services. Before I go

any further, I want to pay the most sincere and heartfelt tribute to all my colleagues - they continue to work tirelessly, on the frontline and behind the scenes, to keep our vital rail services operating.

They have rightly been recognised as key workers and their work has allowed other key workers to get to their jobs safely and on time over the past year. In our global effort to beat Coronavirus, I'm proud that my teams have played their part.

To keep services running, we've worked closely with our user groups, business representatives, schools and hospitals - all informed by the insight of organisations such as Transport Focus - to ensure customers' needs are being met as far as possible. Services have changed several times in the past year to meet changes

in demand; we've also added extra carriages and stops on some journeys for a safer, more reliable service.

Behind the scenes, we've worked closely with other organisations such as Network Rail, Transport for London, and even the NHS, to make sure we're doing everything we can to support our communities through this difficult time.

As we head into spring, I want to let you know that we're here for you and, when the time is right, we're ready to welcome you back to the railway

  • whether for work, leisure, or reconnecting with
    the ones you love.

Caring for our people, our customers and our communities

has always been at the heart of our brand ethos and we have seen so many of our teams step up during

this time. From helping with the vaccination effort and getting bikes to NHS workers, to supporting passengers' mental health and working with homeless charities, you can read more about what they've been up to on page 4.

At the time of writing, the vaccine rollout and Government's estimated roadmap are providing hope that we're heading towards more normal times. This is our opportunity to emerge stronger and better than before - encouraging people to get out of their cars and use a more sustainable form of transport to create a cleaner environment with better air quality and less pollution.

Whether travelling by bus, bike, or train, we will continue to work with businesses and local communities to encourage people to rethink their travel choices in this 'new normal.' And personally, I cannot wait to enjoy travelling by train more in the future.

Patrick Verwer, CEO

Govia Thameslink Railway

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Supporting our communities during the pandemic

Our teams across the network have been going above and beyond to support not just our customers, but our wider communities during this pandemic.

Supporting the vaccination effort

While our car parks remain mostly empty, colleagues at Harpenden and Elstree stations have made free spaces available for the staff of their local vaccination programmes. They can also be used by those giving lifts to the elderly and vulnerable arriving for their jabs.

With the vaccination centres just around the corner from the stations, it's great to be able to support our local communities in such a practical way to help with the crucial vaccination rollout.

Volunteering with the London Ambulance Service

Tom Abbott, Head of Network Operations at Three Bridges Rail Operating Centre, has been volunteering with London Ambulance Service NHS Trust following a surge in demand due to COVID-19. Having previously worked as a medical technician for North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust, he had all the skills they were looking for.

Following a refresher course in April 2020, he's now crewing their frontline 999 ambulances as a volunteer, all while still doing a great job in his role with us. Tom says, "It's a unique environment with a real shared sense of purpose and camaraderie, not unlike the railway. It was an easy decision to answer the call and do my bit to support my ex-colleagues and the wider public."

"It's more important than ever that we all think of others and put in place real support. The Mental Health Hubs are a great initiative by Southern, encouraging people to talk and helping passengers open up about their mental health issues."

Chris Heaton-Harris MP, Rail Minister

Mental health hubs at our stations

In October, we collaborated with Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to set up drop-in mental health hubs in Brighton and Eastbourne stations. Trained psychologists and therapists from the Trust were on hand to speak to passengers and the local community about issues or concerns they had about their or others' mental health.

Community bike scheme for NHS staff

Following their successful scheme with Luton Council, Thameslink have been working with St Albans City & District Council and St Albans Cycle Campaign (STACC) to provide free restored bikes to NHS workers.

Over 100 bikes that were abandoned and unclaimed at our stations have been restored to safe, roadworthy conditions and donated to NHS workers. St Albans City Hospital nurse, Jane O'Connor, was the proud recipient of our first bike and we look forward to supporting more NHS staff in the communities we serve going forward.

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The Great Sock Appeal

In the run up to Christmas, we once again worked with our regional charity partners to provide support for the homeless during the winter with 'The Great Sock Appeal'. Often overlooked, this basic item of clothing is essential for those sleeping rough for keeping feet warm, dry, and healthy.

up, but if you do then you'll never experience the positive side of life."

Instead of physical donation hubs, this year we set up an online fundraising page and are proud to say we managed to raise £3,517.11 (which equates to 1,758 pairs of socks).

Customer satisfaction

This year was even more poignant for us as Allen Howe, our Senior Contracts Manager (interviewed on page 9), has spoken for the first time about his experiences of being homeless, with the hope of breaking the stigma around homelessness.

"I know all too well the hardship and danger facing homeless people this winter, having spent many months on the streets myself after suffering abuse as a child and being forced out by my stepmother soon after my 16th birthday.

There's a huge stigma around being homeless. People often think it's related to drugs or alcohol - or that you've done something to get yourself there. The average person doesn't realise that if you miss just three mortgage payments, you too could find yourself on the streets. There were many times I felt like giving

"The collaborative effort to make this campaign impactful for our community has been truly heart-warming. So we'd like to thank the whole team and everyone who has donated to the campaign for their ongoing support."

Jayshree Mistry from Helping Herts Homeless

Due to the pandemic, we've been unable to monitor customer satisfaction the way we usually would, with programmes including the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) put on hold.

Pic Liz Mead, Accessibility

Champion, Stevenage

However, ensuring you have a great journey is incredibly important to us, so we've continued to engage with our Customer Cabinets and Access Advisory Panel, as well as sending regular surveys to our online Passenger Panel. This has helped us understand how our customers feel about our services - whether they are travelling with us at the moment or not.

Since May 2020, we've conducted nine surveys and received over 8,000 responses. Thank you to everyone who's completed one so far and if you want to get involved, we always have space for you to join our online panels. Simply sign up here.

Accessibility during the pandemic

Since the start of the pandemic, accessibility has been a central consideration for us. From implementing timetable changes and station crowd control measures, to

providing our frontline teams with what they need to deliver Covid-secure assistance.

We're always working to ensure that everyone has the confidence and support they need to access the railway - that's why we're investing in new training, new methods of support and new information, which you can read more about in our latest Accessible Travel Policy.

We've continued offering our Assisted Travel services throughout the pandemic; we know how vital this service is for disabled people or anyone who benefits from additional support. Our dedicated team have been proactively contacting customers who have pre-booked assistance to work out personalised solutions to support them.

On top of this, we've enhanced our travel support tools to make rail travel easier for those who need assistance and for those exempt from wearing a face covering, such as with our travel support card. We have also developed our Easy Travel Guide,

in partnership with County Care, to support customers with learning difficulties. Kelvin Lindsay from County Care said, "It makes us feel safe knowing we can all travel safely under the new guidelines and that we are all treated the same."

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Meet Sophie

The colleagues keeping you safe

Over the past year, all of our colleagues have been busy keeping the nation moving as safely and easily as possible. We've caught up with Sophie and Allen

to find out what they've been doing during the pandemic.

Q&A

Meet Allen

Q&A

What exactly is a Senior

Contracts Manager?

I look after various contracts across our four companies that are there to keep our customers and colleagues safe. I manage what we call all the 'hard and soft' services contracts

  • that's anything electrical, water- based, or to do with cleaning or waste management etc.

How has your time at the NHS helped you while being with us?

In so many ways - in fact, the skillset I needed there is exactly what ended up being needed here. Having worked for so many years at the NHS, I had a very clear understanding of the difference

And we hear you've been sharing your knowledge with other companies?

That's been key to making sure that our stations are as safe as possible for our customers. We've been collaborating with the whole travel and rail industry throughout - often getting phone calls asking, 'how are you doing that?'. So we've shared our processes with lots of other organisations to make sure there's been a real joint response and travelling is as safe as can be.

Sounds like you've been busy! What drives me is that I want to keep our colleagues and customers safe,

What's the best thing about being an Area Station Manager?

I'd definitely say the variety. From dispatching trains to running the ticket office, there's always lots going on and you never know what you're going to have to deal with each day - it's never boring.

What's a typical day like for you? There's no real typical day - especially at the moment. We're always discussing new ways we can make things better for our customers

  • sometimes this focuses on day-to- day issues, but other times it's about planning for future improvements.
    I also work very closely with Network Rail and South Eastern because they're both based at my stations and we have a 'one team' approach to make sure we're being consistent for all our customers.

How did you cope with the challenges of the pandemic?

At the beginning, I left my current role to lead the Covid Response Team for Southern Stations.

The advice was changing almost daily but we quickly set up safety measures such as screens at the ticket offices, hand sanitisers around the stations, and clear customer notices - we've continued to adapt throughout. We also really focused on communicating

with our colleagues, letting them know any changes as we received them, as well as answering their questions and concerns, to make sure everyone felt safe and 'in the know'.

What has changed the most over the last year?

The biggest thing has been the drop in the number of customers, as well as all the measures that have been put in place to protect everyone. Our ways of working have also changed, with all our team meetings being virtual now. In some ways it's good as it can be more efficient but at the same time, we've really missed the interaction.

I cannot wait to have all my team together in one room again!

How have your teams handled all the changes and new measures? Honestly, they responded brilliantly and I'm so proud of them. They've come to work every day and done their best for our customers, despite facing their own personal challenges

  • and they've really looked after each other too. I think it's great that they've been acknowledged as key workers because they've kept the country moving.

Any standout moments? We've received a lot of positive feedback from our customers and

that's made such a difference to us all. We had some lovely messages from lots of doctors and nurses saying, 'thank you'. It's great to share that with our colleagues to show them that, even when it felt like no one was travelling, what they were doing was still really important because they were getting these really important people to where they needed to go.

Is there anything you'd like to say to our readers?

Thank you to those who have been travelling and have been following the guidance, and to those who have been sending in the positive feedback. For everyone else, we're really looking forward to welcoming you back later in the year and want to let you know we're doing everything we can to keep you safe and comfortable when you travel with us.

Sophie is an Area Station Manager looking after London Victoria and London Bridge. She works with over 200 colleagues to make sure everything runs smoothly and safely at both stations.

"I had a very clear understanding of the difference between cleaning and sanitisation, so I definitely felt I had a head start."

Allen joined us just three days before lockdown began but, having just spent over 15 years at the NHS, his timing couldn't have been more perfect. He's our Senior Contracts Manager and knows a thing or two about

how to keep trains and stations clean.

between cleaning and sanitisation, so I definitely felt I had a head start.

What have you done to make the trains and stations safer during the pandemic?

We very quickly introduced new cleaning methods and new technologies. This included a brand new virucide that sticks to surfaces, killing the COVID-19 virus for up to 30 days. We also have one that kills it for 24 hours, which we use multiple times a day on key touchpoints. Plus, we started dry steaming, cleaning with microfibre, and using electrostatic guns to help the chemicals stick to surfaces - all things that were normal use in the NHS but weren't being used on railways. We were also the first train company to introduce misting backpacks which cover large areas quickly - great for our trains and stations.

so we've been constantly researching, reviewing and evolving procedures to keep improving things. The targets we're setting ourselves are the same as the ones I was setting myself in the NHS - we test our surfaces on a regular basis and continue to achieve really high sanitisation rates.

What have you been most proud of during this time?

The teams I look after. The people looking after ventilation, water safety and (most importantly) our cleaners - they are all the real heroes. Without them the rail industry would have ground to a halt. I'm not doing anything special, they are. They're the ones who do the work, day in and day out, and have kept our network going and all the hospitals we serve going.

I am just so proud of them and all our frontline teams.

Is there anything you'd like to say to our readers? Follow the guidance and be confident that our trains are safe - if I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be doing my job.

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Go-Ahead Group plc published this content on 29 March 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 31 March 2021 14:54:03 UTC.