Chris Burchell, managing director of Southern Railways
NOT surprisingly, Chris Burchell allows himself a wide smile as he reflects on Southern’s latest, very welcome, performance figures.
The company which runs more than 1,700 services a day out of London, over 444 miles of some of the busiest commuter routes in the country, has just achieved its best punctuality figures since the start of the franchise in 2002.
With nine out of 10 trains arriving on time over the past 12 months and delay minutes caused by Southern at their lowest ever, Chris has good grounds for optimism as a new franchise battle looms – the Department for Transport has now invited expressions of interest in the South Central franchise.
But his pleasure is tempered by realism and the knowledge that complacency can never be allowed to gain hold. In fact, the 34-year-old MD is at pains to stress that the magic 90.5 per cent MAA – Moving Annual Average – figure is far from the end of the story.
He is well aware that the current accomplishment has been no easy task. It’s come about through the sheer hard work and attention to detail of his 1,800 frontline staff.
And now, with a franchise battle looming next year and the inclusion of the Gatwick Express business into the Govia-owned Southern franchise from this month, he knows that consistency and further improvements are vital.
“We are delighted with these results which have never before been achieved on this network. But it is not something where we can be satisfied and say we have ‘done punctuality’.
“We are pressing ahead and striving even further.”
Chris, who became MD just over two years ago, moving up to take the helm at Southern after a spell as operations director, is particularly pleased because the new figures have been achieved against a background of growth in passenger volumes.
In fact, there are sharp contrasts with 2003, when Chris joined what was then called South Central. The business was still smarting over the legacy of the Connex years.
At that time he described the job in hand as being a “mountain to climb”, with staff morale poor, staff shortages at depots and with drivers, a completely new fleet of Class 377 Electrostars needed to replace the ageing Mark 1 fleet, a huge £120 million depot upgrading programme and the Southern power upgrade by Net-work Rail under way.
Much of the turnaround is down to vastly higher reliability of its fleet.
“Our engineers have really come up to the mark. At Selhurst and Lovers Walk depots the engineers have done a marvellous job and made changes in engineering maintenance processes,” says Chris.
The Class 455 electric fleet, used chiefly on Metro services, has been transformed by internal refurbishment and other technical modifications to give trains a current 50,000 miles per casualty figure, compared with 5,000 to 6,000 mpc previously.
And the Class 377 main line Electrostar fleet is now, after early issues, bedding down well. Popular with customers on routes such as the Brighton main line, they are now reaching 30,000 mpc. “These new trains are getting better all the time,” he says.
Chris is also quick to praise the efforts of Network Rail in contributing to the punctuality achievements. He works closely with the Sussex route directorate and emphasis has been on ensuring that key junctions are up to scratch and signallers regulating trains effectively.
Network Rail and Southern controllers are now working together in an integrated control centre for Sussex, due to be officially opened by Minister for Rail Tom Harris.
It means better communications and swifter responses to operational problems.
“I see performance as very much a partnership process. This is not a cliché. There is no way that I can achieve anything without them (Network Rail).
“We could have zero delay minutes but if Network Rail doesn’t perform, we as their customer cannot perform. It is imperative that we work closely with them. Our teams are working hard to identify ways to drive out problems all the time.”
With passenger volumes growing on the Southern network, the ability to have more trains serving more stations is seen as a key response.
The integration of the National Express-run Gatwick Express business into Southern happens this month and the results of that – as identified in the Brighton main line Rail Utilisation Study – will provide more train capacity for Southern.
From December, former Wessex Electrics Class 442 trains once used on the SWT Waterloo-Bournemouth services will be utilised in a whole new service pattern, serving not only Gatwick but also Brighton and other stations.
Six trains in the morning peak will run from Brighton with different stopping patterns until Gatwick, then run fast to London. In the evening the exercise will be repeated from London, running fast to Gatwick and then a stopping pattern to Brighton.
The changes will give Brighton an additional three services in the peak and release three Class 377 Electro-stars to increase capacity to and from places such as Redhill.
“We have seen an 11 per cent passenger growth into London and this has been the real driver for these changes,” says Chris.
Of the integration of the Gatwick Express service into Southern, Chris sees it as the merging of two strong and distinct brands into one franchise. “Gatwick Express has a great reputation, it’s a fantastic brand which is recognised all over the world. They are a very experienced company for us to work with.
“Our philosophy is to recognise that the two brands are very distinct from each other. The rail/air market has its own needs and challenges, and South-ern equally has its own challenges.”
He adds: “We have a lot to learn from each other, there are a lot of good ideas coming from both companies and I want us to share them, the result being that both the products and brands will benefit.”
Southern’s workforce will grow by 300 people with the transfer.
Meanwhile, in the next few years, new initiatives will help to provide more capacity.
The Thameslink up-grade programme will deliver “huge benefits” says Chris, while the Department for Transport’s HLOS – High Level Output Statement – will see more rolling stock coming into the Southern franchise with platforms extended where necessary.
On the environmental front things are happening, too. Southern has run its first Class 377 with regenerative braking – the system where electrical energy is put back into the third rail system for use by other trains, cutting electricity charges and power generation needs. This will now be extended to the rest of the fleet.
Whatever the hardware position, though, Chris Burchell knows that it is his frontline and support staff who matter when it comes to passenger perception. As the Southern franchise prepares to be fought over he is keen that his staff are kept fully aware of the process.
“What is really important to me is that in no sense do we want to take our foot off the gas. It would be a real shame to have achieved so much and see things taken off of us.”
The mantra of the company is ‘better to best’ – a philosophy which ex-tends through the entire workforce.
There are regular ‘meet the manager’ meetings at which staff are encouraged to talks about work issues. “We want to hear their ideas, they are the people who know what is going on.”
But when Chris talks about Southern’s one-to-one coaching programme his eyes really light up.
The company won an award from the Institute for Learning and Management for the programme which involves 40 qualified coaches having one-to-one sessions with staff. Chris is one of the coaches and is currently coaching a booking office employee.
“It’s all about helping people to realise their ambitions and full capabilities. It’s a case of unlocking what they always knew was there, helping them re-energise and gain confidence.
“We as a company are not perfect, there is still a lot to be done. But you have to have an ambition.”