Delivering change for passengers: Stagecoach and the South Central franchise

Transcription

1 Delivering change for passengers: Stagecoach and the South Central franchise

2 Time Destination 08:01 A message from Ian Dobbs Chief Executive, Stagecoach Rail Division I am delighted that Stagecoach has won the right to bid for the South Central franchise... We are confident that we can play a significant part in improving the experience for rail passengers in South London, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Surrey and Kent. Stagecoach already has strong links with the region. We operate buses across West and East Sussex and Hampshire, and in South London we run the neighbouring South West Trains franchise, sharing a station at Clapham Junction. We feel a real affinity for the area and are eager to have the opportunity to put forward our ideas for train services in the region. As well as that local knowledge, Stagecoach adds the skill and experience that comes from being one of the UK's leading transport operators. In rail, we run South West Trains, one of the most complex rail franchises in Europe, where we have achieved dramatic improvements for our passengers. In 2006, after a decade of success, we achieved the ultimate recognition and won the franchise again for a further ten years. We also recently started to run the East Midlands franchise, which builds on our expertise in running complex railways including long-distance, commuter and rural services. We know that we can bring that skill to bear in running services for the South Central franchise area. Whoever wins the franchise will have to deal with significant challenges. In many ways it will be a time of transition and change and the company operating the franchise will need to be skilled at delivering complex projects while maintaining an excellent service. Stagecoach's track record of delivering complex and technical projects, from new timetables to smart ticketing, is second-to-none in the industry. Climate change is one of the most serious challenges facing our world and the choices we all make every day affect the planet we will entrust to future generations. Stagecoach Group is helping protect our environment by encouraging people to reduce car use and get on board smarter, greener public transport. And we are also working hard to reduce our own carbon footprint, which you can read about later in this brochure. Stagecoach is committed to working closely with stakeholders. It is only by understanding your needs that we can truly deliver the railway that you want and deserve. Our aim is to take rail services in your region to the next level, using our knowledge and experience to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. There are no easy solutions to tackling overcrowding on commuter services, improving passenger safety and security and generally making it easier and more pleasurable to travel by train - but we are committed to working hard, along with Government and other stakeholders, to improve services for passengers. I look forward to working with people in the South Central franchise area as we prepare our bid. We want to help the region to thrive, to be an even better place to live and work. I hope we get the opportunity to help make those aspirations a reality... Chief Executive Stagecoach Rail Division

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4 Time Destination 08:02 An introduction to Stagecoach Who we are and what we do Stagecoach Group is one of the world's leading transport operators with train, bus, tram and express coach operations in the UK, United States and Canada. Innovation is at the heart of our approach to attracting more people to public transport and making their experience more satisfying. We offer market-leading thinking, cutting-edge research and a flair for creative and effective marketing. We are pioneers - from new products to the use of new technology. Since Stagecoach was founded more than 25 years ago, we have spearheaded the development of efficient, easy-to-use, valuefor-money services. Our low-cost inter-city service, megabus.com, was the UK's first web-based budget bus and coach service. We have also rolled out this model on some of our train services, under the name megatrain, and are seeking to make offpeak train travel more enticing. Experience across a variety of transport sectors has allowed Stagecoach to develop integrated travel opportunities for its customers, making the journey from door-todoor one seamless process. A number of Stagecoach ideas, such as integrated control centres and bringing infrastructure maintenance in-house, have been adopted across the rail industry and have improved services for millions of passengers. Stagecoach's success has been built on listening to customers and using their special insight to improve services even further. Local managers are empowered and encouraged to build relationships with the communities they serve. Environmental sustainability is rightly becoming a focus of people's concerns.

5 Greener, smarter travel on buses and trains is an important part of the solution to the global challenge of climate change, but any form of transport has an impact on the environment. We are committed to making our own business as sustainable as possible. Our Environment Policy sets out our commitment to good environmental stewardship through a package of measures to reduce emissions, cut water and energy consumption, minimise waste and promote recycling. We believe that together we can deliver the safety standards, operating performance, customer service, innovation and ongoing improvements that passengers in the South Central franchise region rightly expect. Above: Travel from 1 on Stagecoach s innovative megatrain service

6 Time Destination 08:03 Our experience Nearly 30 years as one of the UK s leading transport companies... The South Central franchise shares many characteristics with the South Western franchise, which Stagecoach has run successfully for 12 years and recently won again. Both franchises are complex and diverse, including urban services, rush-hour commuter services into London, longdistance routes and leisure services to holiday destinations. Stagecoach is one of the largest rail operators in the country, running nearly 25% of the rail network. We are also Britain s biggest tram operator. Our vast experience gained through running South West Trains recently helped us secure the franchise for the East Midlands region. This includes operating mainline services from London St Pancras to cities such as Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and Sheffield. Our rural expertise is also characterised by improving performance in lightly populated areas of Lincolnshire and Norfolk Passenger Operator of the Year JUDGES CITATION: What can be seen on the South West Trains network every day of the week is a thoroughly well-run business from top to bottom HSBC Rail Operator of the Year This prestigious award is recognition of the improvements made in the last 10 years to the passenger experience, such as improved performance and commitment to safety and security of staff and passengers

7 Running a franchise with the complexity of South Central requires both skill and experience. The region covered by the South Central franchise is hugely important for the UK economy. People need to be able to access London quickly and reliably from the suburbs, as well as from further afield in East and West Sussex, Kent and Hampshire. But people also want to take the train to Gatwick to go on holiday, to go to Brighton or Eastbourne for a day by the sea or pop to Croydon for the shopping. We understand how to run a railway catering for different users with differing needs and we want to use that expertise and experience to improve the service for everyone on the South Central franchise. Our experience has been recognised with a plethora of awards over the years. Earlier this year, to celebrate a decade of the Rail Business Awards, South West Trains received a special award for winning the highest number of awards of all competing transport organisations over that decade. Other prestigious awards received included the double-header of Passenger Operator of the Year and Rail Business of the Year in The fact that in the last two years we have retained the South Western franchise and won the East Midlands franchise shows the level of confidence invested in Stagecoach by the Government and other stakeholders. We also took the top honour at the recent Community Rail Awards for our work with our Community Rail partners from the Isle of Wight, Lymington Line, and Three Rivers. This award shows that our commitment extends right down to the local level with our clear support for community initiatives. Our UK bus division is also one of the leading operators in the country, linking up to 100 towns and cities and running a fleet of more than 7,000 buses. More than two million passengers travel on Stagecoach bus services every day, using a network that stretches from South West England to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland - and many thousands of those passengers use our buses in the South Central franchise area. All in all, we are the right transport company to take the South Central franchise to the next level. We have the knowledge, we have the expertise, and we are ready to deliver...

8 Time Destination 08:04 Performance & Change Industry-leading performance and change management experts It seems an obvious thing to say that people want and expect their trains to run on time. People's routines depend on punctuality, we understand that important business or family commitments can be affected by delays. We want to improve the level of service people receive in the South Central franchise area and we know we've got the expertise to do it. We are aware that there will be a period of upheaval across the franchise area as the changes emanating from the Thameslink Programme and Network Rail's Route Utilisation Strategies take affect. However, we believe no other rail operator is as qualified as we are in taking on large scale transformation projects and delivering clear benefits for our passengers. We have a history of managing change to deliver a better service. In 2004 we decided

9 92.7% Punctuality on South West Trains 88.5% Punctuality on East Midlands Trains Moving Annual Average over last 12 months to create a whole new timetable for South West Trains to provide a base on which we could build lasting improvements to punctuality and reliability. The previous timetable hadn't altered fundamentally in 35 years and technological change and passenger growth meant that we had to go back to first principles. The scale of the challenge was daunting but over a period of two years we worked intensively on what was needed for the change to be a success. We included features such as all-day, sametime departures and additional morning peak services. At the same time we introduced an entirely new fleet of high performance trains to replace the 'slam door' stock. We introduced our new fleet in a shorter time period than other train operating companies in the South East, incorporating infrastructure changes to depots, stations and power supplies. We changed the timetable on a single day and invested a huge amount of resource in planning and implementation. We made sure that our passengers were sufficiently wellinformed about the changes - and afterwards 98% of them said that they were. The improvements in our performance came almost immediately, with initial trends showing a 16% year-on-year increase in performance and by 2006 South West Trains was regularly breaking its target of 90% services arriving on time. Our improvement has continued apace and our latest performance figures for August and September 2008 show that almost 96% of services arrived on time. We know that change management and the ability to deliver in adversity will be a vital skill for whoever runs the South Central franchise. We have delivered massive change programmes and continued to operate an efficient service through problems outside our control, such as the Portsmouth engineering works which overran by a year and the introduction of a major blockade of the main line for Basingstoke engineering works. Stagecoach is also at the leading edge of introducing smartcard technology on public transport in the UK, including the first national rail smartcard system. Our message is simple: we have done it before - we are ready to do it again! 2007/08 187m +81% 1995/96 103m In 2007/08 there were 84 million more journeys made than in 1995/96, the last year before Stagecoach began running the South Western franchise; an increase of nearly 81%!

10 Time Destination 08:05 Safety & Security Strong track record on improvements to trains and stations CCTV cameras installed A commitment to the highest standards of safety and security lies at the heart of our business. Throughout our South West Trains and East Midlands Trains stations, we have implemented a wide range of security improvements, including CCTV provision, improved lighting, waiting shelters, and upgraded help points. Our successful ongoing partnership with Transport for London has resulted in over 4m being spent on station safety measures across more than 50 stations in the London Metro area with the specific aim of encouraging more passengers to use the network by creating a cleaner safer travel environment, effectively reducing anti-social behaviour and fear of crime. In Sheffield, Police Community Support Officers and City Ambassadors are encouraged to use the Supertram as much as possible to ensure a highly visible presence and to discourage unlawful and anti-social behaviour. South West Trains was the first company to introduce TravelSafe Officers in a security and anti-crime partnership with the British More than 4,000 CCTV cameras on trains and stations help promote safety and security for both passengers & staff

11 Transport Police. We have recently invested 1.8 million to introduce new Rail Community Officers on the network which is continuing to help drive out crime. Crime on South West Trains network fell by 12.2% in 2007 compared with recorded crime in South West Trains and the British Transport Police's efforts in combating crime have seen a 62.8% reduction in robbery, a 39.5% reduction in line of route crimes, such as trespass and stone throwing, and a 16.2% reduction in bike thefts. All of these reductions have been achieved during a period when our passenger numbers are going up. Stagecoach has a number of joint programmes in place with schools and the police to deter anti-social behaviour and educate the next generation of public transport users. Much of this work, and initiatives such as the Rail Community Officers, rely on our very close working relationship with the British Transport Police. Ian Dobbs, Chief Executive of Stagecoach Group plc's Rail Division, is a Member of the British Transport Police Authority, further cementing our link with the BTP. Passenger journeys up +9.4% -12.2% Reported crimes down Between 2006/07 and 2007/08 reported crimes on our trains decreased by 12.2%, despite the number of passenger journeys increasing by 9.4% during the same period.

12 Time Destination 08:06 Generating & Managing Growth Skilled at stimulating & managing increased use of public transport Stagecoach has helped drive the renaissance of public transport over the last decade. 81% More passengers on South West Trains than m journeys were made on South West Trains in 2007, an increase of almost 81% over 1995/96; we also run nearly 1,000 more trains a week than in m Passengers carried on Sheffield s Supertram A growth in passenger numbers of nearly 50%since 1997 on Sheffield s Supertram

13 In 2007/08 for example, there were 187 million journeys made on South West Trains, an increase of nearly 81% over 1995/96. We're also running more trains - nearly 1,000 a week more than in And we're driving and managing this passenger growth on other forms of transport. The Sheffield Supertram carried a record 15 million passengers in 2007/08 - that's a growth in passenger numbers of nearly 50% since Stagecoach took over the running of Supertram in On top of that, one year after taking over the East Midlands rail franchise we have attracted significantly more people onto the intercity services into London St Pancras, enabling them to link up with Eurostar services to the continent. And usage across the Stagecoach bus network has grown for six consecutive years. In short, Stagecoach knows how to encourage people onto public transport. Of course, one of the by-products of increased demand is pressure on services at peak times and we know that causes concern to passengers. To address this issue, Stagecoach is constantly seeking to find new and innovative ways of managing demand, for example by making it more attractive for people to travel by train during off-peak hours. Our megatrain scheme, which offers a number of seats on some off-peak longdistance services for as little as 1, is already showing signs of encouraging more off-peak rail travel. We have also implemented a programme of refurbishments on some train interiors to provide more passenger space in each train in the peak period.

14 Time Destination 08:07 Community engagement and learning Putting Stagecoach at the heart of communities For nearly 30 years, Stagecoach has been a key part of local communities around the world. As well as providing lifeline transport services and significant job opportunities, we are committed to investing in each of the communities we serve. But Stagecoach's support for the community is not just about money - hundreds of our employees devote their own time to local projects that make a real difference in their area. Supporting the community. Working with the community. Part of the community. That is the cornerstone of our business philosophy. We understand the strength of projects when working in partnership. At South West Trains, which operates across

15 nine English counties, much of our focus is on projects designed to give young people alternatives to anti-social behaviour. We have achieved this through schemes such as our long-term support for the Carroll Youth Centre, offering an alternative to the dangers of playing on the railways, and sponsorship of youth clubs and sports teams in a range of locations. We are also heavily involved in highlighting the dangers of trespassing on railway lines. Through our 'Dunk the Junk' scheme, run in partnership with the Guildford Heat basketball team, we have visited schools across Surrey and Berkshire, covering topics such as substance abuse, fitness and health, anti-social behaviour and the dangers on the railway. East Midlands Trains is working with Bombardier and the Prince's Trust charity on the Get Into Railways scheme. This new initiative provides young people with practical skills to get started on a career in transport. And last year, 700,000 was donated by the Stagecoach Group to help many worthwhile causes, including health charities and local community projects in areas where Stagecoach provides lifeline bus and rail services. We take the development of our staff very seriously. In partnership with Rail Union Learning, staff working on East Midlands Trains recently celebrated Adult Learners' Week, organising a Learning Open Day for staff and encouraging more people to get the learning 'bug'. Four of our East Midlands Trains drivers are the first in the UK to achieve an ITQ qualification and we have developed a 'route learning' website to help familiarise drivers with the route they operate.

16 Time Destination 08:08 Travel for all A diverse team serving a unique and diverse set of passengers Our people are central to the success of our business and we are committed to providing a working and travelling environment that treats all individuals fairly and with respect. Free travel nationwide for Guide Dogs for the Blind dog trainers As a major employer, we also recognise the need for on-going training and development for all our staff, not just so they can do their job better, but so they can develop individually. As well as championing diversity amongst our staff, we of course recognise that every customer we serve has their own specific individual needs. Accessibility is a key factor in providing attractive public transport services. On the South West Trains network, as part of the 'Access for All' programme, we have been rolling-out a package of measures to improve disabled access. To support the access of wheelchair users to our network, we are committed to providing wheelchair users with accessible taxis from their local station, at no extra charge, to their nearest accessible station. All our trains are fully wheelchair accessible

17 TRY the TRAIN Special South West Trains Try the Train events at numerous stations introduce disabled people, the elderly and those with special needs to trains On top of that, all of our trains are fully wheelchair accessible. Access for all is also about staff training and we continue to maintain links with disability groups to ensure both the needs of our passengers and employees are considered. At Sheffield Supertram, for example, the first of our trams have been refreshed with textured grab rails and improved seating layouts to help passengers with visual impairment. Stagecoach also has a national agreement with Guide Dogs for the Blind that allows dog trainers free travel on our buses and trains. South West Trains hold 'Try the Train' days at numerous stations across the route. These events, including free travel, introduce trains to disabled people and those who are elderly or who have special educational needs and who may not know the extent of the accessibility of the trains. Similarly, in partnership with Surrey County Council and Hampshire County Council, South West Trains has arranged the provision at stations of disabled ramps, low counter ticket windows and improvements to passenger waiting areas to make them more accessible for disabled people.

18 Time Destination 08:09 Environment Sustainable transport, sustainable business Increasing environmental sustainability is a key issue for Stagecoach and its customers. We know that encouraging people onto public transport is good for the environment. Buses and trains produce significantly less carbon emissions per passenger than the car and we can help protect the environment by encouraging people to make less use of the car and domestic airlines, and get on board public transport as much as possible. Stagecoach is continuing a major drive to make its own business more sustainable and attract more people to travel by bus, coach, train and tram. The Group's wide-ranging strategy includes investment in renewable fuels and cleaner engines, state-of-the-art energy efficient facilities, water and waste recycling initiatives and offering businesses green travel incentives for their employees. Research by Stagecoach has confirmed that environmental concerns are increasingly driving customer behaviour. We believe this represents a significant opportunity and we are actively marketing our greener, smarter travel services to our customers, working closely with local authorities and the Government. But we are not willing to just stop there. We want to ensure that our operations are as environmentally-friendly as possible. Stagecoach was the first company to introduce Plusbus, an award-winning service which enables people to add a bus pass to either end of their train ticket. This encourages people to use public transport to reach the train station, or their final destination, rather than driving to and from the station. Stagecoach is working hard to ensure that

19 our energy use is as sustainable as possible. Metrolink, Manchester's light rail system, is the only train system in the UK running solely on hydro-electricity. South West Trains is also currently trialling biodiesel on one of its diesel units running between London and the West of England. The results of this trial will be analysed in early-2009 and could have a significant impact for the diesel fleet in the future. We are also trialling regenerative braking, which again could have a significant and positive impact on our train fleet in the future. Stagecoach is also testing the UK's first Biobuses, which run on 100% biodiesel. The bio-fuel is manufactured from used cooking oil and other food industry by-products, which are from sustainable sources that do not involve the destruction of natural habitats or compete with the human food chain. The environmental project even allows customers to exchange used cooking oil for discounted bus travel! Stagecoach is proud of keeping its buses and trains clean to provide a pleasant travelling environment for our customers. But protecting our environment is even more critical. We realise water is a precious resource and our businesses have invested in more environmentally-friendly washers and rainwater harvesting measures. In some of our train cleaning facilities, up to 75% of the water used cleaning the carriages is recycled to use again. We are also introducing a new Group carbon management initiative to more accurately assess our carbon footprint, share best practice across our bus and rail operations and improve even further the sustainability of our business. Up to 75% of water used for cleaning carriages is recycled Water is precious: our businesses have invested in enviro-friendly washers and rainwater harvesting machines.

20 To find out more about Stagecoach Rail and its plans for the South Central franchise please contact: Graeme Hampshire, Bid Director Stagecoach Rail Blackfriars Road London SE1 8NZ T: