SOUTHEASTERN ENVIRONMENTAL & SOCIAL REPORT 2007
OUR RESPONSIBILITY A message from the Managing Director This year Southeastern s first year in operation has been one where we have put in place the foundations that we need to build a successful franchise. We have ambitious plans: to be a growing railway for a growing region. This vision recognises the growth forecast for the region as a whole and the vital role in supporting this growth that the Southeastern franchise plays. In order to do this we are targeting several key areas: Training and development of employees: We will recruit, motivate and develop our people to ensure they have the range of skills needed to deliver a high quality service. We ve already started the programme to achieve Investors in People accreditation in a few years time and many employees have also started training for national vocational qualifications in customer service. Optimising the timetable: We will operate more services and provide longer trains by using our resources more efficiently. And we ll improve punctuality and reliability by joint working with Network Rail and rolling stock companies. Improving the trains: We ll ensure they re reliable, secure, clean and free from graffiti as well as having CCTV onboard. Improving communication with passengers and stakeholders: We want to ensure that we engage with passengers and stakeholders so that they know what s happening on their network. We ve put a number of different channels in place for customers to tell us how they think we re doing. Investing in our stations: We want our stations to be brighter, lighter, more pleasant places to be for customers and employees and have begun a programme to paint and re-sign every single one over the next few years. Developing new products: This year we ve introduced simplified daily zonal rail fares within the Travelcard area to make rail travel easier, and we will be extending these to season tickets next year. We ll be working with Transport for London to introduce Oyster Pay As You Go, something passengers tell us they want. And we re working towards the large-scale changes introduced in December 2009. A flagship feature of our franchise will be the high speed services between London St Pancras, Ashford and the Kent coast. A fleet of 29 six-car units will travel at speeds of up to 140 miles an hour reducing journey times considerably. At the same time Metro and Mainline services will change as we take the opportunity to re-write the whole timetable. We ve had a good first year and early indications are encouraging thanks to everyone s hard work, dedication and commitment. Charles Horton Managing Director Contents 2 The Marketplace 4 The Workplace 6 The Environment 8 The Community IBC Independent Assurance Statement Cover photo: The Swiss Re Tower (or the gherkin ), one of the landmark buildings on our network.
Southeastern Environmental & Social Report 2007 1 WHO WE ARE SOUTHEASTERN PROVIDES TRAIN SERVICES THROUGHOUT KENT, PARTS OF EAST SUSSEX AND SOUTH-EAST LONDON. FROM 2009 WE WILL ALSO OPERATE THE PLANNED DOMESTIC HIGH-SPEED SERVICES ON THE CHANNEL TUNNEL RAIL LINK. About Southeastern Last year, our fleet of 344 trains accounted for over 147 million passengers journeys. The Southeastern franchise is operated by Govia, a partnership between two of Europe s leading transport companies: The Go-Ahead Group (65% majority partner) and Keolis (which is part-owned by the French state rail operator SNCF). The franchise runs from April 2006 to March 2012. Govia is also the franchise holder for Southern Railway and from November 2007 will operate the new West Midlands rail franchise. About The Go-Ahead Group plc We are part of The Go-Ahead Group plc. Go-Ahead is a major provider of transport services across the UK employing over 25,000 people and carrying over 875 million passengers. Its operations span bus, rail, parking and aviation support services. The Go-Ahead Group believes that local people make the best decisions about local services. This ethos runs throughout the Group. Go-Ahead has also developed a common framework for managing companies impact on local communities and the environment, and we measure our performance against this framework. WATERLOO EAST CLAPHAM JUNCTION HORSHAM VICTORIA CHARING CROSS BLACKFRIARS CANNON STREET LONDON BRIDGE PURLEY REDHILL GATWICK AIRPORT CRAWLEY BROMLEY SOUTH ORPINGTON SEVENOAKS EAST CROYDON THREE BRIDGES WOOLWICH ELTHAM SIDCUP TONBRIDGE DARTFORD MAIDSTONE TUNBRIDGE WELLS SITTINGBOURNE FAVERSHAM CHATHAM SHEERNESS-ON-SEA CANTERBURY HASTINGS ASHFORD INTER- NATIONAL Southeastern provide train services throughout Kent, parts of east Sussex and south east London. MARGATE RAMSGATE DOVER FOLKESTONE About this report This report covers Southeastern s performance for the 12 months to 30 June 2007. It is divided into four main sections as shown below, which describe the impacts of our activities in different areas, and our efforts to manage these responsibly. As part of our annual business planning, we have set targets and goals to improve our social and environmental performance for 2007/08. To keep this report short, we have placed a lot more information on the web. You can find this at www.go-ahead.com/corporateresponsibility MARKETPLACE How we run our services WORKPLACE Issues that affect the people who work for us ENVIRONMENT How we manage and reduce our impact on the environment COMMUNITY Making the communities where we operate better places to live and work
2 Southeastern Environmental & Social Report 2007 THE MARKETPLACE OUR RESPONSIBILITIES WE RUN SERVICES TO LONDON VICTORIA, BLACKFRIARS, CHARING CROSS, CANNON STREET, LONDON BRIDGE AND WATERLOO EAST, PROVIDING TRANSPORT ACROSS SOUTH LONDON, THROUGHOUT KENT AND IN PARTS OF EAST SUSSEX. In providing these services, Southeastern manage 182 stations and operate and maintain a fleet of almost 350 trains, seven days a week and up to 24 hours a day. Rail transport is vitally important to the health of the economy and the environment, and in meeting communities need for accessible travel. Our most important responsibility is to attract more passengers onto the railways and other forms of public transport, in preference to the private car. We believe that business success is built on effectively listening and responding to the needs of stakeholders. One way that we do this is through a Stakeholder Advisory Board, a concept that was first pioneered by Go-Ahead. The newly established Southeastern Stakeholder Advisory Board brings together employees, passengers and representative bodies to share views and discuss how we can improve our services. Go-Ahead Group s earlier consultations with Stakeholder Advisory Boards have helped to identify the key factors that influence people to travel by rail: Reliability, convenience and punctuality Accessibility for all Safety and security Affordability. Our responsibility is, therefore, to provide services that meet each of these criteria. Our responsibility: providing reliable, convenient and punctual services During our first year as part of Go-Ahead, we have invested in new train services and new ticket machines, improved our cleaning processes, boosted security and enhanced the information we provide to passengers. We have also restructured our management team to sharpen accountability and speed up the delivery of further change. Passengers have told us that we need to improve punctuality and reliability. There is still much to be done in this area, and we have set up special teams dedicated to improving our performance. Our target is for nine out of ten trains to exceed the punctuality target within three years. During part of this year, our metro services achieved this level of performance for the first time in ten years. Our responsibility: ensuring the safety and security of passengers, employees and the general public Passengers tell us that they want to feel safer at our stations and onboard our trains. We have, therefore, made this area a priority for Southeastern. We are investing 18 million in installing CCTV at our stations and on our trains. CCTV systems have a proven track record in deterring crime and supporting successful prosecutions. Just under half of our train carriages and 79% of our stations now have CCTV systems, and another 15 stations will receive new CCTV cameras next year. The first 20 of our stations has now received Secure Station Accreditation from the British Transport Police.
Southeastern The Marketplace 3 147.44m Passenger Journeys 31.2m Train kms travelled Size of rail fleet Ensuring reliability and punctuality are priorities for us. Southeastern is also the first train operating company to have its own team of Rail Enforcement Officers (REO) working alongside the British Transport Police. The REOs patrol trains at times when passengers feel most vulnerable, particularly late at night. Our responsibility: affordability Southeastern operates a commuter service, so it is in our interest to provide incentives for people to build their skills in preparation for work. In partnership with local authorities, we offer a discounted student fare for 16 to 18 year olds at a third of the cost of the standard Southeastern season ticket. Our responsibility: ensuring accessibility for all, particularly disabled people We want to make travel by train as easy as possible for people with mobility problems. All of our trains are accessible for passengers using wheelchairs and 43% meet Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations standards. Most of our stations were built several decades ago and lack full step-free access. Our website provides details of which stations are accessible to wheelchair users. We guarantee help for passengers with limited mobility at all staffed stations, through portable ramps and assistance from our employees. Our programme of improving access is also continuing with investment in induction loops and work with the RNIB on station signage. 06/07 344 Target Southeastern 06/07 30 Public performance measure (%) 06/07 89.0 88.7 Signals passed at danger Total number of delays We provide comprehensive accessibility training for employees and use mystery shopping visits for accessibility audits. We also work with external consultants to help improve the service level we offer. Total number of delays Delays due to Southeastern 4.2% Delays due to other causes 6.8% On time journeys 89.0%
4 Southeastern Environmental & Social Report 2007 THE WORKPLACE OUR RESPONSIBILITIES IT IS SOUTHEASTERN S AMBITION TO TOP THE TABLES OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN LONDON AND THE SOUTH EAST. We are working to improve the way we support and develop our employees through Investors in People accreditation. Each of our employees is crucial to achieving this ambition. Their availability, attitude and helpfulness have a direct impact on passengers experience of our service. Our ability to meet passenger expectations is dependent on having enough people at work. Overstretched employees bring demoralisation and poor customer service. As such, employee turnover and absence from work are critical issues for us. We are committed to being a good employer. This means providing a safe working environment and a range of benefits that help us to recruit, retain and motivate our employees. Training is a vitally important ingredient in building skills. We invested over 680,000 in training new and existing employees last year, including the development of our NVQ customer service programme.
Southeastern The Workplace 5 Number of employees 06/07 3,828 Employee turnover rate (%) Our responsibility: training and development Training is a vitally important ingredient in building skills. We invested over 680,000 in training new and existing employees last year, including the development of our NVQ customer service programme. Our investment will continue to increase. Southeastern has an in-house training and development team for technical and customer service training. We support the Rail Union learning programme and its partnership with local further education colleges, which provides a range of personal development opportunities. 06/07 7.11 Diversity by gender Male 06/07 3,256 Female 06/07 572 Our responsibility: retention of employees We have a good record for retaining employees and are currently seeking Investors in People (IiP) accreditation as we look to support our employees further. We are on track to achieve the IiP standard by December 2009. Diversity by age 16-19: 0.5% 20-29: 10.5% 30-39: 27.5% 40-49: 34.8% 50-59: 21.1% 60-64: 5.3% 65+: 0.3% Diversity by ethnic group Our employees attitude and helpfulness are key to ensuring customer satisfaction. 11.4% Asian, black or other origin 88.6% White
6 Southeastern Environmental & Social Report 2007 THE ENVIRONMENT OUR RESPONSIBILITIES ALL COMPANIES HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO WORK TO ALLEVIATE CLIMATE CHANGE, BUT THIS RESPONSIBILITY IS CENTRAL TO PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMPANIES. We have developed an Environmental Management System based on the principles of the ISO14001 environmental standard and audit our performance against this. Persuading more people to choose rail over the private car reduces carbon emissions as well as local pollution and congestion. Demonstrating environmental improvement is a particular challenge for train operating companies. As an integral part of the railway network, we are dependent on the infrastructure around us to deliver our services. In many situations, it is not possible for Network Rail to isolate our environmental impact accurately. Nevertheless, we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously. At our Ramsgate depot we have developed an Environmental Management System (EMS) based on the principles of the ISO14001 environmental standard and audit our performance against this using both internal and external auditors. Our responsibility: reducing emissions We operate a fleet of nearly 350 electric trains. Our most significant impact is the electricity we use for traction purposes. We declare our electricity usage based on the figures provided by Network Rail; however this figure is at best only a broad indicator of actual performance. Our principal environmental responsibility is to encourage people to travel by rail rather than car. We have also set a target to reduce energy usage in our buildings by 15%. By the year s half-way point, we had achieved reductions of nearly 12% in electricity use and over 5% in gas use, resulting in a 9.4% reduction in our carbon emissions.
Southeastern The Environment 7 Electricity usage for traction power (kwh) 06/07 423.7m Air pollution: CO 2 (kg) per passenger journey Our most significant environmental impact is the electricity used for traction purposes by our fleet of trains. 06/07 1.24 Our responsibility: integrated transport Rail should form part of an integrated public transport network. This year, we introduced a new scheme to make it easier for passengers to transfer between bus and train. At 18 of our stations it is now possible to purchase PLUSBUS tickets that offer both rail and bus services on a single ticket. These can be purchased as singles, returns or period tickets. As we work to upgrade and improve stations, we have not forgotten the need to improve bus connections. At Sittingbourne station, we worked with the local bus provider to launch a new bus service improving local connections. Our responsibility: measuring our performance For the third year, the Go-Ahead Group came top of the public transport companies that participated in the Business in the Community (BITC) Corporate Responsibility Index. We scored 91% (89% in 2005), a significant improvement, and were ranked in the Gold Band by BITC. In the Environment Index we did even better, improving our score to 93.11% (from 91.62% in 2005) which included maximum marks for the Group s performance on emissions management. We have set a target to reduce energy usage in our buildings by 15%. We introduced a new scheme to make it easier for passengers to transfer between bus and train.
8 Southeastern Environmental & Social Report 2007 THE COMMUNITY OUR RESPONSIBILITIES WE PROVIDE ESSENTIAL SERVICES FOR THOSE LIVING IN, WORKING IN OR VISITING THE COMMUNITIES THAT WE SERVE. Running these services is, therefore, the most important way that we contribute to community wellbeing. We also employ over 3,800 people and have responsibilities both to them and to their families. Vibrant and successful communities are in everybody s interest. We contribute through cash and in-kind donations and by encouraging employee involvement. The Go-Ahead Group also provides cash donations on behalf of its operating companies. Our responsibility: Community Rail Partnerships Community Rail Partnerships (CRPs) help to put railway stations at the heart of local communities. Southeastern currently supports two CRPs: SwaleRail and the Medway Valley Line. We are developing a third CRP for the route between Hastings and Tonbridge. As well as innovative marketing, improved signage and better bus links, environmental and community projects are vital to a successful CRP. At Kemsley, we are working on a landscaping and planting scheme in partnership with the Sittingbourne Community College. Our responsibility: attracting new recruits Newham is one of London s most disadvantaged boroughs. Southeastern is supporting the Rail School initiative, backed by the London Borough of Newham, Newham College of Further Education and the Learning and Skills Council. The school helps jobseekers and 14 to 19 year olds prepare for a railway career; it provides rail companies with a pool of skilled recruits who have knowledge of safety culture, business and industry issues. Community spend 15,534 4.7% of total Group spend ( 329,987) At a local operating company level community investment is driven through support in kind activities, while the Group Head Office handles direct financial donations. The figures above include an element of both these community investment streams. Our responsibility: giving our employees a voice This year we introduced a new approach to charitable support. Employees were asked to vote for their chosen charity after a shortlist was drawn up based on suggestions from employees and other stakeholders.
SUMMARY INDEPENDENT ASSURANCE STATEMENT The SMART Company was commissioned by The Go-Ahead Group plc to provide independent assurance of the environment and social information within the Environmental and Social Reports for the period July 2006 to June 2007. The assuror conducting the verification did not participate in any part of the data gathering and report writing process.this statement represents an independent opinion.the verification was undertaken with reference to the underlying principles of the assurance standard AA1000, namely materiality, completeness and responsiveness. This is the sixth consecutive year that The SMART Company has provided assurance for Go-Ahead as part of a rolling programme of audits, ensuring all operating companies are audited at least once every three years. In 2007, the assurance process included five sample operating companies (incorporating site visits), comprising Meteor, Solent Blue Line, Southern Vectis, Go West Midlands and Southeastern. Interviews were conducted with managers responsible for the internal reporting and validation of data and sample checks of consolidated data were undertaken. On the basis of the assurance method and scope of the work undertaken we are satisfied that this report is a reliable and accurate reflection of the performance of the company. A full verification report, containing a more detailed analysis together with recommendations for developing the processes for measuring, managing and reporting Go-Ahead plc s environmental and social impacts, can be found at www.go-ahead.com/corporateresponsibility. The SMART Company, August 2007 Go-Ahead Southeastern is part of The Go-Ahead Group plc. Members of the group operate bus services (in the south of England, London, the West Midlands and the north east of England), commuter train networks, aviation ground handling and parking services. Other companies within the group are: aviance UK Brighton & Hove Bus Company Go North East Go West Midlands London Central, London General and Docklands Minibuses Meteor Metrobus Oxford Bus Company Solent Blue Line Southern Southern Vectis Wilts & Dorset
More information on how Southeastern manages its responsibilities can be found at www.go-ahead.com/corporateresponsibility If you have any comments, views or ideas on how we might improve, or have any thoughts on other issues that we should address in this report, please use the enclosed form or write to: Charles Horton Managing Director Southeastern Friars Bridge Court 41-45 Blackfriars Road London SE1 8NZ Tel: 020 7620 5430 (Communications Department) Email: communications@southeastenrailway.co.uk This report was put together by The Go-Ahead Group with help from The SMART Company, and designed and produced by Rare Corporate Design, London. Printed by Beacon Press using their environmental print technology which minimises any negative environmental impacts resulting from the printing of this document. includes the use of vegetable based inks, recycling of 90% of dry waste and 95% of cleaning solvents for future use. Beacon Press holds the Queen s Award for Sustainable Development together with ISO14001 and EMAS accreditations. Beacon is a CarbonNeutral company and uses 100% renewable energy, saving 0.38 tonnes of CO 2 on the production of Go-Ahead s 2007 corporate responsibility reports. Printed on Revive 75 Matt which contains 75% recovered fibres, is FSC certified and is CarbonNeutral.