Southeastern has been ‘highly commended’ at this year’s National Rail Awards for their innovative cross-industry partnership with Network Rail and South Western Railway to facilitate the rebuilding of London Bridge station over the August Bank Holiday.
The train operator received the accolade for the ‘Outstanding Teamwork’ category on Thursday 13th September, at RAIL magazine’s annual ceremony, held this year at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.
Southeastern, Network Rail and South Western Railway worked collaboratively to create a one-off timetable that involved re-opening Waterloo International; the first time in 100 years that Southeastern services would run through and terminate at Waterloo station.
Successful communications across Network Rail, Southeastern and South Western Railway played a vital role in engaging passengers about the timetable change.
The diversion to Waterloo meant that up to 7,000 passengers were able to make their journeys into and out of London over the August Bank Holiday, despite the temporary closure of three of Southeastern’s busiest stations.
Collecting the ‘Outstanding Teamwork’ award on behalf of Southeastern and Network Rail were Anne Clark and Nigel Turner.
Ellie Burrows, Train Services Director at Southeastern, said:
“We are delighted to have been ‘highly commended’ for our cross-industry partnership with Network Rail. It is credit to the collective effort and determination of our integrated team. We are always striving to improve our service and passenger experience for the 610,000 Southeastern customers who travel on our network daily.”
Simon Blanchflower, Network Rail Major Programme Director, said:
“Once it became apparent that we needed to route Southeastern services into Waterloo to support the revised timetable during the London Bridge blockades a joint Network Rail and Southeastern team developed the comprehensive plan necessary to achieve this.
“NR had to reinstate traction power to the Lindford Street curve and make other infrastructure improvements as well as get all the necessary agreements in place for Southeastern to use Waterloo station. It was only through a truly collaborative effort that this was all achieved in the demanding timescales available.”
The renowned National Rail Awards scheme is now in its 18th year, and celebrates the best in railway innovation highlighting companies and individuals who are pushing the industry forward by developing innovative ideas.
