Southern (train operating company)

Southern

Info
Franchise(s):	South Central October 2000 - 20 September 2009 Gatwick Express 22 June 2008 - 20 September 2009 South Central (inc. Gatwick Express) 20 September 2009 - July 2015
Main Region(s):	London, West Sussex, East Sussex, Surrey
Other Region(s):	Hampshire, Kent, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire
Fleet size:	297
Stations called at:	213
Stations operated:	161
National Rail abbreviation:	SN
Parent company:	Govia (Go-Ahead Group / Keolis)
Web site:	www.southernrailway.com
Route map

Southern is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Officially named Southern Railway Ltd.,^[1] it is a subsidiary of Govia, a joint venture between transport groups Go-Ahead Group and Keolis, and has operated the South Central rail franchise since October 2000 and the Gatwick Express service since 22 June 2008.

The company operates train services to South London, Surrey and Sussex from London Victoria and London Bridge, alongside regional services on the East and West Coastway lines from Brighton. Southern also operates a service from South Croydon to Milton Keynes Central via west London.

Contents 1 History 2 Routes 3 Performance 4 On-train announcements 5 Rolling stock 5.1 Current fleet 5.2 Past fleet 5.3 Future fleet 6 Future 6.1 Uckfield-Lewes line 7 Criticism 7.1 Timetables 7.2 December 2010 Timetable 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

History

Govia, which also operates the neighbouring Southeastern franchise and London Midland services in the West Midlands, was first awarded the South Central rail franchise in 2000 after the then incumbent operator, Connex South Central, was stripped of the franchise for poor management and performance.^[2]

Upon assuming control, the company operated the service under the branding SouthCentral until 30 May 2004, when, in a deliberate recall of the pre-nationalisation Southern Railway, the service was rebranded as Southern, with a green roundel logo with ‘Southern’ written in yellow in a green bar.

On 22 June 2008, Southern assumed responsibility for the non-stop Gatwick Express between Victoria and Gatwick Airport from National Express Group, and from December 2008 extended the service to Brighton during peak times.^[3] The company then, in December 2008, took over the running of services between Redhill and Tonbridge from Southeastern.

Despite originally being awarded a 20 year franchise for the service,^[2] the South Central franchise end date was brought forward to December 2009, a date which was further cut to September 2009 upon the integration of the Gatwick Express service, in order to allow the new operator to be in place during "major changes" to the timetable in and around South London in December 2009.^[4] In the run up to the bidding process for the South Central/Gatwick Express combined franchise, reports emerged suggesting that Transport for London, the operator of the London Overground service, wished to take control of all overground services in South London, including the 'Metro' area of the South Central franchise,^[5][6] however such a transfer never took place and the entire franchise was put forward for tender by the Department for Transport.

The bidding process for the new franchise began in May 2008, when expressions of interest were sought, with the process formally beginning on 20 August 2008 when the DfT announced^[7] that Govia were one of the four shortlisted bidders for the franchise and would face competition from NedRailways Limited, the National Express Group, and the Stagecoach Group.^[8]

The Department for Transport announced on 9 June 2009 that Govia had retained the franchise, and would operate the service until 2015, with the possibility of extending the franchise until 2017.^[9] On 19 December 2011, the Department announced that the Southern franchise would be absorbed into the next Thameslink franchise at a point between July 2014 and July 2017. ^[10]

Routes

Details of each route, including maps and timetables, are on Southern’s website (see External links, below). Its routes off peak Monday to Saturday, with frequencies in off-peak trains per hour, include:

Brighton Mainline
Route	Frequency	Calling at
London Victoria to Brighton Fast	2 trains per hour	Clapham Junction, East Croydon
London Victoria or London Bridge to Brighton Semi-fast	1 trains per hour	Clapham Junction, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport, Burgess Hill and Hassocks. Some peak time services calling at Three Bridges, Balcombe, Haywards Heath, Wivelsfield, Preston Park
Gatwick Express
Route	Frequency	Calling at
London Victoria to Gatwick Airport	4 trains per hour	non-stop Dedicated airport service. (Extended to Brighton at peak times.[11]
Mainline East
Route	Frequency	Calling at
London Victoria to Eastbourne	1 train per hour	Clapham Junction, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport, Haywards Heath, Plumpton, Cooksbridge, Lewes, Polegate, Hampden Park, Pevensey & Westham, Cooden Beach, Collington, Bexhill, St Leonards Warrior Square, Hastings Service runs with Mainline West service to Littlehampton between London Victoria and Haywards Heath where both services divide due to the capacity of the Brighton Main Line.
London Victoria to Ore	1 train per hour
Mainline West
Route	Frequency	Calling at
London Victoria to Littlehampton	2 trains per hour	Clapham Junction, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Hassocks, Hove, Portslade, Shoreham-by-Sea, Lancing, Worthing, West Worthing, Durrington-on-Sea, Goring-by-Sea, Angmering Service runs with Mainline East services to Eastbourne and Ore between London Victoria and Haywards Heath where both services divide due to the capacity of the Brighton Main Line.
London Victoria to Bognor Regis	2 trains per hour	Clapham Junction, East Croydon, Redhill, Gatwick Airport, Three Bridges, Crawley, Horsham, Christ's Hospital, Billingshurst, Pulborough, Amberley, Arundel, Ford, Barnham, Chichester, Southbourne, Emsworth, Havant, Fratton, Portsmouth & Southsea, Cosham, Portchester, Fareham, Swanwick Bognor Regis services run with a service to either Portsmouth or Southampton between Victoria and Horsham, where they divide. Bognor Regis services call at all stations between Horsham and Barnham twice hourly with the exceptions of Amberley and Christ's Hospital, where there is only an hourly service. Portsmouth and Southampton services run non-stop between Horsham and Barnham
London Victoria to Portsmouth Harbour	1 train per hour
London Victoria to Southampton Central	1 train per hour
Coastway East
Route	Frequency	Calling at
Brighton to Seaford	2 trains per hour	London Road (Brighton), Moulsecoomb, Falmer, Lewes, Southease, Newhaven Town, Newhaven Harbour, Bishopstone
Brighton to Lewes	1 train per hour	London Road (Brighton), Moulsecoomb, Falmer
Brighton to Ore	1 train per hour	London Road (Brighton), Moulsecoomb, Falmer, Lewes, Glynde, Berwick (Sussex), Polegate, Hampden Park, Eastbourne, Pevensey & Westham, Pevensey Bay(Limited), Normans Bay(Limited), Cooden Beach, Collington, Bexhill, St Leonards Warrior Square, Hastings
Brighton to Ashford International	1 train per hour	Lewes, Polegate, Eastbourne, Bexhill, St Leonards Warrior Square, Hastings, Three Oaks, Doleham(Limited), Winchelsea, Rye, Appledore, Ham Street
Coastway West
Route	Frequency	Calling at
Brighton to West Worthing	2 trains per hour	Hove, Aldrington, Portslade, Fishersgate, Southwick, Shoreham-by-Sea, Lancing, East Worthing, Worthing
Brighton to Hove	2 trains per hour
Brighton to Portsmouth Harbour	1 train per hour	Hove, Portslade, Southwick, Shoreham-by-Sea, Lancing, Worthing, West Worthing, Durrington-on-Sea, Goring-by-Sea, Angmering, Ford, Barnham, Chichester, Southbourne, Emsworth, Havant, Fratton, Portsmouth & Southsea
Brighton to Southampton Central	1 train per hour	Hove, Portslade, Southwick, Shoreham-by-Sea, Lancing, Worthing, Durrington-on-Sea, Goring-by-Sea, Angmering, Ford, Barnham, Chichester, Emsworth, Havant, Cosham, Fareham, Swanwick/Eastleigh, Southampton Airport
Littlehampton to Portsmouth & Southsea	1 train per hour	Ford, Barnham, Chichester, Fishbourne, Bosham, Nutbourne, Southbourne, Emsworth, Warblington, Havant, Bedhampton, Hilsea, Fratton
Littlehampton to Bognor Regis	1 train per hour	Ford, Barnham
Barnham to Bognor Regis	1 train per hour
Oxted
Route	Frequency	Calling at
London Victoria to East Grinstead	2 trains per hour	Clapham Junction, East Croydon, Sanderstead, Riddlesdown, Upper Warlingham, Woldingham, Oxted, Hurst Green, Lingfield, Dormans
London Bridge to Uckfield	1 train per hour	East Croydon, Oxted, Hurst Green, Edenbridge Town, Hever, Cowden, Ashurst, Eridge, Crowborough, Buxted
Redhill
Route	Frequency	Calling at
London Bridge to Tonbridge	1 train per hour	New Cross Gate, Norwood Junction, East Croydon, Purley, Coulsdon South, Merstham, Redhill, Nutfield, Godstone, Edenbridge, Penshurst, Leigh. Earlswood, Salfords, Horley, Gatwick Airport, Three Bridges, Crawley, Ifield, Faygate, Littlehaven
London Bridge to Reigate	1 train per hour
London Bridge to Horsham	2 trains per hour
West London
Route	Frequency	Calling at
South Croydon to Milton Keynes Central	1 train per hour	East Croydon, Selhurst, Thornton Heath, Norbury, Streatham Common, Balham, Wandsworth Common, Clapham Junction, Imperial Wharf, West Brompton, Kensington Olympia, Shepherds Bush, Wembley Central, Harrow & Wealdstone, Watford Junction, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamstead, Tring, Leighton Buzzard, Bletchley
Metro
Route	Frequency	Calling at
London Victoria to London Bridge via Denmark Hill	2 trains per hour	Battersea Park, Wandsworth Road, Clapham High Street, Denmark Hill, Peckham Rye, Queens Road Peckham, South Bermondsey
London Victoria to London Bridge via Crystal Palace	2 trains per hour	Battersea Park, Clapham Junction, Wandsworth Common, Balham, Streatham Hill, West Norwood, Gipsy Hill, Crystal Palace, Sydenham, Forest Hill, Honor Oak Park, Brockley, New Cross Gate
London Victoria to Dorking via Sutton	1 train per hour	Clapham Junction, Sutton, Cheam, Ewell East, Epsom, Ashtead, Leatherhead, Box Hill & Westhumble, Dorking, Holmwood, Ockley, Warnham
London Victoria to Horsham via Sutton	1 train per hour
London Victoria to Epsom via Norbury	1 train per hour	Battersea Park, Clapham Junction, Wandsworth Common, Balham, Streatham Common, Norbury, Thornton Heath, Selhurst, West Croydon, Waddon, Wallington, Carshalton Beeches, Sutton, Belmont, Banstead, Cheam, Ewell East
London Victoria to Epsom Downs via Norbury	1 train per hour
London Victoria to Sutton via Norbury	2 train per hour
London Victoria to Epsom via Mitcham Junction	2 trains per hour	Battersea Park, Clapham Junction, Wandsworth Common, Balham, Mitcham Eastfields, Mitcham Junction, Hackbridge, Carshalton, Sutton, Cheam, Ewell East
London Victoria to Caterham via Norbury	2 trains per hour	Battersea Park, Clapham Junction, Wandsworth Common, Balham, Streatham Common, Norbury, Thornton Heath, Selhurst, East Croydon, South Croydon, Purley Oaks, Purley, Kenley, Whyteleafe, Whyteleafe South.
London Bridge to Caterham via Forest Hill	2 trains per hour	New Cross Gate, Brockley, Honor Oak Park, Forest Hill, Sydenham, Penge West, Anerley, Norwood Junction, East Croydon, South Croydon, Purley Oaks, Purley, Kenley, Whyteleafe, Whyteleafe South.
London Bridge to Tattenham Corner	1 train per hour	Norwood Junction, East Croydon, Purley, Reedham (London), Coulsdon Town, Woodmansterne, Chipstead, Kingswood, Tadworth.
Purley to Tattenham Corner	1 train per hour	Reedham (London), Coulsdon Town, Woodmansterne, Chipstead, Kingswood, Tadworth.
London Bridge to Beckenham Junction via Crystal Palace	2 trains per hour	South Bermondsey, Queens Road Peckham, Peckham Rye, East Dulwich, North Dulwich, Tulse Hill, West Norwood, Gipsy Hill, Crystal Palace, Birkbeck.
London Bridge to West Croydon via Norbury	2 trains per hour	South Bermondsey, Queens Road Peckham, Peckham Rye, East Dulwich, North Dulwich, Tulse Hill, Streatham, Streatham Common, Norbury, Thornton Heath, Selhurst.
Other Services
Route	Frequency	Notes
Wandsworth Road to Kensington Olympia	1 train per day	Parliamentary train running once a day in each direction.
Streatham Hill to London Bridge	1 train per day (departing Streatham Hill 15:56)	Service calling at Tulse Hill, North Dulwich, East Dulwich, Peckham Rye, Queens Road Peckham, South Bermondsey.

Performance

Punctuality figures released by the ORR for the fourth quarter of the 2010/11 financial year were PPM of 90.1% and MAA of 89.6%.^[12]

On-train announcements

Southern use on-train announcements on all services operated by Classes: 171, 313, 377, 442, 455 and 456. These announcements are automated and are voiced by Julie Berry (who also announces on Southeastern, Heathrow Connect, c2c, London Midland, National Express, Merseyrail, First Capital Connect and the Piccadilly line).

Rolling stock

Current fleet

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Cars per set	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
Class 09		diesel locomotive	27.5	44.3	1[13]	1	Shunting & De-icing	1959, 1961
Class 73		electro-diesel locomotive	90	145	1[14]	1	Thunderbird locomotive	1965–1967
Class 171 Turbostar		diesel multiple unit	100	160	15[14]	2/4	Oxted Line (Uckfield branch) Marshlink Line	2003–2004
Class 313		electric multiple unit	75	120	19	3	West Coastway Line: Brighton - Hove/West Worthing/Portsmouth Harbour and Littlehampton - Barnham/Bognor Regis/Portsmouth & Southsea East Coastway Line: Brighton - Lewes/Seaford Also operate services between Brighton and Littlehampton, Bognor Regis and Eastbourne during peak hours.	1976–1977
Class 377 Electrostar		electric multiple unit	100	160	182[14]	3/4	Entire Southern network (apart from the Uckfield and Marshlink lines). 377/5 units in use with First Capital Connect sub-leased from Southern.	2002–2009
Class 442 (5Wes) Wessex Electric		electric multiple unit	100	160	24[14]	5	London Victoria - Gatwick Airport/Brighton (Gatwick Express) London Bridge - Eastbourne Weekends: London Victoria - East Croydon - Brighton (Southern)	1988–1989
Class 455/8		electric multiple unit	75	120	46[14]	4	Suburban services from London Victoria and London Bridge on London Metro	1982–1984
Class 456		electric multiple unit	75	120	24[14]	2	Suburban services from London Victoria and London Bridge on London Metro.	1990–1991

Past fleet

Class	Image	Type	Built	Withdrawn	Notes
Class 205 (3H)		diesel multiple unit	1957-60	2004
Class 207 (3D)		diesel multiple unit	1962	2004
Class 319		electric multiple unit	1987	2008	Transferred to First Capital Connect.
Class 421 (4Cig)		electric multiple unit	1964-66	2005
Class 423 (4Vep)		electric multiple unit	1967-71	2005
Class 460 (8Gat) Juniper		electrical multiple units	2000	2009-2011	Two units remain available for spot hire use on GatEx services, remainder in store.

Future fleet

Southern plans to reform some of its Class 377 units into five car formations, allowing it to run ten-car trains as required,^[15] as station platforms via Balham are due to be extended for 10 carriage formations. The Sydenham and Oxted routes are all recommended to be extended from 8 to 12 car platforms prior to 2012, but the Sydenham line services will be extended to 10 carriages closer to the time.^[16]

In 2011, Southern announced that, due to the delays in the procurement of the new trains for the Thameslink Programme, the 23 Class 377s on sub-lease to First Capital Connect would not be returned on time to deliver the operator's planned capacity increases, due to begin with the December 2013 timetable change. As a consequence, Southern began the process to procure up to 130 new carriages for delivery by December 2013.^[17] It was announced on 28 December 2011 that Bombardier had won the contract to supply this additional capacity of 130 carriages.^[18]

Future

Southern, as part of their successful bid for the South Central franchise in 2009, made several commitments to improving services across the network.^[9] These included:

• Increasing the length of suburban services in South London to 10 cars between 2011 and 2013
• Increasing the service level on all routes in South London to 4 trains per hour (tph) until 23:00 each day, and the introduction of late night services on Fridays and Saturdays
• The introduction of an hourly service on Sundays between Brighton and Southampton Central, and an increase in the number of late night services between Brighton and Worthing
• The introduction of late night services on the London to Uckfield route
• A new service to Southampton Airport and an increase in the number of Gatwick Express services extended to Brighton in peak times
• Introduction of CCTV in all Southern operated trains and stations by June 2011
• Installation of new ticket gates at 22 stations across the network
• Increasing the number of car parking spaces at stations by 1,000 and the number of cycle spaces by 1,500
• Cleaning and refreshing of all stations and trains on the network
• Major refurbishments to seven stations, specifically Brighton, Haywards Heath, Hove, Lewes, Redhill, Three Bridges and Worthing
• Introduction of ITSO smartcards by January 2012
• Southern will be running some Class 313s,^[19] These trains will run along the Coastway routes. This will allow 3 car class 377 sets to be transferred to routes in South London.^[19]

Uckfield-Lewes line

The franchise consultation paper that was released at the beginning of the 2009 franchising process stated that the ultimate franchise agreement would include a change mechanism that would enable the DfT to incorporate supplemental routes into the South Central franchise and invited bidders to submit priced options for schemes put forward by stakeholders. One such scheme could, as indicated in the South Central Franchise Consultation Paper, be the reopening of the Uckfield - Lewes line, which closed in 1969.^[20] In recent years, several interested parties have been examining the possibility of reopening the line.^[21][22][22]

Criticism

In early 2006, Southern became the focus of attention from cyclists' groups as a result of their policy prohibiting the carriage of ordinary cycles during peak hours on trains destined for London and Brighton.^[23]

Southern and sister company Southeastern were criticised in January 2007 for not wishing to introduce Oyster Pay As You Go on their London routes, stating that it was not financially viable. In 2007 Southern introduced Oyster on its Watford Junction to Clapham Junction route,^[24] and the company later agreed in principle to the introduction of Oyster across their network,^[25] but did not give any firm timescale for any roll out, with Southern's managing director Chris Burchell saying

"There are still a number of outstanding issues that need to be discussed with TfL, but we do not believe these will prevent us making PAYG a reality on our network. We look forward to discussions with TfL on how we can make this happen as soon as possible for our passengers."^[26]

In their successful franchise bid in 2009, Southern said they were committed to rolling out Oyster Pay As You Go in the London area, but also that such a move was subject to industry agreement.^[9] Since January 2nd 2010, Oyster Pay as You Go has been valid on all of their London routes, along with most other train services in the London area.

Timetables

Much of the criticism that Southern have faced surrounded major changes that were made to their timetables in December 2007 and December 2008.

In December 2007, Southern changed the arrangement for the splitting of services to and from London Victoria on the Arun Valley Line, opting to split trains at Horsham rather than Barnham. Some passengers criticised this change as it increased the journey time to and from London by up to 10 minutes from certain stations, whilst in the event of services running behind schedule, trains were sometimes not split at Horsham, and proceeded non-stop to Barnham, leaving commuters from the Arun Valley left at Horsham with the prospect of no onward trains.^[27]

In December 2008 further timetable changes were made, which included the introduction of the extended Gatwick Express services. However, reliability and timekeeping on some of the new services were considered poor, leading to several public meetings being held relating the problem.^[28][29][30] On 22 January 2009, Southern responded to some of these criticisms. During 2009 these services have recorded improved timekeeping and criticisms have since subsided.^[31]

The new timetable also led to unhappiness due to the difference in speed and frequency of service between East Coastway services and those on the Brighton Main Line.^[32][33]

December 2010 Timetable

Further changes to the timetable were made in December 2010; the first timetable change to include many of the requirements of the new franchise. Additional services were included at evenings and weekends. In the London area a 'metro' frequency of service was introduced on most routes with the extension of the weekday daytime 4 trains per hour norm to late evenings (up to around midnight), Saturdays and Sundays. In addition new late night services were introduced from London on Friday and Saturday nights with last trains leaving central London at around 0030 (times varying by route).

Outside London, a new later evening service was introduced to Uckfield from London Bridge, new late night services from Brighton along the west coastway (2303 and 0003) and direct services between Southampton and Brighton on Sundays.

Southern's plans for enhanced services between Victoria and Brighton with a new 4 trains per hour frequency were rejected at the last minute by the Office of Rail Regulation and were so not introduced.

See also

• Rail transport in the United Kingdom
• Commuter rail in the United Kingdom

References

External links

• Southern website
• Information about Southern on National Rail Enquiries
• A Map of Southern's Routes

Preceded by Connex South Central South Central franchise	Operator of South Central franchise 2001 — 2009	Succeeded by Southern South Central (inc. Gatwick Express) franchise
Preceded by Gatwick Express Gatwick Express franchise	Operator of Gatwick Express franchise 2008 — 2009
Preceded by Southern South Central franchise	Operator of South Central (inc. Gatwick Express) franchise 2009 — 2015	Incumbent
Preceded by Southern Gatwick Express franchise

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