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TRAIN OPERATING COMPANIES
It is little over two years ago that Southeastern came under Operator Of Last Resort. Managing Director Steve White discusses the journey so far and the track ahead
Writing the next chapter in Southeastern’s history
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ost days before Steve White goes to work, he gets motivational words of advice from his wife. There weren’t any needed when he set off on his first day as Managing Director of Southeastern, with the smile on his face saying it all. This was despite the challenges ahead, with the start date coming just days before the government took over the control of the train operator’s services as part of the Department for Transport’s Operator Of Last Resort (DOHL – Department for Transport Operator of Last Resort Holdings Limited). “I felt emotionally attached to the thought of running it having agreed during the summer,” he said. “My predecessor David Statham had been there for seven years and spoke highly about the people, it is a really interesting railway in that it has metro, main line and high speed services which I had done in my career at London Underground, Silverlink and Eurostar, and I just loved the idea of coming here. “I think my wife just saw the smile on my face before that first day and said, ‘go and enjoy it’.” It is now more than two years ago that Steve took charge, vowing to relentlessly focus on improving the service and bringing back more customers to the railway, with new trains, investment in the fleet and stations, flexible ticketing and new technology to ensure journeys are as comfortable and convenient as possible. Reflecting on what has been achieved so far, he said: “We’ve summarised over 100 things that we have done in the first 24 months of Southeastern. This has included some transformational items including the removal of first class which has created four million extra seats a year at no cost to the taxpayer. Prior to this first class was taking up 15 per cent of our trains, with customers making up 1.5 per cent of our revenue. “Other things include putting a defibrillator on every station available for rail colleagues, customers and for the local community; Network Rail has done some fabulous work such as the renewal of Lewisham Junction and we’ve got tactile paving on every platform. We’re working hard to create a better, more reliable and sustainable railway. “Of course, there are other levers we want to
pull. We still need to grow passenger numbers more and have set an ambitious target for that, and we still want to invest in or replace our rolling stock, particularly the Networkers. We’re in live discussions with the department. So I would say we’ve done a lot in the two years, but there’s still a lot more to do as we seek to address years of underinvestment.” Southeastern currently runs more than 1,700 trains a day and employs over 4,500 staff. DOHL was set up within the Department for Transport to provide continuity of services should companies fail or breach the terms of their contract. As well as Southeastern coming under DOHL in October 2021, it has also taken operation of East Coast Main Line, through a wholly owned subsidiary, London North Eastern Railway in June 2018 and Northern Rail through a wholly owned subsidiary Northern Trains Limited in March 2020 and TransPennine Express. Steve said: “Our contract with the Department is essentially the same as that for Private Sector Owning Groups with only a small number of variances such as the ability to earn a performance bonus which
January 2024
does not apply to us. Our budget challenges and obligations to the Department are similar. We are a not-for dividend company, so we make a 1 per cent margin in our accounts, but it is not for us to distribute that to our shareholders. “Southeastern has been on short-term contracts since 2014, but under the ownership of DOHL, which is notionally until October 2027, we are trying to take the right long-term decisions for the good of this railway and setting the foundations of the future. “We have simplified the working at junctions such as Lewisham and Tonbridge so they run much more smoothly, and we are making the case now for rolling stock replacement. We have also created an alliance with Network Rail because the geography of Network Rail Kent and Southeastern is a pretty perfect overlap. We are taking these steps now which will be good for the next generation, not just for the rest of the franchise.” Explaining more about the partnership with Network Rail, Steve says they have a joint leadership team which regularly meets, and there is a full data