REPLY FROM LORD ADONIS TO NIGEL WATERSON

[luked...@googlemail.com]

Please find below a letter written to Nigel Waterson, dated 1st April
from Lord Adonis in response to a letter written to him on the 10th
March, also published on this group website.

Best wishes,

Luke de Pulford (Researcher to Nigel Waterson)



Dear Nigel,


Thank you for your letter of 10th March about the train services
between Eastbourne and London.

As you are aware, the new Southern timetable introduced in December
2008 was developed as a result of the Brighton Main Line Route
Utilisation Strategy.

The overall aim was to increase the space on trains for increasing
numbers of passengers by getting the very best out of the existing
infrastructure. This has been done by creating timetables that serve
the maximum amount of people possible at the correct times, and by
intellifgent use of allocation of trains to meet this need. As a
result, 10% more sears have been provided in the peaks.

The changes were made as a result of a lengthy consultation process,
which was open to all interested parties. The consultation documents
were widely publicised by the local media, and a large number of
Brighton Main Line users, both organisations and individuals,
responded.

Unfortunately, since the December timetable change Southern has been
faced with train and infrastructure problems, fatalities and adverse
weather conditions which have contributed tia drop in performance
levels. I am aware that passengers have experienced disruption to
Southern services including short formations and delays to many
trains. Southern are putting all their efforts into addressing these
issues as quickly as possible in order to deliver the increased
cxapacity that the new timetable offers and provide standard of
service passengers quite rightly expect.

As part of the terms of its Franchise Agreement, Southern must comply
with a number of performance related obligations that include targets
for cancellations, delay minutes and capacity. At the moment Southern
is achieving the contractually speciied performance levels. Should it
fail to meet these standards across its franchise then the department
will take the necessary action to secure improvement.

Sussex Coast services have been particularly badly hit by the recent
performance problems. Under the terms of the passeneger's charter,
should the moving annual average for punctuality for Sussex Coast
services fall below 84% (it is currently 87.2%), season ticket holders
will be entitled to a discount. The following link details Southern's
current passenger's charter statistics.

www.southernrailway.com/content/doc/cms/passengerscharter_p12_2009.pdf

In terms of future service developments as you may be aware the
current franchise comes to an end in September. Bidders for the new
South Central franchise have been encouraged to take a fresh look at
all the timetabling issues with the franchise. An announcement will
be made in June as to the winning bidder and their plans for the new
franchise.

The RUS process is led by Network Rail and overseen by a Stakeholder
Management Group - which includes train operators and passenger
focus. It is not appropriate for Government to seek to influence the
findings of such a group. We are represented but our main role is to
ensure that there is a consistency of approach across all RUSs so that
we can be sure that a recommendation for some action in Sussex has
been subject to the same analysis and appraisal as a recommendation
from, say, Cumbria.

Finally, the difference between fares from Brighton and Eastbourne can
be explained by the distances involved. Brighton is 51 miles by rail
to London, Eastbourne is 65 miles (27% further). The weekly season
tickets cost from Brighton is £89.30 and the same ticket from
Eastbourne is £91.50 (2.5% more).

I hope you find this information of use.

Andrew Adonis

[Jason Wood]

I received a response to my letters of complaint similar to the below. What really made me laugh was Southern’s closing comment:

‘we hope that you will continue to use Southern”.

Unless I move my family back to London what other possible option do I, and all the other poor sods using this wretched service have?

                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Jason Wood

City Screen Picturehouses
Programming Manager
Hardy House, 16-18 Beak Street
London,  W1F 9RD
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7734 4342 Mob: +44 (0) 7855 392 014

www.twitter.com/picturehouses
www.picturehouseblog.co.uk
www.picturehouses.co.uk

City Screen is a limited company registered in England as company number 2310403 and its registered office is 5th Floor, 7/10 Chandos Street, London, W1G 9DQ

[Andrew Leach]

On Apr 27, 1:06 pm, "Jason Wood" <jaso...@picturehouses.co.uk> wrote:
>
> Unless I move my family back to London what other possible option do I,
> and all the other poor sods using this wretched service have?

Quite. In fact I'm now staying in London during the week as I'm
fortunate to be able to do that cheaply. Stress levels have decreased
markedly.

Lord Adonis has successfully ducked the issue:

> > The overall aim was to increase the space on trains for increasing
> > numbers of passengers by getting the very best out of the existing
> > infrastructure. This has been done by creating timetables that serve
> > the maximum amount of people possible at the correct times, and by
> > intellifgent use of allocation of trains to meet this need. As a
> > result, 10% more sears have been provided in the peaks.

Not 10% more on East Coastway services; they have been drastically
reduced to provide a large increase on Brighton services.

> > Unfortunately, since the December timetable change Southern has been
> > faced with train and infrastructure problems, fatalities and adverse
> > weather conditions which have contributed tia drop in performance
> > levels. I am aware that passengers have experienced disruption to
> > Southern services including short formations and delays to many
> > trains. Southern are putting all their efforts into addressing these
> > issues as quickly as possible in order to deliver the increased
> > cxapacity that the new timetable offers and provide standard of
> > service passengers quite rightly expect.

It's disingenuous to include fatalities and adverse weather conditions
in this paragraph. There's nothing Southern can do about that, but
they *can* do things with the stock, since they run all services out
of Victoria and almost all services south of London Bridge.

> > Sussex Coast services have been particularly badly hit by the recent
> > performance problems. Under the terms of the passeneger's charter,
> > should the moving annual average for punctuality for Sussex Coast
> > services fall below 84% (it is currently 87.2%), season ticket holders
> > will be entitled to a discount.

The target has been the same since the Passengers' Charter was first
introduced ten years ago. With new trains I think it's reasonable to
expect that the achievable punctuality should be nearer 95%,
especially since the dwell time at stations is now entirely within the
conductor's control.

Andrew

[P Ramsay]

It is amazing that with the advent of computers and spell check that
Lord Adonis' s secretary (PA) did not use it.

How can we expect to get a reasonable response.

Paul

On Apr 27, 11:12 am, "lukedp2...@googlemail.com"

[simond]

Hmm... wonder if Lord Adonis read it. Anyway, we can take comfort
from the fact that we're not being charged pro rata for the additional
time we spend on the trains relative to Brighton commuters.

Simon

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>
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[gerryz2]

Recent correspondence I have received from Southern (see below) and
Norman Baker makes it clear that much of the problem has resulted from
timetable changes imposed on Southern by Lord Adonis and the DfT. In
view of that I am not sure we are really directing our complaints in
the right way as DfT may actually be the main culprit. Norman Baker
has met with Adonis last week and reiterated a range of complaints and
is urging him to intervene to seek some rebalancing of the timetables
and to address the shortage of rolling stock. I wonder if it would be
a good idea to ask Norman if he would find time to meet with members
of this group so that he can update us on what is happening and advise
on strategy responding to the RUS and for seeking a sustainable
solution in the longer term. The huge drop off in posts indicates to
me a lack of confidence in our ability to influence change so maybe
that would help to reinvigorate the collective effort.

G

Dear Richard,

Thanks for your reply. In conjunction with a very helpful response
from our MP, Norman Baker, I am at least now a lot clearer on why and
how we have got into such a mess with the Eastbourne line. Clearly,
the DfT have to take some responsibility for this and therefore need
to intervene to help find a solution. I will in particular pursue the
matter of what equality impact assessment has been carried out direct
with them. (I am in fact in a management position at the Equality and
Human Rights Commission so we do in fact have some statutory leverage
we can exercise in that regard if they have not carried out an
adequate EQIA. I will discuss that with my colleagues in the Public
Sector Duties team).

I am also grateful for your clarification of the opportunity to
respond to the consultation on Network Rail’s Sussex Route Utilization
Strategy which, having now looked at this, does specifically include
Eastbourne-London within the scope of the stratgey review. As you will
be aware from various complaints from the Southern East Coastway
Commuters Group and others, there is a high degree of scepticism about
whether routes other than Brighton and Gatwick will be given
sufficient priority. I share that view but also think that is all the
more reason to respond and highlight the need for a rebalancing of
capacity on different parts of the network. I would also be grateful
if you would contact Chris Burchell and ask if he would be prepared to
arrange a meeting with the Southern East Coastway Commuters Group so
that the full range of issues can be discussed face to face. (He has
not made any response to my previous email).

Regarding my particular issues, while taking your point about DfT's
responsibilities for the EQIA, Southern do of course remain resonsible
for making individual reasonable adjustments under Part III of the
Disability Discrimination Act. I am not sure that the Priority Seat
Card would constitute a suitable reasonable adjustment in my
particular case however as I have a non-visible impairment and, in my
experience, it is very difficult to get other passengers to respond co-
operatively. Indeed, it is more often the case that requests to have a
seat only lead to confrontation and hostility - which obviously makes
an already stressful journey even more miserable. I believe the scheme
could be worthwhile for older people and people with visible
impairments though so am glad that you are trying to develop this.

The reality is that my own access needs will not really be met unless
and until the overcrowding issue is resolved. In the meantime the only
solution would seem to be for me to request a reduced fare for first
class travel as that is the only way I can stand a chance of being
able to travel without extreme discomfort and I do not feel that it is
right or fair that I should be financially disadvantged as a result.

Finally, regarding the refund in respect of the decommissioning of
first class acommodation on 13th March and 8th April a cheque will be
fine.

Thank you.

Gerry





-----Original Message-----
From: comm...@southernrailway.com
[mailto:comm...@southernrailway.com]
Sent: 24 April 2009 13:09

I am writing further to my recent acknowledgement of your e-mail of 10
April about the train service from London Bridge to the Eastbourne
line. Please accept my apologies for the delay in replying.

We were sorry to have given you cause for complaint as a result of the
changes made in December, particularly as the opportunity was taken to
improve the evening peak service from London Bridge to Eastbourne by
adding a second train; in order to provide Eastbourne connections at
Haywards Heath from Victoria, the two trains from London Bridge have
had to ‘straddle’ the former 1746 departure from the latter.
Nevertheless, between the two there are now eighteen carriages from
London Bridge direct to Eastbourne in the evening peak compared with
twelve previously. I will expand upon this later but it is important
that I explain the wider background first.

Train company timetables are effectively contractually stipulated
through our franchise agreements with the Department for Transport
(DfT). The DfT via Network Rail openly consult on Route Utilisation
Strategies (RUS) and as part of this the responsibility for impact
assessments rests with them (under the Disability Equality Duty they
have in their capacity as a department of government). The new
timetable for Sussex was built around the DfT specification for 6
consecutive Gatwick Express trains in each peak to run from and to
Brighton..

Services were altered following an in-depth review by the former
Strategic Rail Authority and, more recently, by the DfT. Trains on the
Brighton lines had been becoming increasingly more crowded and there
was an undeniable case to make better use of the capacity available.
Particular comparisons were drawn between the Southern and First
Capital Connect peak services which are, in general, well loaded and
the Gatwick Express services which carried fewer passengers but still
occupied valuable track space.
 
Government consulted on a number of options to relieve the pressure on
services and after extensive debate resolved to implement a compromise
option which safeguarded the Gatwick Express service frequency of four
non-stop trains an hour to the capital but which also enabled more
trains and seats to run for commuters on the Brighton Main line at the
same time. The specification for the December timetable that the DfT
created therefore set out an increase in the number of services in the
peaks running from Brighton to Victoria, and vice versa, on the basis
that these would be Gatwick Express services from and to Brighton and
non-stop between Gatwick and Victoria, and vice versa.

A particular result of the stipulation to extend the Gatwick Express,
however, was that a significant number of other services had to be
reviewed too because, with a change of this magnitude, it is
regrettably not possible to insulate particular services from changes
to others, especially where long sections of route are shared, where
‘pathways’ are at a premium and where there is a set number of
carriages available.

As part of the overall process, the opportunity was taken to address
the former imbalance between the numbers of trains running between
Eastbourne and London Bridge and vice versa. This is why the former
1746 from London Bridge was replaced with new trains leaving at 1723
and 1822. To maintain journey opportunities from Victoria the London
Bridge to Eastbourne direct trains journeys were timed at 1723 and
1822 to provide connections at Haywards Heath for Eastbourne out of
the revised 1717 and 1817 from Victoria.

Because of the need to provide these connections, it is not possible
to alter the London Bridge departure times. The 1822 London Bridge to
Eastbourne is a ten-carriage train and currently has spare capacity
most days. Moreover, although we have no control over the numbers of
passengers presenting themselves for carriage on a particular service
and therefore cannot guarantee a seat to anyone, we do recognise that
the 1723 has proved the more popular of the two trains and so, have
investigated if there is a possibility to increase the number of
carriages of this train. However, at the time of writing this is not
possible as there are no suitable carriages available.

With specific regard to various passenger groups; on board trains we
provide both wheelchair accessible spaces and at least 8 priority
seats per carriage for those more in need of a seat for the journey. 
We have recently introduced a scheme whereby the nominated priority
seats on trains have increased promotion to all passengers as being
intended, when required, for disabled passengers, expectant mothers,
those carrying infants, and elderly passengers. In order to help
passengers who need a seat, the scheme also offers passengers who
currently have difficulty gaining a seat to apply for a Priority Seat
Card. You can view the detail and download an application form via the
following link to our web-site:

www.southernrailway.com/priority

We have also been making many improvements to station accessibility
and have introduced 900 new carriages with increased accessibility to
the fleet since we commenced management of the franchise. We have also
updated the few remaining older trains to have accessible features,
for example, passenger information screens and announcements, colour
contrasting trims, and wheelchair accessible areas. The trains
mentioned from London Bridge have accessible features and both London
Bridge and Eastbourne also have accessible features and provide step
free access to the platforms, the same service being offered to all
passengers.

Because we do not have any control over the numbers of passengers
presenting themselves for carriage on a particular service, inability
to find suitable accommodation does not trigger compensation. We
recognise that de-classification can be tiresome for people who hold
First Class tickets but this is a practice where conductors have
discretion albeit that we would not expect this to be invoked
routinely. We will, however, refund the difference between First and
standard on such occasions and this can be done using National Rail
Travel Vouchers or by cheque. Perhaps you would indicate your
preference in this regard?

The present timetable is now in its final form for operation by the
incumbent and when the South Central franchise commences again in
September. The train service changes that the next franchise operator
is required to implement during period have also been outlined.
However, if you wish to inform that decision-making process, there
will be an opportunity to do so for future train service development
by commenting upon Network Rail’s Sussex Route Utilization Strategy
which you can view using the following link:

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browseDirectory.aspx?dir=\RUS%20Documents\Route%20Utilisation%20Strategies\Sussex&pageid=4449&root=\RUS%20Documents\Route%20Utilisation%20Strategies

I hope that what I have said here is helpful, and, needless to say, I
have shared this correspondence with appropriate Managers within
Southern. If we can be of any further assistance, please do not
hesitate to contact us again.

Regards

Richard Lancaster
Southern Customer Services

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