South West Trains leases stations from Network Rail and is responsible for their day-to-day maintenance. Our stations are generally the first and last point of contact for passengers and are therefore a very important aspect of the service we provide. As well as the physical appearance of the station, other aspects such as friendly and helpful staff and the £15m customer-information system installed at every station all contribute to the journey experience.
Our stations vary from quiet rural halts to very busy major stations, and the level of facilities provided reflects this. We do work hard and invest lots of money to keep them all in good order. Some of the things we are doing to achieve this include:
- Using professional cleaning companies at our main stations, and employing a dedicated team of people to tackle graffiti (a second team is due to be introduced this year). In addition, we have teams of employees and external contractors to fix faults at our stations.
- A station-repainting programme that, by the end of the year, will see 75 stations repainted across our network.
- The installation of more than 1,750 CCTV cameras to help combat criminal damage at our stations. Unfortunately, such damage diverts resources and efforts from other improvements that we would like to make. For example, we spend approximately £500,000 a year on tackling graffiti and vandalism.
- The implementation of major £300,000 improvements at both Winchester, which has a new booking hall and waiting room, and Southampton Central,which has a new waiting room and refurbished toilets.
We are also working with third parties to improve stations. In conjunction with Transport for London and the Royal Borough of Kingston, for example, we have invested £120,000 at Worcester Park station (click here), which will receive additional CCTV, better lighting, a larger booking hall, improved waiting facilities and toilets. Partnerships such as this one have already created more than £4m worth of benefits at our stations during 2004/05.
Other stations due for improvements include Basingstoke (in partnership with Winthur and Hampshire County Council), where work is due to start on a new waiting room and toilet facilities, and New Malden (in partnership with Transport for London), where the waiting-room and toilet facilities will be refurbished.
We are now concentrating on improving the standard of stations in our inner-suburban area. In the last two years, we have already refurbished the toilet facilities at Wimbledon, Richmond and Clapham Junction and enhanced accessibility for cyclists and pedestrians at Surbiton (click here).
Ian Johnston, Head of Stations, and Malcolm Page, Station Development Manager