Memorandum submitted by the National Express
Group PLC
INTRODUCTION: ABOUT
NATIONAL EXPRESS
GROUP PLC
National Express Group ("NX"), one
of the UK's leading transport operators, is pleased to submit
evidence to the House of Commons Transport Committee for its important
inquiry into passenger safety at railway stations.
NX serves more than one billion passengers a
year worldwide on its train, bus, light rail and express coach
operations. Our 40,000 employees, of which 20,000 are in the UK,
are dedicated to improving continuously the quality, value for
money and, above all, the safety of all our services for our passengers.
We operate the following train franchises; c2c,
Central Trains, Gatwick Express, Midland Mainline, "one"
and Silverlink.
We manage each of our businesses for growth—by
investing in all aspects of our services, by working in partnership
with key stakeholders including customers and industry/Government
bodies and by integrating our services with the wider public transport
network. An important element of our business philosophy is to
attract more people onto our services—and to maximise the
use of public transport systems to bring about economic, environmental
and social benefits to the communities we serve.
An important consideration for people when deciding
whether or not to use public transport is their perception of
their own personal security and safety. It is, therefore, both
a commercial imperative—as well as a moral one—for
our passengers both to be as safe as possible and to feel
as safe as possible.
We believe in local devolved management teams
to serve the communities where we operate, rather than imposing
too heavily from the corporate centre. Nevertheless, we share
best practice between our businesses, and will give an important
illustration of our approach later in this paper. By focusing
on customer service, innovation and marketing our ultimate goal
is to make public transport the first travel choice.
Like many other publicly-quoted transport companies,
NX is a commercial organisation with an obligation to produce
a fair return for its shareholders. In NX's case, many of these
shareholders include a substantial number of our employees, as
well as a range of financial institutions specialising in ethical
investments. This shareholder base reinforces the wider sense
of our social responsibilities as a successful and profitable
business.
RESPONSES
1. What are the most effective methods of
making railway and underground stations safer for passengers?
Stations vary enormously in their size, architectural
history, facilities, and numbers and types of passengers. Safety
and security cannot, therefore, be approached on a "one size
fits all" basis. Appropriate investment must be made according
to the level of risk at any given facility.
It is important to remember that most safety
and security problems are concentrated at relatively few stations.
Targeting these stations and working in the closest collaboration
with the British Transport Police and other agencies generally
proves to be the most effective strategy.
Before making investments in safety and security,
it is sensible to make a proper risk assessment of the needs of
passengers at each location. Due to these factors we do not believe
that the Evening Standard's recent campaign to ensure manning
of all railway stations in London as being practical or necessarily
the most suitable solution.
Sometimes it is possible to enhance safety and
security at relatively little cost, for example by the removal
of blind spots and dark corners in station premises. Indeed, it
could be argued that the single most beneficial investment that
any operator can make to improve station security is modern lighting,
provided that it is then properly maintained.
Risk assessments have demonstrated that there
is a need for more sophisticated solutions, such as the introduction
of CCTV or security personnel, or a change to the hours of duty
of railway operational employees. CCTV ensures that a record of
incidents is achieved with greater probability of detection, capture
and prosecution.
During our stewardship of the ScotRail franchise,
NX designed, implemented and operated one of the most sophisticated
CCTV networks anywhere on the UK rail network, in partnership
with the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive (SPTE). Implementation
was possible thanks to funding by the SPTE, who recognised the
wider social benefits of this improvement. We believe that such
examples of partnership working should be further encouraged across
the railway industry.
An operator's approach can also play an important
part in affecting the behaviour of potential offenders. Our Central
Trains business deploys and widely advertises its policy of zero
tolerance towards crime on the railway. This is especially directed
at those considering assaulting railway employees, who, in their
front-line roles, have to deal with increased antisocial behaviour
which may take place around railway facilities. Another example
of the Central Trains' approach has been its crackdown on fare
evasion across its network which is often associated with other
forms of anti-social behaviour.
Through our own research we know those passengers
who travel without tickets are more likely to be involved in instigating
crime on our services. We therefore believe one of the best ways
to prevent crime on the railways is to prevent the criminals from
gaining access to the network. Our experience in gating the c2c
network is described below.
2. Are the minimum standards to provide a
safe and secure station environment high enough? Are the requirements
sufficiently clear and specific to be effective? If not, what
changes should be made?
To the extent that minimum standards exist in
the heavy rail network, these are laid down by the franchise agreements.
For the original franchises and, indeed, most of those subsequently
awarded, the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF), the
Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) and DfT Rail have in turn not been
heavily prescriptive regarding the way in which franchisees should
manage their station facilities, leaving this very much to the
commercial discretion of operators. Such bodies have the ideal
opportunity to specify their preferred requirements in the Invitation
to Tender process, therefore ensuring that options are priced
as part of the bid.
Even without a particular contractual requirement
to do so, our Silverlink business has paid a high level of attention
to the rapid removal of graffiti from its stations, employing
a control team based at Camden for this specific purpose. This
makes good business sense, as well as contributing towards the
perception of security for passengers. Moreover, NX has invested
almost £2 million in security measures during its stewardship
of Silverlink.
The original franchise approach began to change
with the award of the Greater Anglia franchise from 1 April 2004,
when the SRA applied "Service Quality Standards" (SQS)
to the ambience of stations. The SQS scheme was built on the good
practice developed by the Passenger Transport Executives through
their Service Quality Incentive Regime (SQUIRE). Although the
SQS regime does not automatically lead to additional safety and
security measures, by requiring the operator to focus on such
issues as cleanliness, the removal of graffiti, and the repair
of vandalism, a significant impact can be made on the perception
of safety and security by passengers. Equally, a station which
manifestly is looked after will be less likely to attract antisocial
behaviour.
Under the stewardship of NX, the Greater Anglia
franchise—now known as "one"—has built upon
the SQS regime to achieve even higher standards of station quality
than were specified by the SRA.
3. Are the minimum standards effectively
policed? Are the penalties for failing to provide a secure station
environment sufficiently severe?
To our knowledge, no operator has been penalised
for failure to comply with the standards, but the key point is
that the reputational and commercial penalties for being seen
to neglect the safety and security of passengers are serious.
The recent campaign by the London Evening
Standard has drawn to the public's attention the enormous
task faced by train operators in managing the behaviour of the
small number of unruly and criminal people who can make the experience
of travelling miserable, or even dangerous, for law-abiding passengers.
As part of our stewardship of the Silverlink
franchise, we have now delivered CCTV at all of the 48 stations
managed by the business. Some 30 of these stations are monitored
around the clock from our Willesden control centre.
Station staff are on duty around the clock at
Silverlink's key interchange stations: Harrow & Wealdstone,
Queens Park and Wembley Central, with staffing at Willesden Junction
being extended to the close of services from the end of April
2006.
4. Is it sufficiently clear to passengers
and others who is responsible for the safety of passengers in
railway and underground stations?
The complex pattern of ownership of Britain's
railways undoubtedly can cause confusion to passengers. However,
there is no doubt that responsibility for providing the best possible
safety and security rests with the station operator, whether this
is a franchisee, Network Rail or London Underground.
Clarity can be provided by the presence of uniformed
staff employed by the station operator, and by the installation
of help points where staffing is not the best solution. Our c2c
business has installed help points at all of its stations and
such features have also been installed at Silverlink Metro stations.
5. Why are so few stations accredited under
the Secure Stations Scheme? Should the scheme be made compulsory?
The Secure Stations Scheme provided a very useful
kick-start to security and safety initiatives in the 1990s. However,
the scheme is now in need of modernisation to become less bureaucratic
and applicable across routes rather than on a station by station
basis. NX would enthusiastically participate in such a review.
NX approached the original scheme with particular vigour in its
Silverlink franchise, where Harrow & Wealdstone, Watford High
Street, Hatch End, Camden Road and Dalston Kingsland have secured
accreditation.
However, most of the "quick wins"
have now been obtained, and the railways are left with a large
number of stations for which the securing of this award is either
impractical or prohibitively expensive. Indeed, money may be more
effectively spent on other security measures than on pursuing
the badge of accreditation.
6. What measures would be required to ensure
significant improvements in passengers' safety in railway and
underground stations?
Measures which can prevent crime include:
— Patrolling of hot spots.
The best example of the full suite of measures
available is given by our c2c business. We have been able to install
ticket gating at every c2c station (except Southend East), tackling
both ticketless travel and the antisocial behaviour with which
it is often associated. Some 475 CCTV cameras have been installed.
A number of c2c stations have achieved or are working towards
Secure Station accreditation, and four car parks have been awarded
the equivalent status.
The c2c business is currently investing £1.5
million on improvements to its CCTV network, including the installation
of new digital recording equipment. The company spends £1
million per year on security patrols over and above its funding
of the BTP, and regularly organises multi-agency sweeps of crime
hotspots on its network involving bodies such as the UK Immigration
Service as well as law enforcement bodies. In addition, c2c has
been employing security consultants to assist in the next stage
of its efforts against the criminals.
Nevertheless, c2c is an example of how the wider
issues of crime and disorder affecting society can spill into
the railways. The company has identified crime displacement as
a result of local authority CCTV schemes as a serious issue, and
is working in partnership with these authorities to try to link
their respective systems. This is, however, a complex and expensive
task.
In a further example of partnership, c2c has
been working with Transport for London (TfL) to create an integrated
staffed CCTV control centre for stations within the Greater London
boundary. This centre—at Barking—is about to open.
In addition NX has established an integrated CCTV control centre
at Willesden station on the Silverlink network. These facilities
are operational 24 hours a day.
The perception of crime by passengers can be
significantly affected when a station is seen to be populated
with other users. NX has sought to encourage this perception by
bringing retail opportunities on to its stations in partnership
with local businesses. This is well illustrated at stations such
as Willesden Junction on the Silverlink network.
7. Is the Government's approach to passenger
safety in railway stations effective?
For several years, the main focus of the Government's
railway policy has, quite rightly, been on improving the performance
and value for money of the railways. In the wake of the decline
in punctuality and reliability after the Hatfield disaster and
the collapse of Railtrack, Ministers had very little choice but
to deal with these issues.
As far as safety was concerned, the principal
areas for attention were the prevention of accidents such as Hatfield
caused by poor maintenance of infrastructure, and of accidents
such as Ladbroke Grove where Signals Passed at Danger (SPADs)
were the cause.
The progress made by the railways on performance
and operational safety in recent years has contributed to the
enormous growth in ridership. This is now creating the intellectual
space in which operators and agencies can begin to address some
equally important questions of passenger perception, such as personal
safety and security.
NX would welcome a more prescriptive approach
from the authorities in the awarding of the next round of rail
contracts, in which bidders are encouraged to come forward with
more creative ideas for improving station ambience as well as
physical security measures. It is important to recognise, however,
that some improvements of this kind can only be paid for over
periods greater than the typical length of rail franchises, so
the mechanisms for the underwriting of these kind of investments
by the authorities must be as creative as those which have been
applied to, for example, the procurement of rolling stock.
OTHER INFORMATION
NX is a multi-modal public transport operator,
and is always looking for opportunities to spread best practice
amongst its businesses.
In 1999, Travel West Midlands—the largest
bus operator in the region and a subsidiary of NX—introduced
in partnership with West Midlands Police and other agencies a
project known as "Operation Safer Travel" (OST).
OST aims to deter and detect crime, vandalism
and graffiti on the region's buses and trams. It has done much
to establish a safer bus and tram network, and has won several
awards.
Under the OST strategy, 211 joint police operations
or "Gateway Checks" took place during 2005 in the West
Midlands. Nearly 30,000 bus services were checked during the year
and 570,528 bus and metro passengers had their tickets and travel
arrangements scrutinised.
The OST partnership now extends to NX UK Bus
Division operations at Travel Coventry and Travel Dundee, the
latter in partnership with Tayside Police.
OST aims to explain the consequences of criminal
behaviour on public transport to the very young. This is delivered
by targeted school liaison work, through the respected "SMART"
Schools Project. The scheme is also strong in community involvement
in both the West Midlands and on Tayside.
NX plans to extend the principle of OST into
its train businesses, in particular Central Trains, Silverlink
and c2c.
April 2006
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