South Western Railway (SWR) today (Tuesday 15 October) celebrates Stations Day, highlighting the real difference staff make to passengers every day.
SWR’s employee number 000001 Jeffery Fry, and Don Buckley, are award-winning legends of the railway with an impressive 123 years of combined industry service at Waterloo station. They’re role models for many colleagues, setting the highest standards and always putting customers first, and sharing their unmatched knowledge of the station anytime they can.
Tarnia Rayment is a ‘one in a million’, recently winning the Outstanding Personal Contribution award at the National Rail Awards (NRAs). Her passion, infectious laugh and genuine care for people, is admired by local passengers at Kingston station. She’s also passionate about ‘Try the Train’ - an SWR scheme helping vulnerable people to become more confident using trains.
SWR is very proud of its relationship with Network Rail - and other partnerships across the network - to help deliver important projects for the 184 stations it manages. Improving accessibility for everyone is a key part of this relationship, for example by installing ramps at Chessington South station, and the opening of a new footbridge at Ewell West station, for step-free access.
Passengers deserve great station facilities. SWR is working hard to make a real difference to improve the experience of passengers at stations across the network by:
No matter how big or small, every station matters. So recently, the hard work of staff and volunteers at Templecombe station were rewarded by winning the ‘Small Station of Year’ - its garden is widely considered to be one of the best in the country.
The 9 Community Rail Partnerships covering more than 60 stations - and the 25 adopted by local groups - play an important role improving the station environment and making them fitting gateways to the communities they serve.
Alan Penlington, Customer Experience Director, said:
"Stations Day is a great way to celebrate the dedication of rail staff across the industry. From young and old, just starting out to the most experienced, there are thousands of stories to be told of employees going above and beyond and doing a fantastic job.
"We’re proud of the work our station staff and an army of volunteers do day in, day out, to ensure we can deliver the best services for our passengers."
Mark Killick, Wessex Route Director at Network Rail, said:
"We’re proud to be working with South Western Railway to improve our passengers’ experience on the Wessex route.
"Together we’ve made a number of improvements to our stations - from the opening of five new platforms at London Waterloo providing room for 100 extra services, to the installation of a new footbridge at Ewell West to provide vital, step-free access for the local community. It’s all a part of our drive to put passengers first."
