EPSOM DOWNS BRANCH: Privatisation IIIa: South Central Trains (2001- 2004)

After Connex, which was four years into a seven-year contract, had lost its South Central franchise to Govia, an early transfer was agreed upon to come into effect on August 26th 2001.

For this purpose, Govia established South Central Ltd.which operated the South Central franchise as South Central Trains (SCT) as of that date and while negotiations between Govia and the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) to finalise agreement for a new franchise continued. Winning the South Central franchise made Govia, which already operated Thames Trains and Thameslink, the biggest railway operating company in the commuter belts around London.

In July 2003, Govia and the SRA finally signed the new South Central franchise which - backdated to the formal ending date of Connex's franchise - runs from 25 May 2003 through to December 2009.

While the top priority pointed out by South Central at the start of the franchise had no real meaning for the Epsom Downs branch (replacement of slam door vehicles with new trains), the initial promise that modern ticketing equipment and more information systems would be introduced and that station areas would be made brighter and cleaner certainly did.

However, SCT started out on the fairly safe side of things when declaring such clear benchmarks - by which its performance and commitment could and surely would be judged - as far as the Epsom Downs branch was concerned. Although somewhat later than initially promised to local authorities and residents, South Central had an assortment of customer service and safety measures installed at the stations on the branch by September 2002: working ticket or travel permit machines, passenger information system with announcements, closed-circuit video cameras, vandal-proof platform shelter, as well as fencing and fixed coarse barbed wire to prevent access to the station premises other than through the CCTV controlled zones.

Banstead, September 2003, with new passenger information and security measures

Unlike their predecessors, South Central brought real commitment to the line with improvements which also contained clear messages to both passengers and - just as important, given the experiences of the recent past - vandals. Quite obviously, these were the standards South Central had the intention of not only setting but also of maintaining. Not surprisingly, the general atmosphere of the stations improved dramatically. In this context, the fact that SCT initially spent very little effort and money on "de-connexing" the stations on the branch was also seen as a positive sign: applying little more than dark green stripes in the form of vinyl stickers to cover up the yellow band plus Connex logo on the lower edge of station signs could only be perceived as an indication that South Central management had got its priorities right.

By the time the stations had received improved levels of passenger service and security, more and more trains running onto the branch displayed South Central colours in the form of their green and white livery.

An early morning train from London Victoria leaves Banstead for the last leg of its journey (September 29th 2003) [click for larger images]

A London Victoria train glides into Platform 3 at Sutton ( September 30th 2003) [click for larger images]

However, the fact that the branch had now had three different "owners" in less than a decade was manifestly evident as trains could still be seen running with Connex and even Network SouthEast liveries, sometimes even on units within the same train formation.

Along with the stations, safety precautions and traveller information was also improved on the trains themselves, which were also noted to be much cleaner than they had been in the past few years.

Safety informations on a Cl 455 London Victoria - Epsom Downs service (October 2003) [click for larger images]