Security - Southeastern Railwaywww.jigsaw-training.co.uk

Case Study ~ Southeastern Railway

About Southeastern

Southeastern is a Train Operating Company (TOC) that operates all over the South East of England and runs train services in Kent, South-East London and part of East Sussex, serving 182 stations.  Southeastern has over 3,500 employees and approximately 120,000 people commute into London on Southeastern trains in a weekday morning.  They operate around 1,700 train journeys a day and 1,400 of the daily train journeys go into London with approximately 145 million passenger journeys made a year, around 400 Southeastern trains are used to run services for passengers.

Why Southeastern have Accredited Staff

Due to poor and disappointing results in passenger surveys and assaults on staff it was identified that there was a need to review their security policy.  This led to the establishment of a Tasking Team which was staffed by volunteer Revenue Protection Officers, who carried out patrols on late night services identified as high risk. The Railway Enforcement Officers were created as a grade to continue with the work started and formalised by these staff. Both the company and the staff concerned were eventually accredited with certain police powers under the Railway Safety Accreditation Scheme.

Why Southeastern Chose Jigsaw Training

Jigsaw Training was recommended by the British Transport Police (BTP) as being an organisation that could provide trainers that carry the required professional qualifications to deliver Accreditation training.  Southeastern followed this recommendation to work closely with Jigsaw Training beginning a very positive and effective working relationship in 2005 which continues to this day.

Benefits of the Accreditation Training

Almost immediately after the Accreditation training, Southeastern identified significant and marked improvements and the achievement of all objectives. The confidence of the Railway Enforcement Officers (REOs) also increased as they stated they were more equipped to fulfil their role and they naturally have more confidence in their abilities as REOs.

Southeastern say that it’s not just the difference to the REOs, since commencing the training with Jigsaw, they have also seen a difference to their customer service reports and a significant growth in customer travel, one station posting a 500% increase in travel.

“In 2005 only 38% of our passengers said they were satisfied with how safe they felt on our trains and at our stations.  This has now risen to 80% in 2008, with the introduction of REOs.”

Southeastern Trains