Sussex

The Sussex route team were supported by our Regional Managing Director Ellie Burrows, and the Minister was very quick to thank the staff for their efforts and commitment during extremely testing conditions across the network in recent months.

The rail minister had the opportunity to speak with lots of our people, who had worked hard to ensure trains and passengers kept moving as the second storm of the year, Storm Isha, passed through the region on Sunday 21 January, bringing with it heavy rain and strong winds.

On the day, he met with:

• A Network Delivery Manager who showed him how we manage disruption generally and, more specifically, how we use things like the Emergency Weather process and the tools to mitigate weather risk and safely keep people moving around the network.
• GTR Head of Network Operations, to hear what the storms meant for our operator colleagues and to see the tools which show control how loaded each train is and how that is used for decision making.
• One of our Intelligent Infrastructure (II) Engineers who showed the Minister how we use ‘II’ to predict and prevent faults and to assist in narrowing down the failure mode when something does go wrong.  Ryan also showed the rail minister how he uses the earthworks tracking devices we have installed at high-risk earthworks.
• He then went outside where he met a Mobile Operations Manager who talked him through what they do during incidents and what kind of thing they get up to during storms including how we deal with fallen trees, trampolines and even the greenhouse which fell whole on the Kent Route!  

Whilst we were in the area, we also took the opportunity to inspect the drainage near the cutting to make sure it can withstand heavy rain.

We would like to thank customers travelling between Eastleigh and Fareham for their patience while the emergency works took place. While disruptive, we are confident that these steps will prevent further closures of the railway in this area as a result of landslips.

In collaboration with Samaritans, British Transport Police and the wider rail industry, we are reminding the public that small talk can be lifesaving as part of Samaritans’ Small Talk Saves Lives campaign.

Several digital posters will be displayed across our managed stations in the Southern region including London Bridge, London Cannon Street, London Charing Cross, London Victoria, London Waterloo, Clapham Junction and Guildford, which will encourage passengers to make simple conversation and engage with small talk.

New findings released by Samaritans today reveal nearly half of British adults in the Southern region avoid engaging with someone they don’t know to avoid small talk – whilst more than one in five (24%) are worried they would say the wrong thing when engaging with someone.

But small talk is no small thing, and we are all better at it than we think. Although 92% of people say they don’t have a go-to question to start small talk, 82% have used small talk in their personal lives over the past month, and over half (51%) across the Southern region often or always use small talk in their professional lives too.

Small Talk Saves Lives empowers the public to trust their instincts and start a conversation if they think someone needs help in railway stations and other public settings. The campaign reassures the public that a little small talk like ‘do you know where I can grab a cuppa?’ can be all it takes to interrupt someone’s suicidal thoughts and could help set them on the journey to recovery. People might worry that they will say the wrong thing, but saying something is better than saying nothing.

With around half (50%) confessing to not knowing what to say to initiate conversation through small talk, Samaritans is calling on people across the UK to give it a go, as a simple comment about the weather could be all it takes to save someone's life.

As mentioned in the introduction to this newsletter, we are really keen to find out what you think about the current level of engagement that you receive from us here in the stakeholder team.

If you could take a couple of minutes to fill out the survey below, it would be greatly appreciated. The responses will not be shared externally and will help us to sculpt the way in which we communicate with you. 

Please click on the button below to access the survey, we really appreciate any feedback or comments that you are able to share with us. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this month's newsletter. If you have any questions or require any assistance, please feel free to email the Southern Region Stakeholder Team at SouthernRegionStakeholders@networkrail.co.uk