LATEST UPDATE FROM GTR
I am writing to update you on preparations at Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) for the introduction of the revised timetable from Monday 30 March 2020 as part of our support for the Government’s response to coronavirus.
This is an unprecedented time for the United Kingdom and I have never been prouder of our people and their dedication and commitment to keeping our network moving. Our staff are working in line with the Government’s advice regarding social distancing and we are providing the support they need to stay safe.
Timetable
The train service due for introduction on Monday 30th March is a revised Sunday service pattern with extra trains in the early mornings and evenings across the network. I am confident that it will deliver for the emergency and other key workers where it is an essential service. We will continue to monitor passenger loadings and revise calling patterns and services as necessary.
We are taking steps to ensure that our service is as resilient as possible and for example, have suspended the Gatwick Express service between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport. This will enable our Gatwick Express trains and crew to provide additional support to Southern services across the network.
I would like to especially thank the stakeholders who have been in touch this week to help shape our plans, and while we cannot meet all requests, the service will be as resilient as possible when people need it most. Journey planners such as www.nationalrail.co.uk will be updated this weekend.
Awareness campaign
This week, our communications team has focused on ensuring that those who need to travel have the information that they need and that we are supporting the Government’s message that customers should only travel if absolutely essential. To this end, this briefing includes details of both our materials and a wider rail industry campaign which may be of interest.
Refunds
This update also details new enhancements to support customers to obtain refunds, including the ability to back-date season ticket refunds, as well as the extension of refunds to part-used sets of carnet tickets following discussions with the Department for Transport.
Landslides update
Finally, behind the scenes, our colleagues at Network Rail continue to deliver essential engineering projects and while subject to final confirmation, the railway to East Grinstead is expected to reopen on Monday following repairs to five different landslip sites along the route. This will provide a major boost to key workers relying on the railway and we are hugely grateful for the team’s work under increasingly difficult conditions.
As always, should you have any questions, please contact the stakeholder team. I will continue to keep you updated as we make progress over the coming weeks.
Best wishes and keep safe.
Angie Doll
Managing Director, Southern and Gatwick Express and GTR Executive lead on COVID-19
Introducing the “Is your journey necessary?” campaign
In support of the Government’s efforts to encourage customers wherever possible to stay home and save lives, the Rail Delivery Group, which operates www.nationalrail.co.uk has launched a campaign across physical and digital media to encourage customers to consider if their journey is essential before travelling.
If you are a Twitter user and would like to add a ribbon to your profile photo to help spread the message, a special tool can be found at: https://twibbon.com/support/isyourjourneynecessary-2
For the historians among you, the campaign owes a debt to the work of the Railway Executive Committee.
Customer information to support the revised timetable
In parallel with wider industry efforts, our team has also been delivering two variants of an information campaign to inform customers of the revised timetable, encourage journey planning and to request that only essential travel is undertaken.
The campaign takes two creative forms. The first variant, which is a general public awareness campaign contains a strong “Customers should not travel unless it is essential” message and is supported by the wider Rail Delivery Group campaign
The second variant is designed for our stakeholders in the NHS and other key worker locations. It contains the same journey planning advice but is intended for those that need to travel. A copy of this design is available below should you be able to put it to local good use.
Changes to refund policy
The latest information on refunds is available on the coronavirus information page, accessed via the homepage of either of our websites, for example: https://www.greatnorthernrail.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/coronavirus-information
As enhancements, as of Friday 26th March 2020, the Department for Transport has agreed the following improvements:
- Refunds for carnet tickets – Previously a full refund was available only for completely unused Carnets (full book of 5 or 10). Now, partially used books of carnets are refundable as day tickets.
- Backdating of season ticket refunds – From today, customers can now backdate season ticket refunds to the date when the ticket was last used.
- Extension of refund acceptance window – From today, customers can now apply for a refund for up to 56 days after the expiry of the ticket.
- Ticket acceptance across all operators – Restrictions on travelling with specific train operators have been lifted for the duration. As examples, this means that key workers travelling to/from Cambridge can make use of Greater Anglia services in addition to GTR services and GTR customers can make use of LNER services from Peterborough and Stevenage as well as GTR services.
- East Grinstead line expected to reopen on Monday 30 March 2020
While the impact of coronavirus could result in a delay, our colleagues at Network Rail remain on schedule to complete landslip repairs to reopen the East Grinstead railway line for emergency and key workers on Monday 30 March.
The railway has been closed between Lingfield and East Grinstead since 12 February when a railway embankment near Cookspond Viaduct, in Dormansland, began to slide. Since then, no fewer than five further sites have suffered landslips on the route and Network Rail has been working with BAM Nuttall to repair the line.
The repairs are almost complete, and testing will continue over the weekend. For those customers with no choice but to travel, the completion of these works will significantly reduce journey times and we are grateful for our colleagues’ efforts under increasingly difficult conditions.
To provide a sense of the work that has been underway, Network Rail has produced a short video documenting the repairs, available at: https://twitter.com/networkrail/status/1243240922059440131