06/09/2007

South West Trains has won the Maintenance Team of the Year honour at the prestigious National Rail Awards 2007.

The maintenance team, made up of six highly motivated depot units, have overseen a 22% increase in the reliability of trains over the last year and delays caused by maintenance problems are now the second lowest in the UK. South West Trains’ diesel fleet is also recognised as the most reliable in the country.

The judges, who announced the awards last night at a special dinner in London, said the South West Trains’ maintenance team was difficult to fault.

“South West Trains is a fast moving business, and it can’t afford to get things wrong.  It is rewarding to know that the total replacement of the train fleet has taken place without any hiccups, a tribute to the design and outstandingly high standard of engineering maintenance. Good management is part of this and South West Trains is a worthy winner of the Maintenance Team of the Year award,” said the judges.

The commitment to excellence at South West Trains was also recognised in a number of other award categories.

Sharon Killick, station cleaner at Basingstoke, was highly commended in the Outstanding Personal Contribution category. South West Trains employees Wyatt Gates, Station Manager Ascot, and Larry New, part of the Garbology environmental initiative team based at Wimbledon Depot, were also finalists.

The London Waterloo station team made the finalist list in the London Team of the Year category, while three South West Trains stations - Bournemouth, Lymington Town and Wareham - were finalists in the Station of the Year section.

Stewart Palmer, South West Trains’ Managing Director, said: “Our maintenance team should feel proud that they have been recognised as leaders in their field.

“The professionalism and dedication that all these finalists and winners show on a daily basis is what makes me proud to be part of the South West Trains team.”

South West Trains, the UK's biggest commuter rail network, runs nearly 1700 trains a day in the south-west of England out of London Waterloo. It is part of the South Western rail franchise, operated by Stagecoach Group, which also includes Island Line on the Isle of Wight.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

For further information or to arrange photocalls, please contact South West Trains’ Press Office on 020 7620 5229, or visit our website at www.southwesttrains.co.uk