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CONNEX SOUTH CENTRAL
(1996 - 2001)
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| On May 26th 1996, the Network
SouthCentral franchise was awarded to Connex Rail
Limited, the
international transport services division of the
multinational French company Veolia Environnement S.A.
(also known as Vivendi between 2000 and 2003), which held
activities in service and utility areas traditionally
managed by public authorities, namely water supply, waste
management, energy and transport services. The Epsom Downs
branch thus entered a new era, namely that of full
privatisation. According to the franchise agreement, what
now became Connex South Central (CSC) was to last for a
period of 7 years. The end of this phase of the branch's
history would, however, come sooner - after failing to
secure the franchise for a second term, Connex reached an
agreement with its successful competitor South Central
Trains (GoVia) to terminate its operations in 2001, two
years ahead of schedule.
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Simply put, the 5 year Connex
era was a disastrous time for the Epsom Downs
branch. Whilst CSC management was
tackling the refurbishment of Sutton station (a
project which kept being delayed at various
stages and made sure that Connex got a series of
severe beatings from the public, Sutton Council,
and the local MP), the rest of the line seemed to
fall into oblivion. The result was a degree of
neglect the line had not seen before, most of all
at Belmont and Banstead, where the growing amount
of vandalism at remote stations was met by a
complete lack of policy, determination and action
on behalf of Connex.
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state of Banstead station during most of the Connex
period illustrates the increasingly depressive general
atmosphere which set in throughout the Connex years - and
which virtually bordered on dereliction. The picture
left (below) shows the covered stairway leading down to
the platform in July 1999: It is some three years into
the Connex South Central era, and things are at their
worst. Just how much the place had been allowed to
deteriorate in just a few years becomes evident when
looking at the same view in 1990 during the Network
SouthEast period (center). When Connex finally remembered
the branch in August 2000, it was a case of far too
little too late. While CSC did improve matters by getting
out some paint and cutting back shrubbery - which had
grown up like a jungle for years - this would be a
superficial and temporary improvement only as the
underlying problems were not tackled at all.
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| It is hard to believe that
Connex failed to see that creating a positive environment
for its potential customers was a bare necessity for
profitable operations. The way the branch was handled
really only left the conclusion that Connex was simply
hoping for approval to let it go at some stage - run down
beyond recovery. But then something extraordinary
happened on October 24th
2000 - Connex South Central became the first
train operator to face the loss of its franchise - originally due to run until 2003 - after pronounced criticism of its
management and performance. |
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| According
to the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority
(SSRA) it was the overall financial
management of the franchise which
resulted in its decision. In other words:
Connex South Central had not delivered a
service worth the £300 million of
taxpayers' subsidies the company had
received between 1996 and 2001. By the time Connex
lost its franchise, the company only had
the dubious distinction of having been
labelled the "best hated train
company in Britain" by the BBC.
This was no surprise
to its passengers, who were left stranded
far too often (Connex was fined £1.2m in
1999 for running trains with too few
carriages), nor in fact to its employees
who had seen protracted industrial
relations problems and a string of legal
cases regarding breaches of employment
law - which Connex lost.
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(click on image for
the entire story on the BBC's archive
website)
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feelings of many rail customers were thus summed up by a
Member of the European Parliament for the South East, who
publicly stated: "Good riddance! Connex South
Central have provided a lousy, deteriorating service to
rail travellers in this area. Their punctuality record
has made the sloth look like an Olympic sprinter, and
their under-investment has made a ride on their trains
like an unscheduled visit to a railway museum." |
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Station signs and platform
announcements were the only things Connex South
Central on platform 4 at Sutton in August 1999,
including the livery on the Cl 455
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For the Epsom Downs branch,
the demise of Connex was a reprieve, and not just
the relief it was to so many passengers on the
South Central franchise - it is hard to imagine
how the line could have survived the policy of
neglect that was forced upon it by Connex much
longer. Once the franchise was lost,
CSC did manage to improve the general atmosphere
after all, ready for the handover to South
Central Trains. This seemed somewhat absurd (such
as not bothering to brand Banstead a Connex
station until after the loss of the franchise),
but it is to be assumed that Connex was not
trying to win back favours from the customers
they had mistreated so badly before bowing out.
It is far more likely that CSC was investing in a
little facelift only to raise the estimated value
of the assets it was going to hand over to GoVia
as part of the agreement for a premature change
of franchise holder.
The fact that Connex cared
next to nothing about the branch was reflected in
the late arrival ofthe CSC corporate identity of
yellow, blue and white - Sutton lost its NSE
guise as late as early autumn 1997, virtually 18
months into the franchise.
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| Motive
power in Connex livery was equally slow to make it onto
the branch, and the white and yellow colour scheme didn't
become a regular sight until the last phase of the Connex
franchise. |
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Almost
a reminder of just how dismal the Connex era on
the Epsom Downs branch had been was sent out by
the Strategic
Rail Authority on June 26th
2003 as it also stripped Connex of its South
Eastern franchise at short notice, even though
this meant the SRA had to take control of the
franchise itself - which put a government body in
charge of train operations for the first time
since the railways were privatised.
Once
again, the Epsom Downs branch had survived, and
this time by struggling through what must rank as
the worst five years in the history of the line.
Continue
to: South Central Trains
(2001
- 2004)
Back to main
index
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Cl 455 581 in Connex livery
departing Epsom Downs in September 2001 with a
London Victoria service
(Robert Oakes, used
with kind permission)
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Page last revised: August 10th 2012
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COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Text, pictures and illustrations which are not
labelled specifically are (c) Adrian Wymann and
may be used freely for non-commercial use,
provided that the source is
indicated clearly. In all other cases the
copyright holder is indicated, and this material
may only be used with prior consent of the
copyright holder.
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