Southern (GTR) - ESouthern (GTR) - E Southern (GTR) Depots Southern's fleet is maintained at Brighton Lovers Walk and Selhurst depots. The Gatwick Express fleet is maintained at Stewarts Lane. Light maintenance is also carried out at Littlehampton for the electric fleet, and St Leonards for the class 171 fleet when on Marshlink services. Southern (GTR) Future Southern, as part of its successful bid for the South Central franchise in 2009, made several commitments to improving services across the network. These included:
Uckfield–Lewes Line The franchise consultation paper released at the beginning of the 2009 franchising process stated that the ultimate franchise agreement would include a change mechanism to enable the DfT to incorporate additional routes into the South Central franchise, and it invited bidders to submit priced options for schemes put forward by stakeholders. One such scheme could, as indicated in the South Central Franchise Consultation Paper, be the reopening of the Uckfield – Lewes line, closed in 1969. In recent years, several interested parties have been examining the possibility of reopening the line. Southern (GTR) Future of the Franchise In January 2016, Transport for London announced a proposal to take over the London suburban parts of the franchise in 2021 through a partnership with the Department for Transport to form a new suburban metro service. However, the plan was rejected by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling in December 2016. In January 2017, it was reported that the Department for Transport was considering temporarily renationalising the franchise if the service did not improve. On 17 June 2021 the DfT extended the current contract from 19 September 2021 to 31 March 2022. The contract for the delivery of Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern services was extended by the DfT on 25 March 2022. The current contract will now expire on 1 April 2028. Southern (GTR) Rolling out of Smartcards Southern was criticised in January 2007 for not wishing to introduce Oyster Pay As You Go on its London routes, stating that it was not financially viable. In 2007 Southern introduced Oyster on its Watford Junction to Clapham Junction route, and the company later agreed in principle to the introduction of Oyster across its network, but did not give any firm timescale, managing director Chris Burchell saying "There are still a number of outstanding issues that need to be discussed with TfL, but we do not believe these will prevent us making PAYG a reality on our network. We look forward to discussions with TfL on how we can make this happen as soon as possible for our passengers." In its successful franchise bid in 2009, Southern said it was committed to rolling out Oyster Pay As You Go in the London area, but also that such a move was subject to industry agreement. Since 2 January 2010, Oyster Pay As You Go has been valid on all its London routes, along with most other train services in the London area. In addition, Oyster is valid on Southern services beyond the Greater London boundary as far as Epsom, Epsom Downs, Tattenham Corner, Upper Warlingham, Caterham and Gatwick Airport. Southern (GTR) The Key In 2012, Southern became the first rail company in England to use the ITSO card on its network. The Key is a smartcard similar to Transport for London's Oyster card. Tickets of various types can be purchased for the smartcard at ticket vending machines across the majority of the GTR network, except within Oyster-capable travel areas, as well as online (season tickets only).
The Key also has a pay-as-you-go feature called keyGo. With this, customers can tap in and out freely within the keyGo area, and the cheapest combination of tickets from the entire day's taps are automatically calculated at the end of the railway day and automatically charged to a linked payment card. keyGo is also valid on Brighton & Hove buses and Metrobus services within certain areas. Bus journeys are charged at the single, day zonal, day network or Plusbus rates as appropriate. The Key can be used on all National Rail services where tickets are available for purchase on smartcards. Southern (GTR) Notes ^: a b Trains reverse here Southern (Govia Thameslink Railway) Overview Southern (GTR) Franchise(s): Network SouthCentral 26 August 2001 – 24 May 2003 South Central 25 May 2003 – 19 September 2009 Gatwick Express 22 June 2008 – 19 September 2009 South Central (incl Gatwick Express) 20 September 2009 – 25 July 2015 Part of Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern 26 July 2015 – 1 April 2028 Southern (GTR) Main Region(s): Greater London, South East England Southern (GTR) Other Region(s): East of England Southern (GTR) Fleet Size: 17 Class 171 Turbostar sets 214 Class 377 Electrostar sets 4 Class 387 Electrostar sets Southern (GTR) Stations Called At: 213 Southern (GTR) Stations Operated: 156 Southern (GTR) Parent Company: Govia Thameslink Railway Southern (GTR) Reporting Mark: SN Southern (GTR) Technical Track Gauge: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge Southern (GTR) Electrification: 750 V DC third rail 25 kV 50 Hz AC OHLE Southern (GTR) Length: 666.3 km (414.0 mi) | |||||
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