We’re delighted to be able to share that Great British Railways (GBR) has now moved one step closer for passengers in the South East with the formation of a single leadership team accountable for the railway’s performance across track and train. 

Southeastern and Network Rail Kent Route have been formally bought together as South Eastern Railway with Steve White as Managing Director and a single leadership team accountable for both passenger services and infrastructure. This provides a clear point of accountability for the railway’s performance and improved services for passengers and freight in the journey towards GBR. We will create a more responsive, simplified and efficient railway for customers, colleagues, communities and taxpayers as part of the government’s rail reform agenda.

Enabled by our respective public ownership, Southeastern and Network Rail Kent Route have been working in closer partnership since October 2023. This has enabled us to find new ways of working to improve collaboration, efficiency, and ultimately make better, faster decisions for customers and taxpayers.  Already our cancellations are among the lowest in the country, while customer satisfaction has reached 86% and the subsidy required to operate Southeastern is forecast to reduce by almost £50 million year on year.

The creation of the integrated leadership team is a significant milestone in the government’s plans for rail reform and the journey to create GBR.  Together, we are focused on delivering:

• Better train performance and fewer delays.
• £40 million investment to improve our stations.
• A safer, more inclusive and accessible railway.
• Growth in passengers and freight, reducing taxpayer subsidy.
• Support for communities and promotion of social mobility.
• Improvement in biodiversity and management of our green spaces across stations, depots and trackside, making the railway more welcoming to nature and people alike.

We’ve attached our plan outlining more details of our  key priorities.

The Rail Minister has confirmed that South Eastern Railway builds on other initiatives to simplify and unify the railway for customers ahead of GBR. Southeastern, and all publicly owned operators, are being transferred onto new contracts that have an increased focus on performance and provide operators with greater flexibility to take decisions at a local level to better reflect the needs of our customers. As a group, we have also all adopted an enhanced policy allowing passengers to travel on one another’s services in times of disruption.

South Eastern Railway was officially launched on 18 June by the Rail Minister during a visit to Hither Green station. You can watch a short video of the event here.

Thank you for your continued support as we shape the future of rail together.