Meet the people behind your railway
First Capital Connect has been operating your train services for over two years and we now employ more staff than when we started. There are over 2,100 individuals working hard to get you where you want to be.
We’ve put our money where our mouth is, getting the basics right and improving performance; however, we know that when your journey is delayed, it doesn’t always feel like that. We continue to work closely with our colleagues at Network Rail to ensure they understand and appreciate the needs of our customers.
We are very proud of our staff, who work in all winds and weathers at over 100 locations: in depots, at stations, on our trains, in offices and out and about covering our route. With more than 150,000 people travelling every day, we operate a 24/7 railway.
Andrew - Train Driver
We have over 520 Train Drivers based at eight different locations. A typical day’s work could see a Driver covering over 300 miles. All our Drivers are highly skilled professionals and their role is quite solitary. Andrew works shifts, regularly taking customers between Bedford and Brighton starting at any time from 3am onwards and finishing sometimes as late as midnight.
Some of our Drivers have to deal with very difficult situations such as suicides on the track, problems with the train, or signal failures that mean your journey might be delayed. Drivers are supported to give you as much information as possible during times of disruption, as well as making standard announcements to help you on your journey.
It takes over 12 months to train to become a Train Driver and they’re all committed to safety, take great pride in their jobs and are passionate about their role in getting you safely to where you need to be and keeping you informed when things don’t go to plan.
Doria - Station staff
There are over 400 staff working at our stations, making sure you know where you’re going, helping you choose the best ticket for your journey, making sure you get to the right platform and giving you information when things go wrong.
Doria has been with First Capital Connect for two years and has worked at Letchworth ticket office since July 2007. Ticket office staff like Doria sell thousands of tickets and give out lots of travel advice every day of every week of every year. We have invested over £44 million in our stations and trains since April 2006. To help our customers and members of staff like Doria, we have installed over 70 new ticket machines and introduced improved customer information screens and monitors, as well as installing over 61 new help points.
Nichola - Revenue Protection
We are determined to make our trains and stations as safe and secure as we can. We have 29 British Transport Police PCSOs and Police Officers, all funded by First Capital Connect, who work exclusively on our trains and stations. We also have over 300 of our own staff, including Nichola, who check tickets and offer customer service, making sure you can get to where you want to go.
Nichola braves all winds and weathers travelling up and down on our trains and working at stations, making sure you’re as safe as possible. Last year we prosecuted over 6,000 people for travelling without a ticket. Over the last two years, crime has reduced by 15% and antisocial behaviour by 44%. We have also had 41 stations accredited with Secure Stations status. We know that it is the dedication of staff like Nichola that has helped to achieve this.
Nayana and Kaushikkumar- Train Presentation
Keeping our trains clean is a never-ending task. We have nearly 200 train presentation staff across the network. It’s a 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week operation, 364 days of the year to clear litter and clean the trains when they are in service and when they’re at the depots and sidings.
Every train is cleaned each day, and sometimes this is an unpleasant task. After 28 days, every carriage goes through a deep clean. Nayana and her husband Kaushikkumar work together as part of the team that cleans over 15 miles of carpet and 20 miles of lino a day.
You can help: next time you travel with us, take your newspaper with you to be recycled or pop it in the recycling bins we’re introducing at stations, and please put the lid on your coffee cup when you’ve finished it and put it in a bin. We empty all 5,000 litter bins every day!
Nigel - Station Painting
By the end of each working day, Nigel is often covered in so much paint that he looks like a piece of artwork himself. As the leader of our painting team, he is passionate about doing his job well and works with a dedicated team of First Capital Connect painters.
By March 2008 we will have painted more then 33 stations – and the new colours mean the stations look brighter and more welcoming. It’s a tough job on some days, when Nigel notices a station his team has just painted has been vandalised and they’ve got to start all over again. However we are pleased that there is less graffiti and vandalism now that our stations are painted in the new colours.
But please, do help us by reporting any antisocial behaviour you see to a member of staff, or to the British Transport Police.
Stuart - Engineering Team
First Capital Connect has two maintenance depots across its network, at Hornsey and Bedford. At the depots, our engineering teams work hard to ensure our fleet of trains is well maintained.
In our engineering team we have over 200 skilled people like Stuart, who train for four years or more to ensure that they can work to the very highest standards to improve the reliability and safety of our fleet.
Stuart has worked on the railway for over 18 years – and he loves rolling up his sleeves, getting under a train and ensuring all is working well. Some of the work he has to do is very technical and difficult – removing and repairing a traction motor is no easy task. But his training and experience come into their own and we’re pleased that since we’ve brought more engineering in-house, fewer trains are breaking down and our performance is getting better.
Read the next installment of how we're communicating our commitment to you!
