Passengers in London and the South East can look forward to more frequent rail services, improved stations, more staff and better security, Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis said today as he awarded the South Central rail franchise to Southern Railways Ltd., a subsidiary of Govia Ltd - the current franchise operator.

The new franchise, which starts on 20 September this year, requires the new operator to introduce longer suburban trains at peak times and more trains on key lines during evenings and weekends. Passengers will also be able to travel more safely on the network thanks to a significant increase in the number of stations staffed at night and the introduction of CCTV on all trains.

Andrew Adonis said: "This new franchise provides more regular trains, more services at busy times and more station and train security for passengers across London and the South East. It will greatly improve the quality of service and give passengers better value for money.

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"We have worked closely with rail user groups such as Passenger Focus to ensure that this new franchise works for passengers. We have had four candidates entering bids for the franchise, showing that there is still a strong level of interest from private firms in running rail services."

Under the new franchise agreement, all stations and trains on the South Central network will be fitted with CCTV by June 2011 and all stations across the franchise will be required to maintain or increase the presence of customer-facing staff, leading to a safer and improved passenger-friendly experience.

In addition, new ticket gates will be installed at 22 stations (on top of the 14 South London stations being gated prior to the franchise commencement) and almost all South London stations will be staffed from the first to last service of the day.

The franchise will also deliver at least 1,000 extra car parking spaces and 1,500 additional secure bicycle spaces. Every station across the network will be cleaned and refreshed, while there will also be enhancements to 34 stations in the region, including major refurbishments at Brighton, Haywards Heath, Hove, Lewes, Redhill, Three Bridges and Worthing.

(JM/KMcA)