Stakeholder advisory board members

The Stakeholder Advisory Board - Passenger members

Chris Fraser - Redhill Area
Chris is a regular commuter from Redhill to London.

I am a lawyer living in Surrey and working in London thus undertaking the commute from Redhill to London on a daily basis.  In addition to commuting for the last three and a half years (and on Southeastern for four years prior to that), I also use Southern trains at weekends heading towards the south coast or to locations for shopping.  As do many commuters I moan and groan when I am not happy with trains, services etc so decided to take an activate part in putting forward the views, perspective and impressions as a passenger representative for my routes.  I am hoping it will be enlightening and informative for both me and Southern! 

Neil Bull - Brighton Mainline

I live in Brighton (Hove actually!) and use the trains for both work and fun. I work from home as an Investment Consultant but travel to London regularly and use the train to Gatwick Airport for travel overseas.   I love to cycle and often take my bike on the train to get into the Sussex countryside.

I have always enjoyed travelling by train and have often found myself thinking about what I would change to make travel a little better.  I look forward to putting some of these ideas into practice and working with the other SAB members to enhance the passenger experience across the Southern network.

Antoneta Horbury - Croydon

I am a transport policy manager for a local authority in central London. I live in East Croydon and travel to Victoria every weekday and on some weekends. As with most commuters, I have seen the service operate at its best and at times of great disruption. I am a great believer in the benefits of public transport and hope that my membership of SAB will enable me to help improve the service for everybody.

  
Andrew Hunter - Uckfield line

Commuting by train into London has been a daily part of my life since January 2010. Due to the nature of my job I have to catch trains at various times of the morning and evening, as well as on weekends. As commuters we often find ourselves grumbling about the train service, with little ability to make our voices heard. The SAB gives us a window into the world of Southern and an opportunity to make our voices heard in a forum that can make a difference. In my tenure at the Stakeholder Advisory Board I hope to bring my views, ideas and perspectives on travelling with Southern to the table and help improve the service for all Southern passengers.

  
Claire Potter - West Coastway

I work for a consortium of Universities in the South East and I travel frequently between them and our partners in business; so I use the trains a lot, and on many different routes. You could say I have a good overview of the Southern Network from a passenger’s perspective!  As you would expect from someone who uses the trains a lot I have had some very good experiences and some incredibly frustrating ones, too. I was keen to join the Southern Railway SAB to help bring the voice of the passenger to those that run the services, and help to make the good times roll and the bad times become less frequent.

I have a pre-school aged son, and we use the train a lot for fun too – seeing friends and shopping in Brighton or Portsmouth is so much less hassle by rail (no parking problems), and my son is at the age when he finds trains and stations very exciting!

Ali Rezakhani - Brighton Mainline
I'm one of those people who lives in Brighton but does most of my work in London, so hopping on the train has become a main part of my life. I do lots of off-peak travel and I often find myself getting the last train home after a night out in the Capital.

I work as a Radio Producer and I use sound to connect with different age groups and demographics to find the best way to communicate with people in a way that's cool and entertaining.

I want to bring my experiences of my daily travels (good & bad) to the SAB, I hope I can contribute my skills to help our network become better and better for our family of passengers across the Southern area.

Alan Smith - Metro Area
I have been a Registered Blind Person all my life although I enjoy a useful degree of sight. I have been a member of the Joint Committee of Blind and Partially Sighted People for some years. This Committee is sponsored by the Guide Dog Association and its function is to highlight problems and difficulties that blind and visually impaired people experience when travelling and moving around the built environment.

I am a seasoned traveller and use the railway system a great deal so I am aware of the many difficulties faced by all disabled people and especially those who are visually impaired. In my two year membership of the SAB I hope that I will be able to work with all to help Southern be the most accessible railway to all.

 
David Wakefield - East Coastway

I live just outside of Eastbourne with my wife and young family. I'm a director in a media production company which means regular trips to and from London and across the Southern network. 

I hope to bring my practical knowledge of many years of commuting, both on Southern and other rail operators to help improve the passenger experience for us all. As a family we try and use the trains for days trips etc, and I hope to highlight the positive and negative experiences we have encountered along the way. I hope I can help represent the young families using the service and also try and encourage a closer bond between Southern Railways and our local communities. 

The Stakeholder Advisory Board - Staff Members

Kevin Bayley - West Coastway
Kevin is a Revenue Protection Officer based in Chichester. 

Dave Hickson - Metro Area
Dave is the New Fleet Engineer for Southern based at Selhurst.
I am interested in being part of the SAB as I believe I can add as much benefit to the group as I would gain. In engineering we receive the outputs from groups such as this, and it would be quite good to give some feedback on the projects we already have underway.

 
Tim Leigh - Metro
Tim has worked for Southern since early in 2009 and works in the ticket office at Ewell East station.
Ewell East is one of Southern's smaller stations. My main priority is to provide good customer service especially communicating well during times of disruption, and always advising customers on the best value fares available.

Ex Officio members

Chris Burchell
Managing Director - Chairman

David Scorey
Franchise Improvement Director - Deputy Chairman

Jane Lee
Head of Corporate Relations 

Frances Cawley
Communications Support Manager - Stakeholder Board Secretary