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 Board 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 the Board 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 Stakeholder Advisory Board 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 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 Stakeholder Advisory Board 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 and bad) to the Board, I hope I can contribute my skills to help our network become better and better for our family of passengers across the Southern area.
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.
Steven Dinnage - Brighton
I live near Falmer in Brighton, which for me is fantastic being a Brighton & Hove Albion supporter. I joined the SAB because I have used Southern regularly over the past six years since getting into regular work after studying at college, I currently use the train between Brighton and Goring-by-Sea with occasional trips from Brighton to Dudley, although I have previously commuted between Eastbourne and Goring-by-Sea and Brighton and Sutton. Outside of work I use the trains just as much, in fact it’s a passion I have for planning days out and short breaks across the UK that are based around the train. I feel my experience, my interest and desire to see public transport become the standard can be of a great benefit to the Board where we can bring solutions to the current problems that stop people making the transition.
Fiona Bower - East Coastway
I have been a regular leisure traveller on Southern for a number of years and having a disability which affects my mobility, the network has become more and more important to me. It allows me to travel independently to places I would never be able to access if the service didn’t exist. I have a real interest in trains and the way the network fits together and I feel that I can represent the views and experiences of other passengers with mobility difficulties. Working with Southern Railway’s Board will give me the opportunity to understand the challenges the network faces as well as putting forward practical improvements to help all customers, with a particular focus on access to the service for everyone. As a non-commuter I feel I can offer a particular perspective on off-peak travel and regularly use the services to Eastbourne, Brighton and on occasion London.
Staff members
Kevin Bayley - West Coastway
Kevin is a Revenue Protection Officer based in Chichester.
Kevin has a keen interest in the environment. He is one of Southern’s environmental champions encouraging his colleagues to minimise their impact on the environment. Kevin also supports Southern’s environmental management system taking part in regular audits across the network.
Dave Hickson - Metro Area
Dave is the New Fleet Engineer for Southern based at Selhurst.
I am interested in being part of the Board 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.
