Abellio Talk - Winter 2013 Edition

talk ABELLIO LONDON & SURREY COLLEAGUE MAGAZINE

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IN THIS ISSUE:

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PERFORMANCE AWARDS YOUR STORIES

WINTER 2013

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THE ABELLIO W Y We recently introduced a new business standard across the whole of the Abellio Group.

Already, we can see many positive changes within the company as a result of working in The Abellio Way and adopting its themes, foundations, values and vision.

We want to provide a great service for our customers with the ultimate goal of being ‘The Best Bus Company in London & Surrey’.

But we can’t do it without you.

We need you on the journey with us.

Think Be The Best, Think The Abellio Way.

For an explanation of The Abellio Way Triangle, take a look at pages 6-7 u

welcome

Welcome to the Winter edition of Abellio Talk – I’ll take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2013 has been another tremendous year of change and the green shoots of improved performance that were seen across many key areas of the business in 2012 have now started to grow into saplings of some majesty.

in Surrey where we still have a long way to go on punctuality, focus is turning to softer issues such as how passengers view us from an interaction perspective and what they think of our driving style.

Service delivery performance has continued to be the prime driver of financial stability and enhanced reputation, with results in Excess Waiting Time now redefining what ’good’ looks like across the Transport for London (TfL) network.

In other words, we’re really getting down to the true elements of ‘customer service’ and this is where we can make a significant difference by living and breathing ‘The Abellio Way’ principles and delivering through supporting sound-bites ‘Welcome to Wow!’ and The 3 “Sees”.

We’re firmly pinned at the top of the league table and have clearly embedded the actions and behaviours that are required to drive this key indicator. Low frequency ‘Departing on Time’ performance is also now joining the party after a huge amount of effort and mileage delivery is following suit. All in all, we’re rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with!

With the above successes now almost becoming ‘business as usual’, apart from

Our goal is still to be viewed as ‘The Best Bus Company in London & Surrey’, so if you want to be part of this success story, get out there, do your bit and really make the business something that we can all be proud of!

Tony Wilson Managing Director Abellio London & Surrey

Performance London & Surrey The performance team has been working relentlessly to continue our drive to improve. A constant review of schedules takes place to ensure the delivery of a quality service.

London Frank Ayeni, Network Performance Manager says that consistent performance and working to The Abellio Way, as well as remembering the key principles of ‘Mind The Gap’ for high frequency services and ‘Hit the Window’ for timetabled low frequency services, is key to maintaining our premier position: “Abellio first achieved the position of number one operator in London for high frequency service in October 2012.”

for expansion, says Tim Hatari, Operations Manager for Surrey: “Surrey performance has certainly faced challenges this year, largely caused by extended water works and pipe renewal activity undertaken by Thames Water in Woking and Chertsey.”

The nature of this disruption has been sustained and unfortunately fell geographically at the heart of some of our busiest Surrey services. As a result our ability to hold at the 95% on-time termini levels reported this time last year has been compromised.

Low Frequency On-Time Performance Over 12 Weeks (Sep-Nov 2013)

“Notwithstanding this, it is a very exciting time for Surrey, as the depot seeks to consider new opportunities – such as developing the Green Bus contract, which has gone from strength to strength in 2013.”

A full review of all services is currently being undertaken and new timetables are planned to be introduced early in 2014 in order to improve our overall reliability. This is all part of the investment in improving services at Abellio Surrey with the aim that all routes will operate 95% on-time.

High Frequency EWT Performance Over 12 Weeks (Sep-Nov 2013)

Since attaining that top spot we have remained consistent by achieving this an impressive nine out of 13 times in the rolling year to October 2013, and from February to October 2013 we have held the No 1 spot.

“The team are now very focused on improving low frequency performance and many routes will see new timetables being introduced over the coming weeks.”

Surrey The past year has not been without its difficulties for Surrey, but new contracts continue to offer opportunities

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The grey line indicates the TfL minimum standard

Meet the Management Your views and comments are very important to us and, as we have welcomed new management on board this year, please see a picture of the entire leadership team (below). We are keen to make ourselves available to talk to employees at all depots via our Staff Forums. Please speak to your Operations Manager for more details.

Alan Pilbeam

Managing Director, UK Bus

Tony Wilson

Managing Director, London & Surrey

Andrew Worboys

Finance Director

Mark McGuinness

Performance Director

Ben Wakerley

Operations Director

Phil Pannell

Engineering Director

Peter Cooper

Health, Safety & Environment Manager

Alastair Willis

Commercial Manager

Kerry Smith

Head of HR

Tender Success and Route Extensions Abellio is delighted to announce that it has won two new TfL contracts. The first of these was the award of the contract to operate route 49. This service is currently run by London United but will now be operated by Battersea from 6th September 2014, using 22 new hybrid double deck buses.

Alastair Willis We have also been successful with winning the contract to operate route E1 from Greenford to Ealing Broadway. The service will run from Hayes depot from 31st May 2014 using eight new hybrid double decks.

With the good news, there is unfortunately some bad as well, since we have been unsuccessful in retaining Hayes’ route 112 which will transfer to Metroline on 2nd August 2014.

This is very disappointing as we believed we had submitted a competitive tender for the route.

Another tender success came from Surrey County Council who awarded Abellio Surrey the contract to run route 51 from Staines to Brooklands.

As well as contract wins, in London, we have accepted a number of two-year contract extensions on current routes.

From left to right, First row: Phil Pannell, Alan Pilbeam, Peter Cooper, Mark McGuinness, Tony Wilson, Alastair Willis, Second row: Ben Wakerley, Andrew Worboys, Kerry Smith

Alastair Willis, Commercial Manager said: “Due to the sustained excellent performance being seen across the business, routes 35/N35, 40, 156, 344, 381 and P13 have been extended to 2016 and routes 235 and H26 to 2017.

This secures the operation of the routes within the business and builds on the success of retaining route C3 for a new five year contract term.”

New CEO visits Battersea Timo Huges, the new CEO of NS Dutch Railways, recently visited Battersea depot. He was warmly welcomed by the leadership team who had organised a full programme of briefings related to Abellio’s core UK bus business and even got to drive a bus.

Spelthorne Assembly The annual ‘Spelthorne Together Assembly’ took place in September at Kempton Park Racecourse in Sunbury. Abellio was represented by Surrey Operations Manager Tim Hatari and Marketing & Communications Executive Johanna Hakulinen.

The Assembly provided a great opportunity for representatives from the public, private, voluntary and community sectors to network and to share information and ideas.

Abellio Way Management Seminar The leadership team and management held a two-day seminar in October to discuss what we have achieved so far as a business and what changes still need to be made so that we can become ‘The Best Bus Company in London and Surrey’.

They discussed what ‘The Abellio Way’ means and each manager made a pledge that they would do one thing differently going forward. What positive changes could you make today? winter 2013 | abelliotalk

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Mystery Traveller Surveys TfL allows individuals to ride as Mystery Travellers on our buses and report back on the vehicle’s condition and the driver’s performance.

For vehicles, they look at things like cleanliness, destination blinds, heating & lighting, litter, panel condition, notices, seats and windows. For drivers they look at uniform, how drivers interact with customers, how well they serve the stop and how safely and smoothly they drive.

Surveys over the last 12 weeks show that Abellio has increased its standard month-on-month for vehicles and is just one point above the network average (currently 91 in November).

Engineering Director Phil Pannell said: “We have benchmarked ourselves to

beat the London average and this should happen within the next month.”

On the driver side we’re starting to see some improvements although we’re still a long way off network average, so there are changes to be made – particularly with regards to how we speak to customers and how well we serve bus stops.

To implement further improvements in this area, interactive roadshows for drivers have taken place at all depots using model buses and bus stops, as well as a real TfL dolly stop.

Mystery Traveller Survey Over 12 Weeks

grey line shows network average

DRIVER

STRONG

WEAK

VEHICLE

STRONG

‘Outstanding’

WEAK

Twickenham Driver

Twickenham driver Jim Williams received a perfect assessment from the DQM Driving Assessment for his outstanding service skills and driving standards.

has Abellio London & Surrey itation red acc the d successfully retaine ing ect refl , ple for Investors in Peo ple. peo r ou on the value we place the s firm con The recognition continued and sustained e been improvements that hav provides and as are implemented in all hening ngt stre for a great foundation . ure fut the in the business n bee e hav es These chang ‘The Abellio implemented through will be a ich wh Way’ framework our goal. ing iev cornerstone of ach

The TfL assessor rarely makes personal comments when testing a driver, but Jim’s review was the best that the Twickenham team has ever seen.

The assessor wrote: “His professional approach and skill in these circumstances was outstanding, defensive driving and excellent anticipation was seen when a car started to emerge from the left, being unable to gain eye contact the bus driver slowed and diffused the situation. Mirror use was consistently good throughout the assessment. When stopping to allow a wheelchair user off he made a good choice at the exact point to stop.”

Operations Manager Ray Newman said: “Congratulations to Jim. It’s a pleasure to see a Twickenham driver perform to this high standard.”

Jim Williams (right)

New look for Surrey The Surrey vehicle fleet is undergoing a refurbishment programme that includes the introduction of new livery and logos.

Richard Slack, Engineering Manager, Abellio Surrey, said: “We have started a refresh process that involves new seats and repainting our vehicles. We are still using the Abellio colours of red, white and grey – but in a new and more streamlined way. We have completed three vehicles already and there are 12 more to go which should be finished in the next few months.”

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 AWARDS FEVER 

UK Bus Awards Being nominated for a national award at the UK Bus Awards is something to celebrate.

The ceremony took place on 19th November and we were very excited to be announced as runner-up in two categories and highly commended in one.

Highly Commended: Top City Operator: Abellio London

Runner-Up: Top London Bus Driver: Jason Bond (Driver at Battersea)

UK Bus Award judges were impressed with how we continue to invest in our performance team with great results.

Our strengths include communicating key messages to employees to raise standards and continuously looking for new ways to deliver outstanding customer service.

Jason is passionate about his job.

He is keen to help improve the ways in which drivers can serve customers better. Jason has been involved in a number of workshops with TfL as well as roadshows at Battersea and was volunteered

by Abellio to take part in TfL’s new driver training film on disability awareness.

Runner-Up: Engineer of the Year: Martin Dixon (Engineering Supervisor at Twickenham)

Tony Wilson, Alastair Willis and Mark McGuinness

Martin has faced a number of challenges in trying to raise standards in all areas of his remit. His army background has proved useful in terms of man-management and he is committed to improving the skills and motivation of his team.

His efforts reduced lost mileage by 41% in just one year, while creating a better working environment for his employees.

InaugUral STAFF ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS Awards r out nominations fo It’s time to think ab s As well as the Staff Awards, nominations ard aw 14 20 ards. The our 2014 Staff Aw for the first ever Abellio Achievement Awards at 14 20 ry ua 7th Febr will take place on d (also known as the Triple A’s) are now open. an rd ha d has worke the Kia Oval. Who These awards recognise hard work and amazing in ng rki wo e of shown good practic achievements across the entire Abellio Group. ll wi ls tai de More The Abellio Way? There are six categories and finalists will be invited et rg fo n’t be issued shortly. Do to an awards dinner in March, with Gift Experience to nominate!

Vouchers being awarded to the winners. Further details are available from your line manager. Don’t forget to nominate!

LONDON Bus Awards In July, Abellio attended the 2013 London Bus Awards at the Park Plaza hotel in Vauxhall. We were particularly proud that employee members were shortlisted for two of the award categories.

Abellio employees at the Awards Ceremony

Have you taken the

H2O Challenge?

Abellio employees have been stepping up to prove their driving skills by participating in the H2O challenge, which involves driving carefully with a cup of water placed on the dashboard... and hoping it stays there!

At Beddington, drivers and engineers lined up to take the challenge which included a special circuit featuring a pothole, two ramps, a grate and a tight turn, all navigated without spilling a drop of water from the cup.

Sharon Woodage, Surrey

Meanwhile, at the Surrey depot, a filled cup was placed on the dashboard of a Myllennium (their longest bus) and managers, engineers and drivers took turns to try to manoeuvre the vehicle without spilling anything.

The top competitor from Surrey was driver Sharon Woodage, who won a £10 voucher. Apart from not spilling any water, she also remembered to smile and say ‘hello’ and frequently used her mirrors throughout the challenge.

At Battersea, Engineering Manager Dave Hillier and Driving Standards Manager Brian Reeves were first to successfully take the water challenge.

Several drivers did particularly well and were entered into the draw for the Smooth Driving Champion award. Peter Panae was the winner and received a trophy for his efforts.

Mohamed Bihi, Beddington

Abdisalan Hassan, Battersea

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THE ABELLIO W Y A triangle is the building block of many structures and is therefore a fitting symbol for our new business standard The Abellio Way. We would like you to become familiar with The Abellio Way Triangle, so here are some of the main points in an easy to read guide.

Starting from the bottom of the triangle, l Strategic Themes provide a solid foundation for employees to take responsibility for their roles within the company. They should strive to Think Quality, Be Safe, Be Right First Time, Be Efficient and Drive Well at all times.

Moving up to the four l Core Pillars of the triangle – Operations, Performance, Engineering, Commercial & Finance – which all reinforce the stability of the structure and are the mainstay of the business, allowing us to deliver the best bus service.

l Areas of Excellence is the next layer and demonstrates the things we do better than others in order to be the best. We can lead, learn, change, improve and grow as long as we are committed to working together for the benefit of the group.

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The Abellio Way will allow us to become stronger as a business through working together.

l Strategic Foundations are the areas where we focus our actions and deliver results, where the Customer is King and where we care passionately about the journey experience.

The sort of people we are, what we stand for and how we conduct ourselves is conveyed in the l Values & Behaviours tier. We need to be Genuine, Professional, Inclusive and Proactive to do our jobs correctly.

At the pinnacle of the triangle sits l Ambition & Vision and from here we have a clear view of how to reach our ultimate goal to be the

‘Best Bus Company in London & Surrey’.

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s e i r o t s r You

Name: Peter Cooper Job: Health, Safety and Beddington Environmental Manager, After work: Royal Nationateel rLifeboat Institution (RNLI) Volun

Where are you based?

Whitstable Harbour.

How do you get a call out?

I have a pager that could go off at any time to signal that someone is in trouble.

I’m usually busiest in the summer when holidaymakers take boats out and may get out of their depth, but I also get called out in winter to help stricken fishing vessels.

Is what you do dangerous?

Yes I suppose it is. I once had to be rescued myself when the tractor I was driving to launch the lifeboat got stuck. It fell into a deep crevice under the sea and I was at a 45% angle with water right up to the cab.

It was two hours before we could get ashore as it was a very low tide! The tractor and trailer was recovered two days later by a team of divers and a crane.

What about training?

Peter onboard

Most of the training is done on the job in real-life emergency situations, but when we are not out on call, we practise with other emergency services.

Approximately 500,000 women in the Congo have been raped and the foundation is passionate about helping to rebuild the lives of these women and their children.

How do you raise funds Our most recent fundraiser involved myself and other TG Foundation volunteers walking up Mount Snowdon and back down again. At an altitude of 1,085 metres (3,560 feet) it was no mean feat. We completed the walk on 21st September in seven hours and I raised over £300.

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Name: Javier Rodriguez Job: iBus Officer, Battersea After work: Marathon Runner What was the last marathon you ran in?

The 42km (26 mile) Amsterdam marathon.

I was working on Saturday 19th of October from 05:00 to 13:00. I then took a flight to Amsterdam on the same day, ran the Marathon the following day and was back at work on Tuesday.

How long did it take you to run?

Nearly 5 hours.

Name: Charlotte Simon Tell us more about your charity... Job: Driver, Battersea After work: Founder of the T Foundation, a charity that helG victims of rape in the Congo ps How many children do you help?

We have been sponsoring 100 children so that they can attend primary school.

Their mothers were sadly all victims of rape.

Javier at the end of th e run

What does the money go towards?

Every penny we raise counts towards paying school fees, school equipment and school meals for the children that we sponsor. Just £2 can provide four school meals for one child.

What is your training routine?

I normally run in Battersea Park.

Why did you choose the Amsterdam Marathon?

I want to run in all the City marathons.

I’m hoping to run the London Marathon next year. In March, I ran the Transgrancanaria Marathon in Gran Canaria.

How did you feel after running in Amsterdam?

I felt great. Amsterdam has got some really nice views and the marathon had a nice festival-feel to it with music all over the place and people enjoying it.

Why not sharabeellyoio.turalstokrie@sabwiellthio.cuso.uatk

Have you made it to the Hall of Fame?

We are thrilled at the number of drivers who have obtained perfect scores on driving assessments or received customer commendations this year. There are too many to list individually but each driver receives a certificate and their photo is added to the legendary Hall of Fame. Special mention should go to: uu Dion Darke from Beddington who rushed to help a driver from another company when his bus was on fire, evacuated the bus and used the fire extinguisher to put out the fire before the fire brigade even arrived.

uu John McTavish from Surrey who received an Outstanding Customer Care Commendation when he paid for a distressed customer’s fare out of his own pocket.

uu Indigo Jones from Surrey, who received an Outstanding Customer Care Commendation from the Deputy CEO of Bus Users UK.

Can You

The 3 ‘Sees’?

A challenge was issued to drivers recently by Brian Reeves, Driving Standards Manager at Battersea. They were asked to name The 3 ‘Sees’ from memory.

Driver Yaw Frimpong was the first winner and received a £10 voucher as his prize.

Winning Driver, Yaw Frimpong

Right on cue Over 40 drivers at Walworth took part in a pool competition organised by driver Gary Tapper, who is the founder of the Abellio Sports & Social Club at the depot. with some of them saying they were quite nervous when they came to play.

It all adds to the drama and tension and overall everyone competed to a high standard.”

The matches kicked off in April with the drivers playing against each other until the final match took place in June between Jermaine ‘The Bullet’ Thorne and Antonio Abreu, also known as The Jookmaster! Jermaine was the eventual winner.

Everyone who took part in the competition got a medal and Jermaine won a trophy, which now sits proudly in the depot games room.

Organiser Gary said: “The competition gave everyone the chance to have fun at work and to use talents other than their bus driving skills!

The players all took it seriously,

Following the success of the competition, Gary joined forces with an old colleague from Go-Ahead and arranged a domino and pool competition that took place in July at Jono’s Snooker Club in Camberwell Green. Around 200 people enjoyed the competition party with a BBQ and lots of music, drink and good company.

Walworth depot competition people

A quick reminder for everyone else…

ees’ mber The 3 ‘S e m re s y a lw A : when driving ou ds between y Keep 3 secon le in front and the vehic s, ts, pedestrian is cl cy r fo t u Look o icles and other veh re u it rn fu t e stre ur mirrors! and check yo everything Be aware of around you!

L-R: Louise Joseph, Gary Tapper, Jermaine Thorne

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Here are some Golden Rules that you should remember in order to keep safe at work:

EL

E

Walworth depot recently organised a coffee morning for all employees at the start of their working day, giving them the chance to chat with management over a hot drink.

ARM W W

for Safety

Warm Welcome

M

Golden Rules

CO

Jon Batchelor, Operations Manager says: “Most people come in to work and go straight out again without time to stop for a chat. We thought it would be a nice idea to organise a coffee morning for the whole Walworth team to get together with managers. It is just a small way for the company to say thank you.”

The depot is also having a revamp. A ‘Welcome to Walworth’ banner has gone up and new furniture has been purchased for the drivers making it a smarter, more comfortable environment to work in.

u Wear high visibility vests when in vehicle manoeuvring areas (as indicated by signage) u Keep to walkways when moving around depots (whenever possible) u Take extra care during inclement weather conditions, watch out for slip/trip hazards such as ice and wet leaves u Watch out for wet spots or patches of oil u Alert management immediately if you see or encounter a slip/trip hazard

Walworth depot

u Take care to wipe your feet if you go from a wet floor surface or smooth concrete area outside into an office space or onto a bus platform u Keep to the 5mph speed limit u All vehicles should be reverse parked u Drive with dipped headlights on company premises

Drivers beware of ‘Cash for Crash’ scam London’s bus operators, including Abellio, are concerned at the number of “crash for cash” fraudulent claims being made against them.

Alan Pilbeam, Managing Director, UK Bus, recently appeared in a BBC TV News item concerning the issue, which is now costing the insurance industry £400m a year.

“Drive with dipped lights.”

“Keep to walkways where possible.”

“Keep to 5mph.”

EFQM Progression 10

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David O’Doherty, Insurance and Claims Manager said: “Due to our close links with the Met Police working on Operation Catcher and the use of onboard CCTV cameras, we have had some excellent success in proving that these claims are fraudulent.”

“One man who drove out in front of a bus and slammed on his brakes claimed for whiplash and damage to his vehicle. He was subsequently arrested and found guilty of dangerous driving,” said David.

Another case involved a car that was clipped by a bus when no-one was in it. However, the claimant said there were four adults and one child in the car. The adults were all arrested and charged with fraud by misrepresentation.

David added: “While CCTV was instrumental in both cases the fact that both drivers involved reported the incidents with all relevant information relating to the other vehicle, damage and passenger numbers in addition to getting witness details and attending court to give evidence made it all possible. We are very grateful to both drivers concerned.”

If you feel that an accident you are involved in could be fraudulent, bring it to the attention of management immediately.

Abellio London & Surrey is already accredited under the Committed to Excellence (C2E) category for EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) and is now aiming to move towards the Recognised for Excellence (R4E) assessment in March 2014.

R4E is part of the EFQM Levels of Excellent certification programme and recognises successful efforts to implement excellence and good practice within an organisation.

Snippets Year of the Bus

Abellio Sponsors Sports Team Abellio Surrey is proud to sponsor this year’s Young Sports Team of the Year at the Surrey Sports Awards, which took place on 5th December.

Alastair Willis, Commercial Manager said: “This is a great opportunity for us to meet and award a prize to some high achieving young people in their local community. We are delighted to sponsor the award and provide

a link between buses and sport, as we know how important it is for young people to have the freedom to travel safely and cheaply and we recognise the importance of sport to keep young minds active.”

ticket is by using the y can travel cheaply rre Su in le op pe g un September, One way that yo under. Introduced in or 19 ed ag e os th r new YuGo ticket fo very successful. the ticket has been ce travel seven days

Make space for wheelchair users Wheelchair users are to be given access to the dedicated onboard wheelchair space even if it is occupied by buggies and other customers.

Please make sure you follow the Big Red Book instructions on wheelchair boarding procedures (pages 57-59) and make all reasonable efforts to ensure the space is available for wheelchairs.

Buggies can use this area if it is not needed by a wheelchair user.

YuGo offers half pri Surrey bus routes. a week on all Abellio from a few YuGo Passengers can choose , Return, Day and ticket options: Single be purchased Week Saver which can mobile phone. on the bus or on their

Under an initiative to raise the profile of bus drivers, the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden is offering Abellio employees free entry when they show their Oyster card as ID. More details of other events being organised to celebrate this special Year of the Bus will follow in due course.

Golden Ticket Charlie got his in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – and now it’s up to drivers to earn their own Golden Ticket. Look out for directors and management who will award them to drivers who WOW their customers by wearing full uniform, saying hello and driving well.

Friendly Fuel Following a successful trial, diesel fuel additive Envirox is being used across all six depots and in 650 vehicles.

Engineering Director Phil Pannell says: “Envirox clears out the soot that sits in exhaust systems, allowing the system to breathe more easily, which in turn increases our fuel efficiency with a corresponding reduction in emissions.”

No.1 for EWT

Congratulations to Twickenham which has maintained its first place on the EWT High Frequency league table for eight consecutive periods. In the individual EWT garage tables, we have two depots in the top 10 (out of 75) across London, Twickenham (1st) and Hayes (2nd).

Walworth and Battersea were placed at 11th and 12th position respectively.

Sadly Missed...

Lester Toms Lester was a service delivery officer at Hayes.

He succumbed to colon cancer on 15th July 2013 following a brave fight. The driver rest room will be named after him in commemoration.

Jambir Ismail Jambir joined the Walworth depot as a driver in 2012. He died suddenly from a blood disorder. He was a popular member of the Walworth team. winter 2013 | abelliotalk

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Remembrance on r

ute 211

TfL Commissioner Sir Peter Hendy donated his own Routemaster to help raise funds this year for The British Legion’s London Poppy Day. The bus, manned by Abellio employees, travelled from Waterloo via Westminster Bridge to Victoria and Hammersmith on the 211 route, collecting money for the Royal British Legion. Just over £400 was collected from onboard customers to support UK service men and women past and present.

1,500 transport workers died in the First World War and 3,000 lost their lives in the Second World War. Sir Peter said: “We are really proud to be supporting London Poppy Day again, as our London Transport Old Comrades celebrate their 90th year.”

The London Transport Old Comrades Association was formed in 1923.

They were given the right to march

by King George V who granted this honour to the London General Omnibus Company in 1920 in recognition of the services rendered by the men who drove buses to the front line in France 1915.

Also showing support for London war veterans was an Abellio bus wrapped with a special poppy livery on route 211 out of Battersea.

London to Amsterdam

Bike Ride An intrepid team of cyclists known as ‘The Abellio Wheelers’ took on a huge three-day challenge in September to cycle from London to Amsterdam to raise funds for international development charity Transaid.

Comprising of eight employees from Abellio Group, Greater Anglia and Abellio UK Bus, the team cycled 335km (225 miles) through pouring rain to reach their destination.

The Abellio Wheelers were made up of: Alastair Willis (Commercial Manager), Erik Hamoen (Greater Anglia), Glen Robinson (Abellio Group), Julie Pummell (PA to the Directors), Kerry Smith (Head of HR), Lorna Murphy 12

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(Assistant Operations Director), Simon Bennett (Business Development Manager) and Steve Warner (Abellio Group).

Together they raised a massive £23,000 for their chosen charity, sustaining three punctures along the way. Special mention should go to Erik who cycled dressed as a rabbit!

More than £103,000 was raised in total for Transaid from the London to Amsterdam ride, which featured around 40 cyclists.

Assistant Operations Director Lorna Murphy said: “It was a truly amazing experience, it’s actually hard to describe – and it’s fair to say we’re all still buzzing about it! Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored us – it really means a lot to us and to Transaid.”

She added: “Funds raised from our challenge will benefit a professional Driver Training Project as well as schemes aiming to reduce infant and maternal mortality by improving access to essential healthcare in Nigeria, Zambia, Uganda and Madagascar.”