02 November 2009
Go-Ahead is pleased to announce that its 65% owned Southern
franchise Southern has been awarded the prestigious Mayor of
London's Green500 'Platinum Award' for its pro-active efforts in
reducing carbon emissions within the London area.
The award recognises environmental projects that Southern has
implemented over the last 18 months.
Southern’s award has been achieved through a number of
environmental initiatives including:
- The ground breaking third rail regenerative braking
scheme;
- Numerous energy saving initiatives at Depots and Stations;
- Work with the Carbon Trust;
- Measuring and monitoring of electricity and gas through the use
of SMART Meters;
- Waste recycling at depots;
- Implementation of paper recycling at Victoria Station;
- Paper recycling at key locations in partnership with Metro
Newspapers;
- Environmental responsibilities and awareness within the Company
primarily through staff competitions, posters, newsletters and
magazines.
All carbon savings are independently verified by a leading
expert and the estimated carbon savings from the schemes initiated
to date is approximately 4,000 tonnes CO2.
Southern signed up to the Mayor of London’s Green500
programme in 2008 and worked with its Carbon Mentor towards the
goal of achieving tangible carbon reductions by focusing on an
individual Action Plan comprising both completed actions and new
initiatives to be explored during 2010.
Southern’s efforts were recognized in the 3rd quarter 2009
Green500 Awards with the granting of the Platinum Award. The Award
is given primarily for demonstrating reductions in carbon emissions
from within a member’s London operations.
At the Green500 June Awards ceremony the Mayor of London said
“I salute London’s top organisations for truly grasping
the nettle to become greener. Their sterling work to cut carbon and
become energy efficient puts London on the front foot to emerge
from the economic downturn stronger and stimulate new
jobs.”
Southern’s Managing Director Chris Burchell said:
“I'm absolutely thrilled that Southern has been given this
award. We are well aware of the effect that we have on the
environment and have made great strides over the last few years to
minimise this. Everyone at Southern has worked extremely hard to
reach this goal and it is immensely satisfying to have our
achievement recognised in this way.”
Ends
For more information contact the Southern press office on 0208
929 8673 or
E-mail
press.office@southernrailway.com
Editors Notes:
Green500 is a carbon mentoring scheme initiated by the Mayor of
London, aimed at large London organisations across private and
public sectors. The aim of the scheme is to encourage, acknowledge
and reward CO2 saving activities in London. The overall objective
of the Green500 is to save 1.5 million tonnes of CO2.
The Green500 programme is funded by the London Development
Agency to help deliver the Mayor’s target to cut
London’s emissions by 60 per cent by 2025, create green
collar jobs and stimulate a low carbon economy. Together, over the
last year, their 200 members have saved a massive 117,000 tonnes of
carbon, equivalent to taking 100 double decker buses off
London’s streets which would also fill 8.3billion
footballs.
The Green500 is different from other carbon management schemes
in that it acknowledges an organisation’s historical and
ongoing efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
About Southern
Southern provides services in south London and between central
London and the south coast, through east and west Sussex and Surrey
and parts of Kent and Hampshire.
Some fast facts about Southern:
- We have over 4,000 employees
- The service is provided by a fleet of 300 new and refurbished
trains
- We provide over 2,000 train services each day
- We carry around 165,000 passengers each day
- Southern manages 157 stations, 112 of which have secure
stations status
For more information about Southern, visit
www.southernrailway.com
About Govia
Southern is owned by Govia, the partnership between the Go-Ahead
Group and Keolis. Govia is the most enduring partnership between
transport operators delivering rail franchises in this country.
Govia is the UK’s busiest rail operator, responsible for
almost 30 per cent of UK passenger rail journeys through its three
rail companies, Southern, Southeastern and London Midland. Govia
has retained the South Central franchise which commenced on Sunday
20th September and runs until July 2015. Further information on
Govia is available at www.govia.info
Southern also operates Gatwick Express. For more information,
log on to www.gatwickexpress.co.uk