the background

Govia are a leading train operating company — one of the big five transport companies in the UK and part of the Go-Ahead Group. They use Wave Business Applications to manage the maintenance of around 170 stations, depots and premises on their Southern Railway franchise.

Since Govia signed the £1 billion franchise contract for Southern in 2003, they have embarked on a massive programme of investment, improvement and modernisation.

the task

When Govia took over the Southern franchise, the previous franchise holder left no information on the size and condition of the franchise’s asset base. Starting from scratch, Southern needed to build a profile of their assets before they could begin predicting and planning maintenance.

With such huge ongoing public and private investment in the railway network, Southern needed to be sure that their asset management strategy was really up to scratch and capable of delivering the promised improvements.

the solution

Wave Business Applications worked closely with Southern to develop a service which matched their needs. In August 2003, following a six-week implementation programme, we began supporting Southern’s systems and processes.

The Southern Railway help desk manages approximately 1,000 calls a month using our comprehensive integrated system. Our service provides access to all management information in real time:

Scheduling, logging and assignment of planned and reactive maintenance to contractors
Monitoring of progress and supplier performance in undertaking the work
Management of payment to suppliers

Whether it’s management of maintenance, finance or human resources, our service has provided an integrated asset database and library of information that delivers. Southern has gained greater control over costs, suppliers and quality of delivery leading to savings of millions.