Thameslink staff member highly commended at awards

At last night's National Transport Awards, Mike Tyler, who checks tickets and helps at the gateline at St Albans, was highly commended in the Frontline Employee of the Year category. Since completing one of our Get Into Railway programmes, run jointly with the Prince's Trust, Mike has worked hard to transform his life to become an established member of Thameslink’s team. The Get Into Railway programmes target young people, between the age of 18 and 25, including people who were homeless, care leavers, ex-offenders, single parents, refugees/asylum seekers, and those with disabilities.

In 2015, in recognition of his progress and commitment after completing the programme, Mike was named East England winner of The Prince's Trust and then went on to be named the Flying Start Award winner at the Prince’s Trust’s Celebrate Success Awards. Mike said at the time: “Before I was living on the streets and not doing anything with my life. The Prince's Trust changed all that and now I'm in a job I love and couldn't be happier. The support I received from the staff there and from Thameslink made all the difference and I'll always be grateful to them for what they did for me.”

Mike is now an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and has been trained, with other members of Thameslink staff, to become a mentor to young people now completing other programmes.

Stuart Cheshire, Passenger Services Director for Thameslink and Great Northern, said: "We are really pleased that all of Mike's efforts have been recognised. Our work with the Prince's Trust continues to go from strength to strength, with almost 70 members of staff having joined us thanks to the hard work of teams across the network on these programmes. It is wonderful to see this group doing well and Mike is an excellent example of this."

Meanwhile, Hatfield station was shortlisted in the Station of the Year category. As a result of the work of partnership working, visitors to the station are now wowed with a modern, clean and crisp station, designed to reflect the local area. It now offers travellers almost 400 car parking spaces, five times more bike racks and a modern bus interchange.

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Notes to editors

For more information email press.office@gtrailway.com or call

Southern and Gatwick Express press office: 0203 750 2030

Thameslink and Great Northern press office: 0203 750 2031

Govia Thameslink Railway

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) operates Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express services as follows:

Thameslink – services between Bedford and Brighton, Luton/St Albans and Sutton, Wimbledon and Sevenoaks

Great Northern – services between London and Welwyn, Hertford, Peterborough, Cambridge and King’s Lynn

Southern – services between London and the Sussex coast (Brighton, Worthing, Eastbourne, Bognor Regis, Hastings) and parts of Surrey, Kent and Hampshire (Ashford International, Southampton, Portsmouth)

Gatwick Express – Fast, non-stop direct services between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria

GTR is now the largest rail franchise in the UK in terms of passenger numbers, trains, revenue and staff: GTR carries about 326 million passenger journeys per year, employs around 6,500 people and generates annual passenger revenues of approximately £1.3bn.

The GTR investment programme for stations includes funding for more CCTV, toilet refurbishments, new retail facilities, help points and car park improvements – as well as plans for increased motorcycle storage and improved transport integration.

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