Why TOL have been behind the awards since the very start....
Posted on 16th September 2024 at 13:19
The Global Light Rail Awards celebrates its 18th anniversary this October as we gather in the opulent surroundings of the Bloomsbury Ballroom in London to celebrate the very best in light rail innovation, dedication and excellence that is happening throughout the sector every year. Since the awards were formed, they have been supported by Tram Operations Limited - but why? We asked them to explain why they continue to support this unique event in the light rail world.
Here's their response...
'As Operator of the Tramlink service in South London and Croydon, Tram Operations Limited (TOL) we are deeply embedded in the local communities we serve. Engagement, inclusivity, accessibility and a high operational performance are essential to ensure the communities can connect across the south region; sometimes tram is their only mode of transport. Many of our colleagues live within the communities where the tram service runs so they are also a customer.
We recognise that our customers remember us in relation to how good was their last experience travelling with us and we continue to train our staff to always provide excellent customer service for every journey – “Putting Customers at the heart of everything we do.”
Here at TOL we work closely with the Owner, Fleet and Infrastructure and Maintainer - Transport for London operating as London Trams, to continuously improve and make a difference every day to customers who use the service.
Some of our collaborations over the last few years have included the introduction of a Fatigue Monitoring device (Guardian), Physical Prevention of Overspeed (PPOS) over the last few years and more recently Closing Side Door Enabled (CSDE) on both the Stadler and CR4000 Bombardier fleets.
More recently completed the project to fit new bodyside cameras and are working closely with them to implement iTram and for the procurement of new Trams to replace some of the fleet.
We are delighted that sharing our Fatigue Management learnings and experience with LRSSB, The UK Light Rail Conference attendees and the RSSB project T1193 Driver Attention and Alertness Steering Group and they are currently trialling the Guardian device on three heavy rail systems here in the UK.
We continue to use our Operational Safety campaign – FOCOS100. Traditionally safety initiatives are driven from heavy rail whereas our FOCOS100 campaign was designed specifically at TOL for TOL colleagues.
TOL is very proud to have sponsored the Global Light Rail Awards since its launch.
It is a great platform to showcase and recognise the innovation that is evident across the sector whether it is people, systems or best practise in the UK, Europe or worldwide. It is a fantastic sector to be part of and at each annual award ceremony we get to celebrate the great things that are happening in the light rail sector.
First Tram Operations have supported the awards from the very beginning - 18 years ago....
In additon, TOL has had the pleasure of contributing financially for the last five years to support The Community Family Project, for the New Addington Baptist Church.
In 2023 TOL gave a smaller gift to guests at the Global Light Rail Awards, to enable them to make another financial donation to help make a difference in its local community.
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who attended the 2023 Global Light Rail Awards, as an amazing sum of £400 was raised on the night. We increased this to make a total donation of £2,000.
During December 2023, we gave this donation along with three boxes of contributions for the food parcels, donated by our colleagues. The Baptist Church were overwhelmed and absolutely delighted to receive such a significant donation and were able to use these gifted items to send out to the families of New Addington. The boxes also included toys and chocolates for the children for Christmas.'
Mainspring, the organiser of the awards, would like to thank TOL for their unwaivering support of the awards and helping to recognise, celebrate and support all of the fantastic work which marks the light rail sector out as special.
You can learn more about The Community Family Project and the valuable services they provide for their local area as well as how to donate, just click here.
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