Serco Scoops ‘City & Metro Operator Of The Year’ At The National Rail Awards 2013

Serco, operator of the Docklands Light Railway picked up the prestigious ‘City & Metro Operator of the Year’ prize at this year’s National Rail awards.  At a gala dinner and award ceremony held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on 19 September, Huw Edwards, best known for presenting the BBC’s 10 O’Clock News, presented the awards to the winners of this year’s National Rail awards.

Considered to be the Oscars of the rail industry, the National Rail awards bring together the best in UK rail to celebrate the industry’s excellence and achievements whilst also recognising those behind the success.  Serco made the shortlist along with Merseyrail and Southeastern and on the night was announced the winner for its successful operation of the Docklights Light Railway during last year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.  Serco’s investment in the DLR over the years has enabled this award-winning business to go from strength to strength, breaking all previous records of reliability in its 16-years of operation.

The achievement comes as a result of new management structures, processes and procedures to ensure every delay is investigated, lessons are learnt and behaviours are improved to put the delivery of the most reliable service possible at the forefront of the business.  Serco successfully ran all DLR services to a record 99% reliability level whilst carrying over 12 million passeners to four of the main Olympic venues.

Managing Director, Kevin Thomas, who accepted the award on behalf of Serco, said “Winning City & Metro Operator of the Year for last year’s Olympic efforts is a phenomenal achievement and great recognition of what our teams have delivered for DLR’s passengers. We are delighted and proud that the hard work and committment of our staff has been recognised with the win of this prestigious award.”