PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST – THE MD5
As we enter 2026, MD Steve Best spoke to Exchange Extra about our five top priorities for the next four months – the ‘MD5’ – reflecting on our successes and what still needs to be done before the end of the concession
1 Best-ever performance improvement plan and Mildmay recovery
“We have been delivering best-ever performance on many of our routes throughout the latter stages of this concession, which has been fantastic to see. That’s reflected in the high punctuality and customer satisfaction scores we’ve achieved.
“I’m particularly pleased to see that we’ve started an upwards trajectory in our performance on the Mildmay line, which had previously been in decline.
“But the interventions we’ve put in place, both on the infrastructure side and in many other areas, have started to deliver real benefits, such as the Upminster Shared Delivery Centre.
“Now that Mildmay performance is improving, it’s important we continue our efforts there to deliver the best service we can to customers.
“Our main focus between now and May is to continue to work with our industry partners, Network Rail, to ensure the right actions and plans are put in place to keep driving performance upwards across routes, especially focusing on Mildmay recovery.”
2 Enhancing the Overground, through delivery of key infrastructure projects and business development opportunities
“We’ve worked collaboratively and really effectively with Transport for London above and beyond what our contract requires, which I’m incredibly proud of.
“We’ve helped TfL deliver a variety of new infrastructure projects on our railway, with two of the most important being the new station entrance and facilities at Kensington Olympia and new entrance at Surrey Quays.
“It’s about playing our part in ensuring our customers have the best experience from the moment they enter the station premises.
“We’ve delivered so much during this contract. We’ve built a bigger and better London Overground and our legacy will be lasting. I’m sure that under First Group’s stewardship it will continue to evolve and grow for our customers.”
3 Absence, availability and wellbeing
“Without doubt, our attendance levels are lower than we’d like. We’ve been working very hard to identify and address the underlying causes of both short- and long-term health issues impacting colleagues.
“We’ve seen an increase in musculoskeletal conditions, mental health issues such as stress or anxiety, and seasonal bugs and viruses.
“We’re working with occupational health providers, and providing the right information to all staff on where they can receive support for health issues.
“Regarding musculoskeletal issues, we’ve been working on the availability of physiotherapy, while other activities include promoting flu jabs.
“It’s important we continue to do all we can to raise attendance, as it has a big impact on the number of staff we have available to serve our customers.”
4 Concession transition
“As we know, we have four months remaining of this concession, and it’s important that we end the ARL contract in the right way.
“We have an obligation to hand back all our stations and depots to the right standard, and also do all we can to ensure the operation continues successfully from the start of the next concession.
“That means providing the right information to the First Group mobilisation team to enable them to have all the right contracts, assets and people in place ready for day one.
“A smooth transition, for me, is about doing things in the best way right until the final day, to help First Group and First Rail London Ltd carry on this journey. There’s a lot of work to do to make that happen – the main thing is to make sure our day-to-day priorities of serving our customers safely and to a high standard continue throughout this transition.”
5 Delivery of colleague safety plans
“Safety of our colleagues is a priority and will remain so going forward – an absolute priority.
“Our key focus at the moment is working collaboratively with our colleagues on areas that can be improved in the short-term. One of those is body-worn cameras, which we’ve been rolling out and hopefully will continue to see more people take up."
“We’re also working collaboratively with the British Transport Police to push for a greater presence and more joint initiatives. We’ve seen some successes at key locations in preventing fare evasion and improving safety and security.
“Unfortunately this year we’ve seen an increase in assaults, both verbal and physical, reflecting trends in society and London particularly. That includes an increase in customer assaults as well.
“It’s been a challenging year, and we need to be safer, take more care and be ready to step away from potential danger in the right way.”
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