c2c is highly commended at the HSBC rail business awards

If you were asked to imagine a railway where passengers write in to praise more than complain, you could be forgiven for thinking that it must be in another country. Few would guess that this was the old 'misery line' between London and Southend-on-Sea, but c2c has finally reaped the rewards of its £400 million investment and transformation programme, after being highly commended in the Train Operator of the Year category at the HSBC Rail Business Awards, held on Thursday 20th February.

Operating one of the most intensively used commuter routes in the country, c2c has completely transformed itself from what critics once called 'the misery line' to a benchmark model epitomising all that a modern railway should be. Pip Dunn, features editor of Rail, said "The real rags-to-riches story on Britain's Railway is not Virgin CrossCountry, but the transformation of the London Tilbury Southend route"

With the aid of a £350 million investment programme, c2c is the first train operator to bring in a totally new fleet, consigning its slam-door trains to history in favour of state-of-art trains designed with maximum passenger comfort in mind. A further £50 million has been spent refurbishing stations, upgrading information systems, and introducing CCTV at all stations as part of a comprehensive package of safety improvements. c2c is the only train operator to be accredited with 'Secure Station' status at all its stations.

Commenting on the award, c2c's route director David Taylor said "We are thrilled to win recognition for the unstinting efforts of all our staff and business partners to introduce whole-scale improvements in every aspect of our service. But the real accolade has come from our customers who now record an 86% satisfaction rate and rising."

c2c's ability to tune in to passenger needs has resulted in a range of innovations such as the Flexitime early bird season tickets for City commuters, encouraging integrated travel with special arrangements to accommodate cyclists, and sponsorship of local leisure events, including a highly successful "Search for a Pop Icon" at Lakeside.

Dominic Booth, managing director of Londonlines, said c2c's achievements should give encouragement to everyone working to transform Britain's railways: "Like every other TOC, we have had to deal with constant turmoil in the rail industry and rise to every new and unexpected challenge thrown at us. c2c has shown that with the right level of investment, painstaking effort and commitment to putting the customer first, it is possible to deliver the comfortable, safe and reliable railway that passengers have a right to expect in the 21st century."