Southern has announced that Billingshurst; Horley; Wandsworth Common; Hurst Green; Oxted; Sanderstead; East Grinstead and Cheam stations have all been accredited with Secure Station awards.

The stations receive this award under the Secure Stations Scheme, managed by the Department for Transport in partnership with the British Transport Police.The awards were made against strict security criteria including:
*good fencing and boundaries
*good CCTV coverage
*good lighting
*good use of corner mirrors and signage
*a reduction in crime rates at the station
*regular station maintenance audits including removal of graffiti within 24-hours
*availability of staff with conflict management knowledge
positive results in an independent survey of passengers using the station on how they feel about security at the station.

Southern’s managing director Chris Burchell said: “The safety and security of our passengers is our highest priority and we are very pleased that the work we have completed at these locations has resulted in secure station accreditation. We now have 44 secure stations and we are currently working to achieve the award at another 6 by the end of this year.”