A Southern Class 171 Turbostar on display at the York Railfest exhibition on 3rd June 2004 prior to entering service.

Southern is the latest name of the train operating company that took over from Connex South Central on the routes to South London, Surrey, and Sussex from Victoria and London Bridge.

The company was originally known as South Central, but on 30 May 2004, the franchise was rebranded as Southern, in a deliberate recollection of pre-nationalisation Southern Railway, with a green roundel logo with "Southern" written in yellow in a green bar.

Southern also operates the cross-London Watford Junction to Gatwick Airport / Brighton route via Kensington (Olympia) and Clapham Junction (the West London Line).

The franchise is owned by Go-Ahead Group.

See also

• Rail transport in the United Kingdom