Mystery train M


Rail travellers are being recruited by organisations such as Passenger Focus to give feedback on aspects of customer service, particularly the way in which disabled passengers are treated. Paul Coleman reports


ystery shopping used to simply involve trading standards officers deploying youngsters to catch shopkeepers selling cigarettes to


children. These days mystery shopping is a powerful research technique constantly testing customer service across the rail industry. Train operating companies and Network


Rail are braced for the release of a second wave of mystery shopping research that will reveal if they have delivered on promises to improve customer service. A second cadre of passengers with disabilities, recruited and trained by Passenger Focus, were surreptitiously deployed earlier this year by the passenger watchdog to see if Tocs and Network Rail have improved delivery of the Assisted Passenger Reservation Service (APRS), the rail industry’s system to help disabled passengers. The first research wave was commissioned in 2008, after more and more passengers with disabilities reported feeling anxious before they took their APRS-booked journeys and were stressed while on board. The main concern seemed to be, would they actually receive their pre-booked assistance to help them get on their train and off at their destination? A gathering cloud of complaints to


Passenger Focus during the ‘noughties’ had suggested the APRS was performing inconsistently, but this negative feedback remained anecdotal. ‘There’d been a regular dribble of complaints about the APRS, such as assistants not showing up at stations,’ recalls Jocelyn Pearson, a passenger link


PAGE 26 SEPTEMBER 2010


manager who heads research projects. ‘Our research discovered these complaints were the tip of an iceberg.’ Pearson says the 2010 research mirrors


the first wave carried out in 2007-08. Passenger Focus recruits shoppers from online advertising and via disability organisations to undertake a calculated mix of return journey mystery shops across England, Wales and Scotland. The aim is to test the service provided on the day of travel by station and train staff. The first wave covered 24 Tocs and


included direct journeys, journeys with a change of trains and those involving commuter and intercity services. Fully staffed stations were chosen, including Network Rail-managed stations such as London Waterloo. Toc-managed stations


A happy customer… but some disabled travellers have reported difficulties


included Windsor & Eton Riverside. Also mystery shopped were smaller, partially staffed stations, such as Llandrindod, where APRS bookings are rare. The initial research also undertook 100


telephone mystery shops where researchers made initial booking enquiries involving eight scenarios devised to represent a range of disabilities and journey types. The specific aim was to measure how well National Rail Enquiries and Tocss were helping passengers to book help under the APRS. Passenger Focus’s shoppers completed


and returned 180 survey forms for 90 return journeys. Some of the shoppers’ reports during the original research were positive. ‘The assistance was very good,’ reported one visually impaired shopper. ‘He mentioned where steps were and even hesitated, explaining that he was guiding me around pigeon poo.’ However, many criticisms were damning.


‘There was no one to meet me again and staff asked if I had booked assistance,’ said a wheelchair user. ‘The ramp used was broken and dangerous… but they weren’t interested.’ Another wheelchair user said: ‘The


assistant passed me over to a colleague on the station by pushing my chair in his direction and letting go. This is unnerving for a wheelchair user.’ Though not targeting specific Tocs,


Passenger Focus’s overall conclusion slammed the industry hard when the results were published in September 2008. The mystery shopping allowed Passenger Focus to reveal deficiencies in APRS passenger information, communication and training. ‘The research shows that the current systems and procedures are so often prone to failure that passengers cannot rely on them,’ said Passenger Focus’s report. ‘As the system cannot adequately deal


with the demands placed on it, we fail to see how it will address the additional burden of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Urgent action is needed to cope with 2012.’ Passenger Focus plans to publish the


second tranche of findings this autumn – less than two years before the Olympics.


www.railimages.co.uk


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