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Passengers’ demands for information may sometimes seem unrealistic, but they are not, really – they want electronic screens to have useful, accurate and up-to-date information, and they definitely want staff who can answer questions honestly and without corporate doublespeak about the scale of the disruption and what it means.


Reports of information screens listing all trains as cancelled – until they show up – hardly fill the passenger with confidence.


Average circulation for the period 1/1/09 – 31/12/09 is 8,444 per issue which is the largest audited circulation of any bi-monthly UK rail magazine as of 11/2/09


TT-COC-002610


Environmental Policy As a business the environment is very important to us. As such our magazines are printed using paper from a well-managed source. All inks used are vegetable based (soya or rape seed). Our printers are currently certified to ISO 14001 Environmental Management.


The operating companies may think they should prioritise getting services running over good communication. But public confidence in a reliable service is a key part of growing the industry.


Passengers understand that extreme weather will cause extreme disruption, but they will not put up with inaccurate, contradictory, out-of-date and useless information.


the no.1 commercial connection


Some firms did the right thing in offering refunds beyond the terms


Snow business T


rains coped far better with this winter’s weather than cars, lorries or planes, thanks to some good planning, hard work and a few last-minute botches.


But it is communication and information-sharing with passengers and the public where the industry still struggles.


It is not alone in this – Heathrow faced far more criticism than the train operating companies from angry customers, and it was the lack of information rather than the water shortages that ultimately led to the boss of Northern Ireland Water resigning: a vivid symbol of the potential consequences of failing to cope with a winter crisis.


of their charters and others, to their credit, did an admirable job in keeping passengers and the media updated. They should be commended, because it is action like this that will ensure people think first of using a train when the sun is shining too.


David Quarmby had plenty of plaudits for the rail industry in his report into the transport networks’ response to the first major bout of snow, in late November and early December. But he too criticised information sharing, and kicked a hornets’ nest when he suggested a hugely expensive reconfiguration of the third rail network in the South East to cope with future extreme winter weather.


Passengers’ groups were quick to warn of fare-payer backlashes against paying more to fund such work, rightly suggesting that most people would pick a few days’ disruption over permanent fare increases.


It is simply too early to tell whether Quarmby will prove prescient, or over-cautious, in his suggestions, and we await Network Rail’s feasibility study. For now, we must wait and see whether this winter’s extreme weather was unusually severe in its ferocity, or whether it was a warning of things to come. But diverting resources from other capital projects or hiking fares to pay for snow-proofing we may only occasionally need is not the solution right now.


rail technology magazine Dec/Jan 11 | 3


EDITOR’S COMMENT


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