Q&A: DAVID SINDALL
be a group of passengers who will want to turn up and travel on the day, but planning ahead and booking in advance means that assistance can be put in place and can often mean cheaper tickets. We know that there are a number of passengers who would like to turn up and go and I suspect that these passengers are more confident and know the rail network better. So we are exploring how to bring the booking time down from 24 hours to say, 12 hours. We recognise that the new system gives us the opportunity to review the current advice we give to passengers. This having been said, we still have quite a number of passengers making complex journeys, so whilst it might be ok not to book on, say an intercity network where you’ve got high staffing levels, on a journey to stations where you haven’t got any staff, we still need that advanced notice. We are also exploring how things like Oyster cards for example can be used, and whether or not the movement towards electronic ticketing gives us the opportunity to reduce booking horizons.
Margaret also expresses understandable frustration at being told to arrive at the meeting point 30 minutes before train arrival, only to be made to wait until very close to train departure time for assistance to arrive.
I was surprised to read that. That recommendation is about making sure that people get there on time. Margaret says in her article that it sometimes takes her a while to find her way through the station to get to the meeting point, so it’s a contingency to allow for that kind of thing. However, we are looking at whether we can improve the current system. I am talking to train operators about whether we can utilise developments in technology to check when passengers arrive at stations using mobile phone signals.
What we’ve done is replace an outdated system with a new, more user-friendly way of booking assistance. We’ve yet to realise all the capabilities of this new system, which is the next exciting part of the Passenger Assist project.
You’ve touched upon the use of mobile phones and passengers being able to contact people when they arrive at the station. Is this something that will be implemented in the near future? Margaret mentions in her article a 15-20 minute wait that she experienced whilst waiting for her booked assistance to arrive and also one memorable trip where she was actually left waiting until the train closed down. There must need to be some improvements made there that would ensure booked assistance are ready to meet the passenger when they disembark, as well as getting them onto the train.
I don’t disagree with that at all. It is an area that we need to continue to improve on. But things are improving; from the figures we are getting back from train companies and Passenger Assist we see that, for example, First Great Western has a 98% success rate at the moment in terms of delivering assistance. That is a great achievement and is a trend within the industry and scenarios, such as the one described by Margaret, are becoming increasingly rare.
It is important that we promise what we can deliver. We must be clear to passengers that we can do some of the things they expect us to do, but in some cases, it is more difficult. That’s why we launched the Rail Travel Made
“…from the figures we are getting back from train companies and Passenger Assist we see that, for example, First Great Western has a 98% success rate at the moment in terms of delivering assistance. That is a great achievement and is a trend within the industry…”
WWW.THECONNECTSERIES.CO.UK
“In Britain, we have the most extensive network of Passenger Assistance, certainly more than anywhere in Europe and possibly anywhere in the world.”
Easy website; to ensure that passengers fully understand how they can access their route, what the rules are regarding Passenger Assistance and understand the advantages of booking assistance in advance. We launched the first phase of this in August and the website will be expanded in Spring 2013.
The system that we offer in Britain is also far more extensive and flexible than anything else in the rest of Europe. I chair a UIC project group, called Passage, which brings all of the European train companies together on accessibility. When you look at what we offer in Britain, it’s a lot broader than, for example, what is offered in Spain. In Spain, you can book assistance but only on the High Speed network. There is no assistance offered for local commuter or regional rail services. In Britain, we have the most extensive network of Passenger Assistance, certainly more than anywhere in Europe and possibly anywhere in the world.
There have been some suggestions for improvement by Margaret, such as automatic ramps that remove the need for assistance at un-staffed stations and the utilisation of technology. Are there going to be any developments like this in the foreseeable future?
The design of trains is now governed by European regulation. I’m on the European Working Party representing the Community of European Railways, looking at revising the current technical standards and rules. The European Disability Forum have said they want all trains to have automatic boarding ramps, and we believe that’s a good aspiration, but the problem we have in Britain is that we have curved platforms where you have variable train operation. So without spending huge
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