Railnews › January 2015 19

LOUISE commutes from Fleet toLondon Waterloo every work-ing day. As she waited for hertrain on Monday 5 January,what was on her mind?

Probably the same things that have con-cerned passengers for some time. Willthe train be on time? Will I get a seat?My annual season ticket has just goneup to £3,716. Just get me there and backwithout hassle – I don’t want to noticethe journey.

However, a historian looking back at2015 may conclude that this was a gold-en year for the railway. The industry’srecent safety record is good. Five- yearinvestment plans are pumping passen-ger and government money into main-tenance and longer-term investment. AConservative-led Coalition is drivingHS2 through their heartlands in theChilterns. HS3 across the North ispromised. Glittering new stations areemerging. Pouring concrete has neverbeen so fashionable.

Shorter-term passenger numbers arecontinuing to rise. Passenger satisfac-tion, as measured by the PassengerFocus National Rail Passenger Survey(NRPS), remains steady. Revenue ispouring into the industry – over £8 bil-lion a year comes through the farebox.The rise in regulated fares is now, final-ly, pegged at inflation.

Have we finally reached that elusivebalance of long-term taxpayer invest-ment with passengers nearly bearingthe running costs? If so, why whenasked, admittedly sometimes in fairlynarrow surveys, do many people saythey would like to see the railway rena-tionalised? What do they really mean?

Maybe the answer lies in the recentresearch we carried out about passen-gers and trust in the rail industry – youcan find it on our website. We wantedto explore why, when so many passen-gers seem broadly happy with the serv-ice they have received on the day, over-all opinions of the industry seem verymixed.

Satisfaction falls off markedly whenyou ask passengers to recall their mostrecent or most frequent journey rather

than – as our passenger survey does –the precise journey they have justmade. In some cases the scores plum-met. First Capital Connect, for example,was scoring 77 per cent in the NRPS butsatisfaction with passengers’ most fre-quent journey was just 43 per cent.Passengers start to recall recent baddays, remember perhaps when infor-mation during disruption was not good,or when cancellations meant they stoodcrushed together.

The research clearly shows that sometrain companies are getting this moreright than others. Virgin is more trustedby its passengers than many train com-panies in the South East are, for exam-ple. While commuters probably have adifferent mindset to longer-distancetravellers – it feels like a tax on going towork – all passengers probably wantthe same basic needs satisfied.

The research shows the core ele-ments of trust are the delivery day inand day out of the basic service promis-es and the quality of communicationfrom the train company.

If the basic service is not delivered oncommuter lines then no amount ofcommunication can make up –

although handling delays well can com-pensate. It is no accident that the lowestvalue-for-money scores in the NRPS arefrom holders of annual season ticketsusing First Capital Connect andSoutheastern services. The highest arefrom long-distance passengers onAdvance tickets using Grand Central.The feeling of having exercised choiceis a powerful one.

So, how can the industry earn trustfrom its passengers and, ultimately,government funders? The overall train-company NRPS scores mask very widevariations. Performance drives satisfac-tion – you can see that NRPS and railperformance track each other over theyears. For too many passengers thebasic performance is still not beingdelivered with anything like consisten-cy. Good patches are constantly punctu-ated by bad. As performance has dippedin parts of the country, so has satisfac-tion.

We seem to have got quite good inthis country at rebuilding the railwayaround passengers. Projects such asReading, King’s Cross and Nottinghamhave been mostly well handled (with afew exceptions, such as 27 December at

King’s Cross). However, the big motherof all projects – London Bridge – wasalways going to be difficult.Electrification is rumoured to be lateand over budget.

It seems difficult to imagine that inthe cold light of May 2015, after theelection, all the outstanding projectswill be affordable. We have been prom-ised so much new infrastructure that,even allowing for the downturn inother countries, some may questionwhether it can it all be funded, let alonebuilt at once.

The major roads budget, traditionallyraided to pay for rail-cost overruns, isalso going to be locked into a five-yearspending plan. Gearing up the supplychain after decades of stagnation isbound to drive cost inflation, shortagesand delays. The next Government willhave to hold its nerve. There willinevitably be pressure on fare risesagain.

In the meantime there is much theindustry and government could do todemonstrate they really are on the pas-senger’s side. For example, sort out tick-et machines so they do not display gob-bledygook information. Keep up the

focus on daily performance. Get staff tohandle disruption better. After two min-utes’ delay something should be said,even if to say they don’t know what ishappening; passengers just want toknow someone is in charge and caresabout them.

Stop hounding passengers who havemade an innocent mistake and beencaught with the ‘wrong’ ticket. Focuson better information at the outset andon chasing the real criminals. It wouldhelp to decriminalise fare evasion andrely on general law where intent must

be proved. The faults of the current tick-eting system are largely dumped on pas-sengers to sort out – give them somehelp.

I remain optimistic. Everything ismoving in the right direction for publictransport. More people are living intowns and cities. While fuel prices havedropped, motoring remains pricey.Patterns of car ownership are changing.Environmental concerns are not goingaway. The railway has got better – thoserising passenger numbers are not alldistress purchases.

The next few years are going to seemassive, visible improvements.Crossrail will open. New Thameslinktrains will finally unlock the rolling-stock market. The Northern Hub andelectrification will start to deliver acrossthe country. New intercity trains willreplace the aged and venerable high-speed and other trains. Far fewer pas-sengers will be travelling on BR-eratrains, having a rather BR-era experi-ence.

However, unless the industry doesmore to earn our trust, we passengersmay well continue to yearn for a sup-posedly golden era that never existed.All the credit for that investment willnot be banked by politicians or theindustry. To get that trust train compa-nies have to stick to their basic promise– the timetable. Treat your passengerswith respect – and then tell them howwell you are doing.

2015 – a Happy New Year for passengers?Watchdog Passenger Focus keeps an eye on the rights of railway users, as well as people who travel on buses and trams. Set up by Parliament, PF isresponsible for regular surveys of opinion, as well as representing people who have an unsatisfied complaint. Chief executive Anthony Smith points out thatthe Christmas disruptions at King’s Cross and elsewhere were high profile examples of the issues which can often affect commuters as well.

Our opinion page provides a platform to debate the issues and challenges the rail industry faces. We welcome your comments and feedback.

www.railnews.co.uk email: contact@railnews.co.uk Tel: 01438 310 011

Anthony Smith, chief executive Passenger Focus

Guest Opinion

Projects such as Nottingham have been mostly well handled

VIEWS & COMMENT

“The faults of the

ticketing system are

largely dumped on

passengers – give

them some help”

“After two minutes’

delay, something

should be said”