27.09.07
What passengers want
Peter Ryder often travels by train between Preston and London. As the journey takes two and a half hours, Peter spends his time on the train working and reading papers for meetings. Peter usually tries to buy his tickets in advance using the internet to get the best deal.
In July, the government announced its plans for the future of the railway in its white paper, including the high level output specification (HLOS), but do these plans deliver the improvements that Peter and other passengers want to see?
Passenger Focus’ extensive research about passengers’ priorities, which was jointly funded by the Department for Transport, was used to inform the government’s white paper so that the passenger voice could be considered at the heart of the rail strategy. 4,000 rail passengers in ten different regions in Britain were asked to rate how well their reasonable expectations of their rail services are being met along with their priorities for improvements.
The results of this research showed that passenger priorities have changed. Value for money is now the number one followed closely by getting a seat and more trains on time. As punctuality has improved it has slipped down the priorities list but remains key to passenger expectations.
The government’s promised improvements for passengers, including 1300 more carriages, more trains running on time, better safety standards, investment in the Thameslink project and the much needed redevelopment of Birmingham New Street and Reading stations, are a big step in the right direction and go some way to meet passenger needs. However, for passengers like Peter, one of the most important issues of travelling by train for him is getting an affordable ticket and being able to understand how to get the best deal. Peter’s fare often varies in price and he questions why he has to spend time searching through websites to get a cheaper ticket. He would prefer a system that automatically gives the best price on or around his journey plans.
New Passenger Focus research provides detailed passenger opinion and views on the role of the environment in rail travel. The research shows that passengers would like to see more train operating companies recycling all the free newspapers and litter that gets left on the train; using low energy light bulbs at stations and making more space for bicycles on trains to encourage people not to drive to the station. This research also asked passengers if they would like a high speed train service between London and Edinburgh which would cut journey times by 15%, but with the trade off that the service would use 90% more energy. Passengers were not keen on such a service being introduced because of the significant effect it would have on the environment for a relatively small gain.
Jan Evenden, who commutes into London from Bearsted everyday, pays £55 a month for car parking on top of the £306.10 she pays for her monthly season ticket.
Britain’s railway has come a long way over the last few years. With almost nine in ten trains arriving within five or ten minutes of their scheduled arrival, passengers have seen improvements in punctuality and reliability of their train services. According to our national passenger survey, in which we talk to over 50,000 passengers each year, almost four in five passengers (79%) say they are satisfied with their overall journey. However a key frustration for many passengers such as Jan is when incorrect information, or not enough information, is given when the train is delayed, both on the train and at the station. Less than a third (32%) of passengers tell us that they are satisfied with how well train companies deal with delays.
Crowding is now the biggest challenge facing the rail industry with almost three million people using the railway every day. In 2006-07 there were 46.1 billion passenger kilometres travelled – an increase of 7% on the previous year. The government has promised longer and more frequent trains to relieve crowding problems and Passenger Focus will be monitoring whether these measures will be enough to cope with the 30% growth predicted for the railway by 2016.
Fare levels remain a concern. We welcome keeping regulated fares pegged at the retail price index plus one per cent and we played a major role in the debate regarding saver deregulation. Our independent research into passenger attitudes on fares simplification, names and potential deregulation was key in persuading government to hold off making any changes to saver regulation in the absence of an acceptable alternative for passengers.
Passengers like Peter and Jan will want to find out exactly where the 1300 new carriages are going to go and will want to ensure that the day to day running of the railway continues while improvements are being made. However it is going to take time for these improvements to reach passengers.
We will continue to speak up for passengers. The secretary of state outlined a new role for Passenger Focus: a greater role in commenting on the specification of future franchises. The extent of this exciting new responsibility is not yet clear but we will ensure we will bring to it evidence based analysis and comment, a clear, independent passenger voice and commitment.
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