25.06.19
Robert Nisbet, Director of Regions and Nations at the Rail Delivery Group, sets out a vision for easier and more accessible travel
The Rail Delivery Group plans to make travelling by train easier than ever before by making trains and stations more accessible and developing a new app.
Robert Nisbet, Director of Regions and Nations at the Rail Delivery Group, tells June/July RTM he hopes the changes will give passengers “more control over their journey”.
He said: “The industry’s work to provide information more easily will enable passengers to better plan according to their needs and have smoother and more reliable journeys. But we also need to drive bigger changes to make the railway more accessible, supporting more people to travel by train.
“From November, customers will be able to set up user profiles and spend far less time on the phone booking assistance. Beginning next year, rail staff will start using the upgraded systems which will remove the need for telephone calls between busy staff members.”
READ MORE: £300m inclusion scheme in the works to make transport accessible by 2030
On accessibility, Mr Nisbet wants the group to focus on boosting accessibility for passengers.
He added: “To make the network itself more accessible, we’re investing billions of pounds into thousands of more accessible carriages. Passengers will soon notice the difference with new trains this year including on-board passenger information systems that provide better audio-visual information about journeys.
“We’re also upgrading infrastructure to make stations across the country more accessible, with over £500m of improvements delivered since 2006. An additional £300m of funding from government is helping us to make 73 more stations accessible by 2024.”
For the full interview and more, read the June/July edition of Rail Technology Magazine.