The Highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Chiltern Chairman Adrian Shooter 'for his services to the region for his part in developing Chiltern’s Birmingham to London rail link'. In his short acceptance speech, Adrian paid tribute to the support of his wife Barbara, to the dedication of the Chiltern Railways staff, and to the business people of Birmingham who had told him that they wanted an alternative route to London... A photo of Adrian and Barbara with the Award can be found here, his short acceptance speech can be heard here, and a short interview after the award here (starts at 3mins 40secs).
Chiltern Railways sponsored the Award for the Emerging Professional. A photo of the winner, Matt Taylor from Headline Communications with Chiltern MD Rob Brighouse can be found here.
Around the Chiltern table there was much talk of all that had been achieved and of all there is still to do. Chatham House rules prevent me from spilling all the beans but among the topics under discussion were
- the Business Zone
- Snow Hill station
- the difficulty of meeting passenger aspirations when the passengers then fail to take up the offering (WSMR, and last year's Stratford-London RSC trains spring to mind)
- focus groups - a tool for the young?
- tender loving care for the commuters at the southern end of the Mainline...
- simplified fares
- the use of social media (take a bow Emma, Nicola and Jo)
- the good and not so good points about the Virgin service
Not surprisingly, the Chiltern message continues to be: 'we are listening'. So continue to carp and praise, promote and criticise, using the tools available
No comments:
Post a Comment