Transforming Passenger Information 2013 - speakers from Passenger Focus

Disclosure - I attended the Transforming Passenger Information Customer Experience Summit 2013 as a guest of London Business Conferences Live Tweets from the Conference were posted at #TPI13

The 'Customer Experience' aspect of the Conference was presented by two speakers from Passenger Focus

CEO Anthony Smith was one of the opening Keynote Panel speakers, emphaising that passenger trust is a key issue, and that a reliable service and good information are two components which go to build that trust. Information needs to be timely, accurate, consistent, and useful. Thus a departure screen which says that a service is on time after the shown departure time has passed is NOT a good way of building trust. Likewise, it would appear that many TOCs don't check their web sites to ensure that an accurate message is displayed, nor do they check the National Rail Enquiries web site for their services!

Interestingly, the National Passenger Survey for Autumn 2012 saw the Provision of Information being a 5% driver of overall satisfaction BUT How Train Companies dealt with Delays was a 52% driver of dissatisfaction.

His overall message: at any station, passengers need to know ....

• is the train coming ? / when is it coming ?
• Visual and audible information should be the norm at every station 
• With trains tracked (GPS on all trains?) to make it accurate 
• Passengers should not have to gaze up the line wondering

Passenger Issues Manager Guy Dangerfield spoke on the second day, focusing on Passenger Expectations During Disruption. He highlighted:

• Accurate, timely, consistent and useful information Why? Because it allows passengers to make informed decisions about what they can do
• Once caught up in a problem .... “how long will I be?” Why? Because it allows passengers to judge the impact on their day 
• Attitude and empathy of staff is a key factor ... Treat me (the passenger) with respect; Recognise my plight; (accept that) You got me into this, help get me out 
• Help me (the passenger) avoid the problem in the first place!

For this last point, he suggested that:

• What do passengers need to know now about what is likely to happen later - Be proactive when passengers might doubt all will be perfect later/tomorrow (snow, floods, earlier disruption) 
• Tell the regulars when a temporary timetable being put in (whether through Day A for Day B, or by making on the day cancellations) 
• Warn passengers who are booked on trains you know will be affected – come earlier, come another day ... 
• Where ticketing rules stop passengers deciding ‘never mind I’ll go tomorrow instead’, change the rules! 
• What do passengers need from ‘line of route’ alerting (as distinct from alerts about a particular train)? Are current products meeting that need? 

Research shows that passengers appreciate an announcement on a train within two minutes of an unscheduled stop. Also appreciated is the use of PLAIN English rather than 'railway speak'.

Finally he reinforced the message that the information about disruption must be consistent across ALL sources under a TOC's control. He made a particular plea for Retail sites to carry disruption information as a matter of course.

Relevant research from  Passenger Focus is available on the PF web site....

• Passenger information: a vision, July 2008 (joint research with National Rail Enquiries) 
• Delays and disruption: rail passengers have their say, December 2010 
• Rail passengers' experiences during the snow, March 2011 
• Information: rail passengers’ needs during unplanned disruption, September 2011 (joint research with Southern) 
• Passenger Focus assessment of online information provided to rail passengers during high winds January 2012 
• Short and Tweet: how passengers want social media during disruption, June 2012 (joint research with Abellio)