Transport FocusUpdate

Nina Howe

Passenger Manager

Introduction

• My role• Objective - Secure improved services for passengers on the

Great Western Rail Network

• Research – wider insights as well as bespoke research focused on the network

• Approach• Critical friend - productive working relationship with GWR

• Keen to share insight and work together with all stakeholders, such as TravelWatch SouthWest to help influence rail industry decision making and drive improvements

Update

• Franchising•Provide advice to the DfT on how far we think bids meet passenger needs

•Provide passenger insights - Passenger priorities for improvement: Value for money the number one priority. Getting a seat, more frequent and punctual trains, and better information when there are delays were also among the top priorities

•GW DA - includes greater capacity; some journey time gains; NRPS targets; Passenger Reports; Passenger Charter; more car parking; improvements in ticketing and information

•Going forward work to help ensure that the interests of passengers remain front and centre over the life of the franchise

• Performance and service improvements•Consistently good day to day service is key driver in passengers’ satisfaction and trust in the rail industry.

•National Rail Passenger Survey - effective, trusted and cost effective way of encouraging longer-term improvements for rail passengers

Update• Disruption

• GWR passenger satisfaction with delay handling down 44% to 39% in Spring NRPS wave

• Focus needs to be on all types of delay not just major ones. Key factors being…amount of information; usefulness & accuracy; speed; resolution time

• Engineering work• Keen to ensure passenger needs considered early in planning process and adequate

information provision supplied throughout

• Inputting into project and comms team on major possessions to help GWR refine planning and comms, using passenger research

• Our research in the build up to and during the Bath engineering shows passenger information must focus on central passenger requirement - ‘what does it mean for my journey?’

• Passengers (particularly commuters) need early information and have a ‘hierarchy’ of information needs

• Complaints and Appeals• If passengers have a complaint which the train company has not resolved to their

satisfaction then our contact team will try to help

Evidence Base...• In total we speak to over 142,00 passengers each year

• National Rail Passenger Survey (‘NRPS’) – 60,000+ questionnaires completed each year. Used in franchise contracts, bonus schemes, business plans and by Network Rail Major Stations

• Bus Passenger Survey (‘BPS’) – 45,000+ questionnaires completed this year. Widely used to benchmark performance among bus companies and local authorities, supports investment and business plans

• Road User Survey – currently piloting methodologies for road user satisfaction survey

• Issue based research – smart ticketing, performance, trust, passenger priorities for improvement etc.

NRPS: what passengers tell us about their services…

• Benchmark of rail passenger satisfaction - assesses service aspects that are important to passengers

• Passengers asked for views of an ‘actual’ journey

• It enables us to monitor trends in passenger satisfaction over time and across train operating companies (TOCs)

• Identifies areas that are performing poorly / well and highlights need to look into particular service areas in more detail

• Data tool allows you to examine trends at a more granular level

…and how they travel to / would like to travel to the station

• NRPS data not only provides a wealth of information on the rail journey itself but also on how passengers access the rail network

• Enables insight into passenger’s attitude to current behaviour and what they believe would be improvements / and or change their behaviour, providing a useful basis for thinking about integrated transport

• Food for thought for this afternoon’s discussions…

What do we know about modal access?

How do passengers access the rail network?• Most passengers already arrive at the station by foot (50%) - 58% of commuters, 38% of

business and 45% of leisure passengers

• After that, excluding over/under-ground train connections where they are available, the next most common mode of access is by car (17%), either dropped off/parked at station. This goes up to 20% if you include those arriving at the station by taxi. 11% arrive by bus / coach

Satisfaction with accessing the station• Nationally, satisfaction with public transport connections at stations is reasonably high at

74%. Slightly lower score for South West region (68%) and GWR Western building block lower still (65%)

• In contrast, satisfaction scores for the provision of car parking nationally are consistently low (49%). Whilst score is much higher in South West - at 69% - and GWR Western building block has seen an increase in satisfaction - now at 73%

Do passengers want to access the station in a different way?• Nationally, over one in ten people (15%) say, that if circumstances were different they

would consider using an alternative mode of access

National Passenger Survey Spring 2015

Source: National Rail Passenger Survey. Sample size: 4,108 (15% of the total)

Source: National Rail Passenger Survey. Sample size: 271 (17% of the total)

Source: National Rail Passenger Survey. Sample size: 4,108

Source: National Rail Passenger Survey. Sample size: 271

Thank you

• Questions….