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Satisfied passengers save money

Image by Heathrow Express

Railfuture campaigns for satisfied passengers!

The rail industry must focus on delivering the best journey experience for all travellers. Rail services must be more welcoming, frequent, reliable, convenient, clean, comfortable, safe and above all reasonably priced.

Good customer service costs nothing, but needs well motivated staff.

Satisfied passengers will travel by rail again, increasing rail revenue, reducing the cost of the railways to the taxpayer and so enabling cheaper fares. Get it right and the rail industry will contribute to economic growth.

The future of stations

Author: Neil Middleton - Published Fri 02 of Feb, 2024 17:51 GMT - (0 Reads)
The Ticket Office closure consultation over the summer of 2023 showed the value passengers place on a properly staffed station, complete with the right facilities for those staff to meet passenger needs. A warm welcome greets passengers in Bicester Village's customer support lounge at the station that serves the shopping centre. Photo by Chris Page for Railfuture.

Journey reliability

Author: Ian Brown CBE, Railfuture Policy Director - Published Fri 05 of Jan, 2024 18:27 GMT - (0 Reads)
Transport Focus, the non -departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Transport, regularly surveys passenger satisfaction and says “Satisfaction with punctuality/reliability is, by a distance, the most important driver of satisfaction...”
Photo taken by Stewart Palmer on 5th January at Dorchester South station. If train operators cannot display up-to-date information, what trust can passengers have in service reliability? Would M&S tolerate this?

Ticket offices reprieved

It’s good news the entire ticket office closure process has been 'cancelled' – but there’s a big sting in the tail – what will really happen next?

Stormy forecast for rail

Author: Pete Myers - Published Fri 06 of Jan, 2023 18:25 GMT - (0 Reads)
Pete Myers, formerly Stakeholder Manager for Northern Rail and now a director of Railfuture, forecasts a potentially stormy year for our railway in 2023. Passengers moving fast at Leeds station.

Stop this madness

Author: Ian Brown CBE FCILT - Published Mon 12 of Dec, 2022 18:40 GMT - (0 Reads)
Who can stop the RMT strike madness? Railfuture’s Policy Director comments on the failure of the RMT union and the government to reach a settlement that enables a successful, viable future for rail. Strike day at Paddington – trains going nowhere. Photo by Roger Blake for Railfuture.

Open Access

Author: Stewart Palmer - Published Sun 13 of Nov, 2022 21:38 GMT - (0 Reads)
Railfuture director and vice-president Stewart Palmer, who has and worked in the rail industry for 38 years, puts Railfuture's view on open access passenger operation in Britain. Lumo has shown that rail can attract more passengers and increase revenue if it offers simple high-value product, but not all open access operations have been or will be successful. Lumo class 803 train at Edinburgh. Image by MrBoyt reproduced under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Everyone loses

Author: Chris Page - Published Thu 23 of Jun, 2022 18:50 BST - (0 Reads)
The rail strikes this week are bad for everyone. Some trains ran, including on Island Line where rail staff voted against a strike. Photo by Chris Page for Railfuture.

Fares

PHO:2020.08.03 - SWR smartcard
Fares must be repriced to deliver value for money, remove the anomalies which lead to split-ticketing and encourage more people to choose the train - particularly for travel to the workplace.


Short sighted rail companies shooting themselves in the foot

Short sighted rail companies are shooting themselves in the foot. New railway timetable proposals that cut off-peak service frequencies are a recipe for disaster, deterring leisure travellers from using trains, so reducing revenue rather than saving cost.


Railfuture’s message is USE IT OR LOSE IT! Our online guide for rail passengers is at Rail user help.

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