Jac Starr, RDG CEO and Transport for All’s Alan Benson

This past weekend, on 3^rd December, we celebrated the International Day of Persons with Disabilities which looks to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilise support for the dignity, rights, and well-being of people with disabilities. I say celebrated because disability is not a negative to be hidden away. Disability can bring unique skills, insights and resilience, as well as pride in an identity that has shaped lives for over 20% of our working age population.

With the end of 2022 fast approaching, this made me look back and reflect on where we are with delivering our vision of an inclusive railway, easy to use and accessible to all.

I’m proud of the improvements we have been able to deliver over the last few years, such as the ‘Passenger Assistance’ app in May 2021, making it easier and quicker for disabled people to request assistance for their train journey, and more recently we welcomed the ‘Passenger Assistance’ web app which provides customers with an additional way to request assistance prior to travelling.

We also successfully implemented reduced booking horizons across the railway network, meaning that since April, customers can request assistance up to two hours before they are scheduled to travel, any time of the day and for any rail journey. This is down from six hours previously, and critically includes the first train of the day.

These are just some of the key milestones, supported by a range of other initiatives that I believe can make a real change for customers, such as the launch of an information card and other aides for people supported by assistance dogs on trains, or the option for ‘Passenger Assistance’ users to rate the service received within the app, thus supporting industry in making further improvements for the future.

While I’m pleased with the steps we are taking towards a more accessible railway, we cannot be complacent.

I always stress that the most important thing to me as RDG’s CEO is to push forward change to influence better customer outcomes for all current and future users of our railways. To do that, and when it comes to meeting the needs of our disabled customers, it is crucial to keep in mind that we work towards delivering a service that works for them – and don’t expect them to adapt to fit into what suits us as providers.

Engaging with our disabled customers is therefore essential to understanding what they require when travelling by train, and that is why I welcomed the opportunity to join Transport for All’s Co-Chair of Trustees Alan Benson MBE for his journey between Farringdon to Clapham Junction via Waterloo and back in September.

Alan is a wheelchair user and was joined by his personal assistant on the day. At the start of our journey, we took some time to take in the surrounds of what was then the newly opened Elizabeth Line. The space, the acoustics, the signage, the lighting, the lack of flashy ad boards staring at you as you travel were all huge benefits and shouldn’t be overlooked as contributors to a better experience for Alan and others. Of course, this is very different from other aspects of the transport network which – by contrast – can make for a more challenging environment. Before our journey together, I hadn’t fully appreciated how some of the softer factors many of us barely notice can make such a difference to Alan and fellow disabled customers. Bold signage, for example, is an extremely useful tool as it allows the customer to look down the platform and identify where they need to place themselves to board easily. It seems simple, but it can really have a huge impact, so something to take onboard when making and implementing plans for our GB stations.

Prior to our journey, Alan had used the ‘Passenger Assistance’ app to request assistance in advance of his journey, but I witnessed him having to go to a booth in Waterloo, find the staff member to help and then head over to the gate where he had been announced to someone else before being navigating to the right boarding spot with a ramp. I’m being intentionally critical as the system worked but I’m conscious that as a wheelchair user, Alan had to allocate extra time by having to adhere to this process.

Alan himself recognised the enhancements that have been made to the ‘Passenger Assist’ working programme but was honest about the need for additional improvements. This is something the industry recognises and the two-year ‘Passenger Assist Phase 4 Roadmap’ has been developed with stakeholder input. This will see additional functions added to the current system over time, including the ability for customers to easily make their own seat reservations, or being able to purchase a ticket and request assistance at the same time – both of which we know are absolute priorities for disabled customers.

My trip with Alan helped me get a glimpse of what works well and what might not. Alan is realistic about the art of the possible in delivering enhancements – particularly in what has and continues to be a very challenging period for the rail industry, but quite rightly, he is not prepared to accept an inferior service.

I have said it before and I will say it again: Only by engaging, listening and acting can we keep making positive change and deliver real improvements that will support our vision of an inclusive, easy to use railway for all.

By Jac Starr, CEO, Rail Delivery Group

Ever since joining RDG in 2015 as Managing Director of Customer Experience, I have always aimed to ensure that we put customers at the heart of everything we do. With the rail industry being at a critical moment in its recent history, reform is needed to improve its offer to customers. The single most important thing to me as CEO is what the industry is doing to influence better customer outcomes.

That is why I’m always eager to hear from as many customers as possible, to learn about their experiences and get a better understanding of what we need to do to make things better.

In the summer, I was pleased to have the opportunity to travel the network with Hannah from Whizz-Kidz, the UK’s leading charity for young wheelchair users. We travelled from Lee Station in South-East London to Earls Court, and I was able to hear directly from Hannah about some of the challenges she faces on a daily basis.

Hannah is a wheelchair user and prior to our journey together she booked assistance via the ‘Passenger Assistance’ app. As a reminder, the smartphone app developed by Transreport was launched by the industry in May 2021 to make it easier and quicker for disabled people to request assistance for their train journey so that they can travel with confidence.

I was pleased to see that the train employee looked out for Hannah’s arrival and asked her which train carriage she would like to travel on. Hannah requested the middle knowing that this would take her closer to the lift at London Bridge (where we needed to change) and was grateful to be asked, telling me that she often isn’t and subsequently gets placed next to the toilets or somewhere more congested.

At London Bridge we got the lift and Hannah explained how, more often than not, people who don’t need it choose to use the lift instead of giving priority to people who depend on it.

My time with Hannah was a mere snapshot of all journeys made by disabled people on our railways. And when you consider them travelling across the network during peak hours, or late at night, you start to recognise some of the barriers our disabled customers can face.

It is our vision to have an inclusive railway that is easy to use and accessible to all. To date, RDG, together with train operators and Network Rail, has made significant improvements in delivering a simpler, better railway for everyone in Britain.

As I mentioned earlier, last year, we launched ‘Passenger Assistance’, which is offered alongside the previously existing phone and email forms. Earlier this month, I welcomed the launch of the ‘Passenger Assistance’ web app, which provides customers with an additional way to request assistance and is delivered against the backdrop of our longer-term vision to improve assistance provision across the rail network.

We have also reduced the booking window so that customers can request assistance up to two hours before they are scheduled to travel, any time of the day and for any rail journey. This is down from six hours previously, and critically includes the first train of the day.

The launch of the app has been part of our overall mission to continually improve the experience of all our customers. To ensure that operators are increasingly well supported to deliver assistance, the two-year ‘Passenger Assist Phase 4 Roadmap’ has been developed based on extensive stakeholder insights and should be delivered by the end of 2023.

While this demonstrates important progress in achieving a step-change in customer experience, we cannot stop here. In line with our vision, our goal is to ensure that thinking about accessibility and inclusion is truly embedded across the entire rail industry and being given priority within the general decision-making process.

The 2010 Equality Act which sets out requirements to stop discrimination against a range of protected characteristics, has placed particular emphasis on public bodies to ensure they do not discriminate (the ‘Public Sector Equality Duty’).  But while it’s the law, it’s also just the right thing to do.

There is more to be done to ensure our railways are fully accessible and inclusive, but I hope the improvements and new initiatives we have launched will enable more people to have a better experience. My journey with Hannah was a valuable reminder of the challenges that disabled customers face every day, and I want to ensure we continue to learn and improve across the rail industry, now and in the future.

By Rob Morgan, Digital Product Manager (NRE) Propositions and Marketing, Rail Delivery Group

It was an honour to have been asked to represent the United Kingdom, along with colleagues at Network Rail, at the annual Trainbow Europe conference in Vienna, Austria on 9^th and 10^th September. The conference is a fantastic opportunity for the LGBT+ employee networks of rail undertakings across Europe to gather together to share our stories, our best practice, and the successes and hardships that have affected LGBT+ employees and customers across the railway.

The conference had a great turnout with 40 delegates from France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and of course Austria, in attendance.

This was the third year that the UK has been represented, having hosted the conference in York in 2021, and each year the membership is increasing.

Highlights included a trip along the Danube river to an Austrian wine tavern in the town of Krems an der Donau (about 70km from Vienna) for a traditional Austrian lunch; a welcome reception on the 23^rd floor of the ÖBB Building with incredible views across Vienna at sunset; and a working lunch with the CEO, Andreas Matthä, where he talked about the importance of diversity and inclusion, and how the railway needs to reflect the customers it serves.

It was a fantastic opportunity to represent the UK, and the incredible work our railway, to our European counterparts.

Picture courtesy of ©wexplore/ öbb 

By John Backway, Head of CBO, Rail Delivery Group

I was pleased to attend yesterday’s Transport Ticketing 2022 conference, the world’s largest smart ticketing and mobility event in London, where I was joined by some of the industry’s most influential bodies to discuss what is the lifeblood of the success of our industry – our fares system. 

As Britain recovers post-Covid, the importance of getting people back to travelling by train has never been more apparent - not for the benefit of the rail industry itself but for various other sectors of the economy, for different parts of the country and for the environment. With new working patterns now here to stay post-Covid, it is impossible to predict exactly how things will play out. But as we move into the summer months, we have recovered to around 81% of pre-pandemic numbers.

To reinforce that recovery, it is vital that the industry continues to adapt to the new post-Covid world, so that we can offer a fair deal for customers, making it simpler for them to get the best prices when using the network. Rail reform, and in particular fares reform, will be key to making this a reality.

Even before the pandemic, the reform and modernisation of rail fares and ticketing had become a priority, as outdated regulations prevented the industry offering customers what they wanted, needed, or expected too much of the time. The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail published last year rightly called for a customer-focused retail revolution, acknowledging the need to reduce “the unnecessary cost and complexity of today’s … paper-based ticket selling process”.

The paper points in the right direction on fares reform and the new Flexi Season tickets launched last summer, which offer flexible workers a discount on their previous monthly ticket, were a great start to realising this retail revolution. We also welcomed the announcement from government of £360 million to upgrade PAYG ticketing and retail systems to passengers outside of London, as part of the Autumn Budget.

While these announcements are good news for our industry, we must ensure that we get the detail of reform right and continue to adapt to keep pace with our competitors, in what is now a rapidly changing transport landscape. This means continuing to work with government to reduce the complexity of fares and to make the process a more seamless experience for customers. And the benefits of some of this work can already be seen across our network – the private sector’s introduction of the digital barcode (QR) ticket for example, removed the need for a physical paper ticket and replaced it with instant fulfilment of rail purchases to customers’ mobile and email accounts.

Likewise, the widespread availability of smartcard ticketing across the National Rail network, making it easier and quicker for commuters to load season tickets and be automatically notified to claim Delay Repay compensation, is another example of where improvements to the customer experience are being made. And as we look to the government’s wider PAYG aspirations set out in the Autumn budget, account-based pay-as-you-go ticketing has already been rolled out by private rail operators GTR and SWR using this smartcard infrastructure, to ensure we lay the right foundations now to deliver for the customer.

To ‘build back better’, the industry can’t rest on its laurels. We must not only foster a ‘customer obsessed’ culture that encourages people to choose rail, but we must also get the right reforms in place so that the railway has the right foundations for the long-term. Key to this is simplifying fares, to deliver a simpler, responsive fares structure that is adaptable to future requirements, and crucially, better for our customers and the taxpayer.