Punctuality and improved trains must be core to plans for the East Anglia franchise if passenger satisfaction is to improve, says watchdog Passenger Focus. Passengers using current East Anglia services are among the least satisfied in Great Britain, according to Passenger Focus’s National Passenger Survey.

Passenger Focus has asked more than 3000 passengers currently using National Express East Anglia rail services their priorities for improvement. The watchdog has used that feedback to make recommendations to government about what passengers want from the new operator, scheduled to take over the Liverpool Street routes in April 2011.

Based on the passenger research, the independent passenger watchdog is calling for investment in new trains and refurbishment of carriages. It is also advocating a greater focus on measuring train punctuality at all stations along the route not just the arrival time at the end of the journey.

Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive, said: “Many of the trains used on the Liverpool Street routes and in East Anglia are more than 30 years’ old. We have seen on other parts of the rail network that investment pays off, with real improvements in passenger satisfaction. Passengers in East Anglia have waited long enough for some overdue investment. Even greater focus on running trains on time is also needed under the new franchise.”

Passenger Focus’s recommendations to the Government include improvements to ticketing, more punctual trains, and better disruption handling. It also suggests timetable changes including the trial of Boxing Day services, more later-evening trains, journey-time improvements on the London to Norwich route and to destinations in the West Anglia area.

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PASSENGERS WANT OVERHAUL OF EAST ANGLIA RAILWAY

Passenger Focus is calling for the rail industry to tell passengers how many of its trains are actually arriving at the station on time. Currently, the industry measures trains as being punctual if they arrive at the final station within five or 10 minutes (depending on journey length).

The National Passenger Survey Autumn 2009 results show that nationally, passenger satisfaction with punctuality/reliability is at a record high of 83%.

However, Passenger Focus, with the help of National Express East Anglia (NXEA), has undertaken research looking at the relationship between passenger satisfaction and train lateness. Passenger Focus welcomed NXEA’s cooperation in the research as an important contribution to understanding how passenger satisfaction can be improved in East Anglia and across the wider rail network.

Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive, said: “Passengers tell us they are increasingly satisfied with punctuality on the railway. Passenger Focus welcomes National Express’s work with us to understand how passenger satisfaction can be further improved.”

The National Passenger Survey (NPS) shows that train punctuality is the leading factor in whether passengers will be satisfied overall with the rail service they receive. This latest research found passengers judge lateness from the first minute the train arrives at the destination after the scheduled time. For every minute that a train is late, passenger satisfaction drops by two percentage points.

The independent passenger watchdog welcomed the fact that across the rail network more trains were arriving at the final destination within five or 10 minutes of the scheduled timetable.

Mr Smith said: “Passengers want their trains actually on time, not up to five or 10 minutes late. To drive passenger satisfaction higher, train companies and Network Rail should focus on running trains to the timetable – not just at the final destination, but at intermediate stations too. We found that less than half of passengers in this study get to their home station on time – even though many of the trains they caught will have counted as on time at the final destination.

“Longer term, we are calling on the industry to move towards a system which reports to passengers whether trains are arriving on time rather than within five or 10 minutes.”

Passenger Focus will be calling on the Department for Transport to consider these findings as it looks at setting future targets for the industry.

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Working with passengers towards a ‘right time’ railway

National Express East Anglia (NXEA) with the Bittern and Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnerships has just launched new ‘Railway Rambles’ booklets.

To celebrate the launch of the new guides, the Mayor of Sheringham Councillor Hilary Thompson, and Ted Gadsden and Peter Lawrence Chairmen of the Bittern and Wherry Lines respectively, joined representatives from Norfolk County Council, National Express East Anglia and the Department for Transport (DfT) at Norwich station.

The ‘Railway Rambles’ are glossy pictorial guides of 40 pages complete with maps and illustrations, including vintage pictures chosen for the covers from the National Railway Museum’s archive. Each of the booklets contain details of self-guided walks from stations on the Bittern and Wherry Lines, including the length of the walk, gradient and suggested refreshment stops. The booklets have been put together by the Countryside Access Team at Norfolk County Council, with the aim to encourage more people to enjoy car free days out and explore the beautiful countryside surrounding the Bittern and Wherry lines.

The booklets are free of charge and are available on request from Norwich station and other staffed NXEA stations, as well as from libraries, Tourist Information Centres and by request via the Bittern and Wherry lines websites. The guides have been primarily funded by grants awarded by the DfT, the Association of Community Railway Partnerships (ACORP) and Norfolk County Council.

James Steward, National Express East Anglia’s Rural Area Manager said:

“The new ‘Railway Rambles’ guides are a delight, they are beautifully put together with lots of ideas for great days out. I hope they inspire more people to step out and explore the stunning East Anglian countryside on our Bittern and Wherry lines.”

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Find the Right Track with Railway Rambles

National Express East Anglia (NXEA) with the Bittern and Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnerships has just launched new ‘Railway Rambles’ booklets.

To celebrate the launch of the new guides, the Mayor of Sheringham Councillor Hilary Thompson, and Ted Gadsden and Peter Lawrence Chairmen of the Bittern and Wherry Lines respectively, joined representatives from Norfolk County Council, National Express East Anglia and the Department for Transport (DfT) at Norwich station.

The ‘Railway Rambles’ are glossy pictorial guides of 40 pages complete with maps and illustrations, including vintage pictures chosen for the covers from the National Railway Museum’s archive. Each of the booklets contain details of self-guided walks from stations on the Bittern and Wherry Lines, including the length of the walk, gradient and suggested refreshment stops. The booklets have been put together by the Countryside Access Team at Norfolk County Council, with the aim to encourage more people to enjoy car free days out and explore the beautiful countryside surrounding the Bittern and Wherry lines.

The booklets are free of charge and are available on request from Norwich station and other staffed NXEA stations, as well as from libraries, Tourist Information Centres and by request via the Bittern and Wherry lines websites. The guides have been primarily funded by grants awarded by the DfT, the Association of Community Railway Partnerships (ACORP) and Norfolk County Council.

James Steward, National Express East Anglia’s Rural Area Manager said:

“The new ‘Railway Rambles’ guides are a delight, they are beautifully put together with lots of ideas for great days out. I hope they inspire more people to step out and explore the stunning East Anglian countryside on our Bittern and Wherry lines.”

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Try Railway Rambles to Find the Right Track

Ashwin Kumar, Passenger Focus director, said: “Passengers will want assurances from government that their views and opinions will be centre stage as preparations start to award a new contract to operate East Anglia rail services. In the meantime, passengers will want reassurance that trains will run on time and the level and quality of services will not slip in coming months.

“Passenger Focus will help ensure that passengers’ priorities are fully understood and front of mind throughout the process to award a new East Anglia franchise to run from 1 April 2011.”

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Passenger Focus responds to National Express East Anglia franchise decision

In response to the Government’s announcement on the National Express East Anglia franchise, Michael Roberts, Chief Executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said:

“Today’s announcement makes clear the Government’s intention to relet the franchise to the private sector. This is welcome recognition that franchising has been a key part of the system that has brought about record levels of punctuality, investment and customer satisfaction for millions of rail passengers around the country.

“We now need targeted reform of the system to build on these successes to continue to deliver improvements for passengers and better value for money for taxpayers.

“This would bring greater long term stability and encourage train operators to invest more in better services. Smarter franchises would also speed up improvements to rolling stock and stations.”

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Train companies respond to East Anglia franchise announcement

Work to increase car parking capacity at National Express East Anglia’s Audley End station will commence on Thursday 12 November in a £690k investment to construct a new and additional car park at the station. This project is part of the company’s Service Improvement Plan to improve capacity on the East Anglia network through the introduction of 188 additional train carriages and extra car parking at key locations. The work at Audley End fulfils a long-held aspiration to improve parking facilities, and will provide sufficient future capacity in-line with the expected further growth in passengers consistent with the introduction of new trains on the West Anglia route in 2011.

The construction of the new car park is being carried out by Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd and will provide on completion an additional 150 car parking spaces increasing the total capacity at Audley End to approximately 700 spaces. The project is scheduled for completion early in 2010 and is being managed to minimise any inconvenience to the existing car parking arrangements at the station while the work continues.

Mark Phillips, Deputy Managing Director of National Express East Anglia will formally commence the project at Audley End station on Thursday and said:

“I am pleased that work is beginning to extend the car park at Audley End station. These improvements will be welcomed by our customers with the extra 150 car parking spaces making it easier to park at this busy station. The work at Audley End is one of the first projects in the National Express East Anglia Service Improvement Plan to take shape, with more improvements to commence on our network over the coming months.”

Guy Dangerfield, Passenger Link Manager for Passenger Focus said:

“Getting to the station is an integral part of making a journey by train and passengers will applaud this increase in car parking spaces at Audley End station.  There is nothing more frustrating than finding the station car park full when you have a train to catch.”

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New Car Park extension to boost capacity at Audley End Station

March Station, in Cambridgeshire is beginning to flourish once again after receiving some extra attention from the ‘Friends of March Station’ group.

The ‘Friends of March Station’ is the brain child of NXEA Area Manager Alan Neville and Fenland District Council’s Jeanette Milner. The group was formed in the summer of 2009 with the aim to bring the whole of the station back into positive use and to make people feel proud of this major gateway into the town. Together volunteers from the community and from organisations such as NXEA, Network Rail, The Probation Service and the Fenland District Council’s Street Pride have been getting together to undertake work at the station such as clearing overgrowth and rubbish from the redundant platforms, and planting new floral displays on the operational platforms.

Work is progressing apace and to such an extent that at the recent Anglia in Bloom Awards, both March Street Pride and the Railway Station Volunteers were recognised, winning ‘Merits’ in the Neighbourhood Awards Category, plus March as a town, won a Bronze award.

Alan Neville, National Express East Anglia’s Area Manager said:

“Though there is still more work to do, what has been achieved so far has made the whole station look cleaner, brighter and more welcoming. In our latest service quality survey at the station our score went up from 84% to 91% – this is significant progress and our customers have really noticed a difference. We will work to improve this still further in the future.”

Jeanette Milner, Fenland District Council’s Street Pride Co-ordinator, said:

“The enthusiasm for the project has far exceeded my expectations. The impact we have had has been incredible – everyone says how much more welcoming the station is. Future plans are to finish the clearing of the platforms, refurbish one of the rooms initially to be used as a meeting room. Other ideas are a gallery, museum and possibly a cafe in the future. Negotiations are continuing to secure funding to restore the buildings.”

The next group meeting is on November 9, 2009, at 6.30pm, at Fenland Hall, Fenland District Council’s offices in March.

The next “Friends of March” station volunteer day is on November 14, 2009, from 10am until 1pm. Anyone interested in participating should contact Jeanette Milner at the Fenland District Council.

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March Station Rejuvenated

National Express East Anglia (NXEA) held their 2009 Station Adopters Awards at Norwich City Football Club on 23 October. Representatives of the community from across East Anglia attended the ceremony which was hosted by Andrew Goodrum, Customer Service Director for National Express East Anglia.

NXEA has encouraged and supported volunteers from the local communities throughout East Anglia who have adopted their local station, helping to look after the gardens and to improve the environment and community engagement at stations. The Station Adopter scheme has been operating successfully since 2003. The winners of this year’s awards are:

• Best Medium Station: Broxbourne, Hertfordshire. Highly commended: March, Saxmundham, Wymondham, Woodbridge

• Best Small Station: Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex. Highly commended: Brimsdown, Cantley, Sudbury

• Best Personal Contribution: Mike Warner, Reedham Station, Norfolk

• Most Improved Station: March, Cambridgeshire

• Best Staffed Station: Witham, Essex. Runners-up: Alresford, Brimsdown

• Best Station Adopter Group: West Runton, Norfolk. Runners-up: Cantley, Sheringham

The winners received garden vouchers and certificates, and Witham was presented with the Cup as Best Staffed Station.

Andrew Goodrum, Customer Service Director for National Express East Anglia said:

“The judges had a very difficult decision to make as the various categories were closely contested. I should like to thank all the community volunteers at our 79 stations which are adopted across our network, for their dedication and commitment in helping to provide a welcoming environment for our customers and station visitors.”

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Best Stations and Volunteers are Winners at National Express Awards

National Express East Anglia is giving families and leisure travellers more reasons to travel during the school half-term next week by lifting travel restrictions that usually apply in the early evening to Off-Peak  tickets for journeys from London Liverpool Street on Mondays to Fridays.

Commencing from Monday 26 October and continuing until Friday 30 October, Off-Peak Day Single and Return tickets and Off-Peak Day Travelcards will be valid for travel on trains departing Liverpool Street between 16.29 and 18.34, with these tickets the best choice for many leisure journeys from stations in the East Anglia region including, Bishop’s Stortford, Brentwood, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Colchester, Hertford East and Southend Victoria.

Half-term week is the ideal time for families to enjoy the attractions of London or the coast, and National Express is playing its part in making travel simpler for families and day-trippers to take a day-out through a wider choice of available trains on which off-peak tickets will be valid.

Andrew Goodrum, National Express East Anglia’s Customer Services Director said:  “With many families expected to enjoy a day-out or short-break in London during October half-term, we’re pleased to be able to increase the number of evening trains on which off-peak tickets will be valid. This will help to widen the choice of trains for families and day-trippers returning from London Liverpool Street in the evening.”

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Half-Term Boost For Leisure Travellers