Learning from delays and disruption in Wales

02 March 2020

How well do you think delays are dealt with on trains? Most importantly are you given the information you need when you need it?

Our latest National Rail Passenger Survey showed that for Transport for Wales only 45 per cent of passengers were happy with how train companies dealt with delays. The same number were satisfied with how useful information was during delays. So it’s clear there’s work to be done.

This is something Network Rail has been focusing on how to do better with its focus on passenger information during disruption.

An opportunity to look at this came about when severe disruption hit Swansea on 12 December 2019. A double decker crashed into a low bridge and an unrelated second incident was reported around the same time on the Great Western Railway route from London Paddington to Swansea.

My colleague, Michelle Roles, was there to see how Network Rail rose to the occasion. She took a look at how the Network Rail Customer Action Team was working at Cardiff Central station to support both passengers and station staff. She also travelled through the disruption to Swansea station see how well it was being managed there.

Network Rail held a debrief session on 7 January which gave us an opportunity to say how we felt the disruption was dealt with – what went well and what could be done better. The session was useful to hear both sides but also for Network Rail to take the opportunity to learn from the experience.

We put together these observations which will be used to support customer service training and look at other training needs.

Great to see a real focus on improvements. The observations show even simple things can make a massive difference. Operators should continue to learn from experience.