‘Give me clear information about how my journey will be affected’

28 February 2018

Investment in the rail network is welcome, but passengers can face significant disruption before seeing the benefits. When this happens, communication is key.

Transport Focus worked with South West Trains and Network Rail to help make sure passenger communications hit the mark in the run up to major engineering works at London Waterloo station in August 2017.

Our latest report – Railway engineering work: Putting passengers at the heart of the London Waterloo upgrade – explains how we established what passengers wanted to know, tracked effectiveness of communications in the run up to the disruption in August and monitored passengers’ reaction during the part-closure itself.

Guy Dangerfield, head of strategy at Transport Focus said:

“Passengers’ key ask remains that train companies provide clear information about how my journey will be affected, including the level of impact, the alternatives I have and, of course, the timetable that will be operated.”

Passenger awareness of the works was 41 per cent at the time of the first wave of research in November/December 2016, reaching 97 per cent by the time the works started in August 2017. The research shows that 57 per cent of passengers were very or fairly satisfied with their journey during the final phase of the upgrade works.

Click here to download the report.