Passenger Voice March 2016: Passengers continue to rely on railway staff
04 March 2016
Passengers still value the ‘human face’ of staff on the ground despite all the new technology available.
Our latest research asked rail passengers what they think about staff and the value they add to their journey experience.
This research found that:
- Passengers value the guidance and reassurance that staff provide when buying tickets. However, this help doesn’t necessarily mean it has to come from behind a ticket office counter.
- Staff are the human face of the railway. Their interaction with passengers, and the information they provide, particularly when journeys are disrupted, is important.
- A visible staff presence makes passengers feel safer at stations and on trains.
Anthony Smith, Transport Focus’s chief executive, said:
“Each time we ask passengers about rail staff we get the same answer: we like and value having staff around and our journey experience would be worse without them.
“It is essential that the rail industry carefully considers the findings of this research when deciding how it uses front-line staff.”
Transport Focus’s latest National Rail Passenger Survey found that 76 per cent of passengers were happy with the attitude and helpfulness of station staff, while satisfaction with train staff was 65 per cent. Only 44 per cent of passengers were satisfied with the availability of staff during their journey.
Click here to download the report.
