Customer Information Pledges, how is it going one year on?

[bakerstreet]

I found this document very interesting. It lays out what passengers can expect from the railway, especially during times of disruption.

Given significant posts on this forum about what happens during disruption, these appear to be laudable aims. But, one year on, how is the industry doing at implementing this?

I love the spirit of this document, and if the rail industry as a whole shared its spirit* both in its day-to-day dealings with passengers and in its backroom work on ticketing, pricing, routeing, time and journey restrictions, with a clear aim to make the railways a joy to travel on, I think the level of frustration on these boards and amongst all passengers would dramatically reduce.
*(I don't mean that there is no sign of this, I mean that a percentage of the industry does not share this spirit)

Do all staff think like this? What can I do to help this passenger? What can I do to minimise the delay? How can I reroute them? Let's put them in a cab, Let's get them on another train, let's arrange overnight accommodation, let me check about or ask for ticket acceptance? I can probably just accept this ticket, so why don't I do this?.

I'm sure it is a work in progress, some of it has been an issue since the days of BR.

Let's hope it works, in the meantime travelling with a copy of this document may be useful. It doesn't appear to have any involvement of or explicit backing of the DfT, which could lead to a little friction.

Main points I found interesting (my bold)

Privacy:

If you share your information, we will: • make it clear how we will use your information • to not use the information for anything other than what you agree to • stop using your information if you tell us, at any time

Staff assistance:

Our team members will: • be happy to help and be visible so you know where to find them • be the eyes and ears to help things run smoothly on the network - they will listen to any feedback you give and make sure that it is recorded to help make things better in the future • know what they need to do to resolve or report a problem • know what to do to help you when you travel with us • have access to technology (such as a mobile device) to enable them to get helpful information and share it with you • be available at our staffed stations to give you information. At unstaffed stations, or if no staff are present, there will be a way of getting in touch with us and we will tell you about these on notices around the station

When things go wrong

Sharing relevant travel options that help you make decisions about your journey. These may include: • checking if your journey by train is currently possible • travelling on another route (which might include local public transport) • using Emergency Replacement Transport • travelling at a later time or on a later day

When things go wrong (continued)

We’ll give you a helping hand, by: • taking care of you - if the last train of the day is cancelled, we won’t leave you stranded • helping you with directions if we suggest an alternative route and you’re not familiar with it • making it clear that if we tell you to travel on a different train, route or operator, there will be no extra charge and you don’t have to change your ticket even if it is for a specific train or operator • ensuring that if you had to travel from another station on your outward journey because your planned journey was disrupted and your ticket was being accepted on that route, you will be able to travel back to that station without paying an extra fare using your original ticket - even if there is no longer any disruption • making it clear how you can get in touch with us if you want to let us know how we are doing. We will listen to your feedback and use this to help improve in the future

https://www.raildeliverygroup.com/about-us/publications/12874-customer-information-pledges/file.html