Summary Minutes of Passenger Panel Meeting
Date – 9th December 2011
Venue – Boardroom, St Mary’s House, Cardiff
Present
Arriva Trains Wales
· Ian Bullock (IB), Customer Service Director (Chair)
· Chris Davidson (CD), Customer Relations Manager (Minutes)
· Paul Tapley (PT), Head of Marketing
Passenger Panel
· Ted Jones (TJ)
· Christopher Boulter (CB)
· Elizabeth Pettit (EP)
· Peter Bailey (PB)
· Rowland Pittard (RP)
· Peter Harris (PH)
· Christine Harris (CH)
· Peter Morris (PM)
· Carole Standley (CS)
· Jim Treloar (JT)
· Will Rees (WR)
Apologies
Arriva Trains Wales
· Michael Vaughan
Passenger Panel
· Philip Evans (PE)
1 Matters Arising
1.1 IB opened the meeting and recorded apologies from those noted above.
1.2 IB asked the Panel if there were any comments regarding the accuracy of the minutes of the previous meeting. None were raised.
1.3 CD updated the Group on the query raised by PM at the last Panel meeting concerning Loughor Bridge. PM advised that he has also since learned that the current railway bridge may be converted into a footbridge.
2 Business Update
2.1 IB updated the group concerning the ATW North-South (“Gerald”) services. The group were briefed on the current status with the decision making process
2.2 IB continued by saying that it is difficult to say what might happen beyond May, however “Gerald 1” has a big following of around 150 customers, and takes an average of 70 people to Crewe.
2.3 PM asked IB how First Class is currently provided on the “Gerald 2” service. IB replied that there was no First Class accommodation on this train, as a Class 175 unit is used each day.
However, there is a catering trolley with a microwave provided in order to provide an enhanced offer on this service, although sales were disappointing
2.4 EP asked if the change could result in the reinstatement of the morning service between Wrexham and Birmingham that had been diverted to accommodate the “Gerald 2” service. IB advised that this was not known at this stage. TJ asked if Carl Sargeant was optimistic about the future of the “Gerald” services, however IB advised that this was difficult to say as WG officers had been the main point of contact to date but any decision would require the Minister’s authority.
2.5 PM asked if Welsh Government has reintroduced the free concessionary travel scheme again. CD advised that they had, albeit with some reduction of scope on the Heart of Wales route. Swansea pass holders could previously use the concession but this was no longer the case, and only Powys and Carmarthenshire passes were now accepted. WR advised that his Swansea pass had been accepted recently. TJ added that the Conwy Valley scheme was also back in operation.
2.6 JT queried why changes were being proposed for May, when it had been stated at the last meeting that the Olympics would result in a “12 month timetable”. CD advised that TOCs were being permitted to make small changes, provided that these were minor in nature and did not impact on Olympic events.
2.7 IB updated the group on an announcement made by DfT on 6th December. Access for All funding was being provided to install fully accessible footbridges at Chirk, Llandaff, Machynlleth, Radyr, and Ystrad Mynach. The schemes had been costed, and WG have agreed to work with the consortia and local authorities to make up the difference between Access for All funding and the delivery costs. All bridges would be delivered by Network Rail, and would be complete by the end of March 2014.
2.8 IB advised that passenger numbers had seen some growth, and some of the routes that had seen a decline in early 2011 have stabilised. Overall ATW is on target for modest passenger number growth figure in 2011; however there is some caution about what 2012 may bring in the context of the wider economic environment. IB invited PT to brief the panel on the new Yield Management System that ATW had started using. PT advised that this system enabled the business to manage different volumes of Advance tickets. This brings revenue benefit to the business, and also allows us to manage capacity more effectively than before. PT further advised that a further associated development was that Advance fares were being introduced for West Wales to Cardiff journeys, and also for Swansea to Shrewsbury journeys. This allows customers to make inexpensive pre-planned trips on these routes.
2.9 IB further advised that ATW fares would rise at the level of RPI +1% as detailed in the Franchise as agreed with WG. Initially, Westminster government had announced a change to RPI +3% for England based TOCs, but this had now been reversed and was also following RPI +1% in most cases. IB concluded by stating that ATOC would be making a press announcement about the changes on 20th December.
3 Performance & Customer Relations Update
3.1 IB provided an overview of ATW’s performance during period ATW1111. Of note, performance had been very good during the autumn period, which is pleasing since autumn normally causes great variability in performance. There is a strong pattern of infrastructure issues, and cable thefts remain problematic. IB advised that there is an online petition for changes to legislation covering the sale of scrap metal to address the current lack of traceability within the system.
ACTION (CD) – Distribute link to online petition on Scrap Metal bill to Panel members.
3.2 RP stated he believed that animal trespass seemed to be an increasing trend.
3.3 IB advised that this did not appear to be the case, and commented that the recent disruptive incident at Marshfield on 6th December had been caused by a farmer leaving a gate open.
3.4 CD presented an overview of Customer Relations activity during the last reporting period (ATW1111).
3.5 Following recent contact from a customer, EP asked CD what the Customer Relations contact centre performance had been recently. CD advised that he would check and advise EP directly.
ACTION (CD) – Advise EP directly of recent CR contact centre performance.
3.6 RP noted that whenever train enquiries were made, there is a tendency to always quote changes at Newport, rather than Cardiff Central which had better facilities. CD advised that this was due to the connectional time at Cardiff Central being 7 minutes, rather than 5 minutes at Newport. Therefore at Cardiff Central, some connections that would be regarded as achievable at Newport are invalid. However some concern has been raised regarding the connectional time at Newport, and particularly the time taken to cross between Platforms 1 and 4. CD advised that ATW and Network Rail had worked to identify “tight” connections and try and use Platforms 2/3 in these instances to ensure that these connections are achievable.
3.7 CS advised that the Info Point at Ferryside was not working, and has not worked for some weeks. IB advised this will be followed up.
ACTION (IB) – Report defective Info Point at Ferryside to Stations team.
3.8 RP raised a recent experience of a delayed train at Tondu, and although the train arrived 12 minutes late the CIS screen showed “On Time”. IB explained some of the technical limitations of the current system, and advised that there is a long-held aspiration to fit trains with GPS. There are some funding and practical issues to resolve at this stage however.
3.9 EP asked if there was an update on the Mystery Shopper exercise. CD replied that as the response window had only recently closed, the data was still being analysed. However a detailed presentation would be provided next time.
ACTION (CD) – Add Mystery Shop to agenda for next Full Panel meeting
4 ATW Head of Marketing
4.1 PT introduced himself, and provided the group with a detailed presentation covering the work of the ATW Marketing team, including management of recent promotional activity such as Club 55 and Love the Train. Also, he gave an overview of recent enhancements made to the ATW website (including Rainbow Boards and Journeycheck), as well as the work of the PR team.
4.2 RP wished to pass on some complimentary feedback regarding the SailRail and Club 55 products, and the way in which these had been publicised.
4.3 PM noted that he was surprised the radio advertising seemed to be less effective than other media. PT advised that the view was that radio seems to be quite effective at promoting general brand awareness, but in the context of Love the Train and Club 55 has been disappointing.
5 Station Projects
5.1 IB provided an overview of the extensive work being undertaken by the ATW Property team.
5.2 On the subject of the multi-story car park at Chester, JT advised that a warehouse adjacent to the station may be a suitable alternative site.
6. Any Other Business
6.1 WR, CS and TJ highlighted some concern about the lack of announcements that were being made, and citing that this affected mainly evening services where arguably announcements are all the more important. IB asked for specific details to be fed back so that these issues could be addressed through the line managers of the relevant Conductors.
6.2 PH, CH and JT noted that there had been an issue with their First Class upgrades. Specifically, Railcard discounts had not been applied and they had been advised that they were not permitted to obtain discounts on the upgrade product. CD advised that the internal briefing document confirms that the discount is permitted, and that an appropriate reminder would be issued.
ACTION (CD) – Arrange rebrief on discounted First Class supplements and associated Railcard discounts.
6.3 CB noted that some of the auto announcers and visual displays on the refurbished Class 158 units were not working. IB replied that the first two units were known to be an issue, and that the suppliers intended changing the screens. However we will check and confirm this in due course.
ACTION (CD) – Raise non-operation of Class 158 PIS screens with ATW fleet team and feed back to Panel.
6.4 CS thanked ATW for arranging for the 1906 Carmarthen to Cardiff to call at Ferryside; however this only appears to happen on weekdays (i.e. not Saturdays when customers are more likely to want to travel to Swansea for an evening out. CS queried this, and also restated her request for a stop to be reinstated on the 2052 Swansea to Carmarthen.
ACTION (ATW) – Query why 19.06 Carmarthen to Cardiff Central does not call at Ferryside on Saturdays.
ACTION (ATW) – Raise request for 20.52 Swansea to Carmarthen service to stop additionally at Ferryside and Kidwelly upon request.
6.5 EP raised some concern about the pay and display parking meter that had been installed at Wrexham General recently. It is stated that the new machine is quite complex, and customers are having to queue at the ticket office to obtain parking tickets. Also, the new tariff is difficult to see as it is mounted very high on the pole.
ACTION (CD) – Raise issues with ATW Property team for comment.
6.6 PB noted that some of the recent promotional effort on Advance fares seems to neglect the availability of these discounted tickets between Wrexham and Cardiff. PT advised he would take this away for review with his team.
ACTION (CD) – Feed back to Panel on promotion of Advance fares that are available from Wrexham.
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