“Northern announcement heralds new chapter in rail franchise”

Posted on March 27, 2014 by admin

 [Press release from Northern Rail, 27th March 2014]

Negotiations with the Department for Transport (DfT) have proved successful for regional train operator Northern Rail as it announced today it will continue to operate rail services across the north of England until February 2016.

Alex Hynes, Managing Director for Northern Rail, has welcomed the news following the signing of the new Direct Award agreement with shareholders Serco and Abellio.

Northern has committed to a range of improvements as part of the agreement which includes improving ticket purchase facilities, extending the availability of advanced tickets, investing in better passenger information by, for example, installing customer information display screens at a further 100 stations, and funding new environmental initiatives.

During the new Direct Award period Northern will continue to work with the Department for Transport on proposals to deliver a fleet of electric trains into the North West, which would see existing diesel stock released to strengthen other services.

Signalling an exciting yet challenging time for the company, Mr Hynes explained how this new chapter for Northern had been shaped by the current period of economic austerity and the Government’s ambition to reduce the overall cost of rail for UK taxpayers:

“The next 22 months is about being more efficient and more effective, seeking and delivering new ways of working. That doesn’t mean taking short cuts or risks. It’s about achieving a balance: delivering a safe and improved service in a new way: doing more with less.

“We’re already delivering enhancements across our network; our services are more punctual and reliable, and the commitment is there to drive further efficiency with our partners.  Crucially today’s announcement gives us the opportunity to start consulting with all our stakeholders on the requirements for creating a step change in rail services for the North under the next long term franchise.”

David Stretch, Serco’s Managing Director for Transport Services, said:

“Serco has a strong track record of providing high quality rail services in the UK and internationally.  We are delighted that the strong performance of our partnership with Abellio, and focus on doing the right thing for our passengers, has been recognised with the award of this new contract.  This is down to the commitment of our team at Northern Rail who work tirelessly to provide an excellent standard of service across the north of England.  We look forward to continuing to work alongside Abellio, the PTEs and other regional stakeholders to help drive improvements and greater efficiencies – benefiting both our fare-paying passengers and the taxpayer.”

Dominic Booth, Abellio UK’s Managing Director commented:

“We’ve been negotiating very hard with the Department for Transport to secure the best outcome for Northern’s passengers.  With our Joint Venture partner we will now be working hard with the Northern Rail team to bring the benefits of the extension to passengers safely, quickly and efficiently.  During this time our focus will also be on determining the long term rail requirements of the next franchise.  This represents the real opportunity to create a rail service that will drive and sustain the socio-economic prosperity of the North of England.”

Northern has seen a staggering 47% growth in passenger numbers since the start of its franchise in 2004 with 94 million journeys made last year and has improved its Moving Annual Average (MAA) performance from 83.7% to 90.9%.

Link to press release at http://www.northernrail.org/news/7445

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“Bid to end train companies’ unfair tactics”

Posted on March 1, 2014 by admin

[Published by Passenger Focus, 1st March 2014]

Passenger Focus is concerned about the unfair treatment meted out by train companies on passengers who have made an innocent mistake when travelling. We have taken this up with the transport minister as making sure that passengers are treated fairly is the most important part of our work.

Each year we handle thousands of appeals by passengers who are unhappy with the way their train company has handled their complaint. We took a close look at these complaints and found that passengers using the rail network face very inconsistent treatment when travelling without a ‘valid’ ticket. Passengers who get it wrong can find themselves facing a hefty bill, or in some of the worst cases, criminal prosecution.
In our letter to the transport minister we have included a number of examples of poor behaviour by train companies, who seem to have far more autonomy and legal power than most other commercial industries. This includes threatening passengers with prosecution for errors such as forgetting their railcard, losing one of their tickets but having other proof of purchase, or being unable to pick up booked tickets.
Sometimes the threat of criminal prosecution seems to be used as a form of debt collection by train companies.
We have argued that this approach to justice must be administered according to clear guidelines, be accountable, give passengers a fair hearing and not assume everyone is guilty.
We’ll report back on this work in future editions of Passenger Voice.
The case study featured in this month’s edition is a good example of what some passengers have to face.

Link to Passenger Focus website is http://email.passengerfocus.org.uk/passengerfocuslz/lz.aspx?p1=058096S177209&CC=&p=2&cID=0&cValue=1

Passenger Focus is the independent consumer organisation representing the interests of rail users nationally and bus, coach and tram users across England outside London.

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“Hundreds of fare dodgers in West Yorkshire costing tens of thousands of pounds”

Posted on January 31, 2014 by admin

And how much revenue are Northern Rail missing out on, where passengers don’t have the opportunity to purchase tickets?

The reluctance or inability of conductors to sell tickets (because their ticket machine isn’t working, or for other unspecified reasons) has been a constant theme for several years. Northern Rail’s senior management are well aware of this problem.

We hope no-one endorses fare dodging, but sometimes it’s not the passenger’s fault. Northern Rail also bear some responsibility for the problem of uncollected fares.

[from the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 31st January 2014]

A total of 54 ticket cheats were caught at Huddersfield last year, and in all some 844 were caught on the Northern Rail network

Rail bosses have declared war – on the region’s fare dodgers.

They have revealed the line running through Huddersfield, from Leeds to Manchester, is one of the hotspots for a crime that is costing tens of thousands of pounds.

A total of 54 ticket cheats were caught at Huddersfield last year, and in all some 844 were caught on the Northern Rail network.

Halifax was also a troublespot with 69 fare-dodgers.

Other stations in the area to be affected were Dewsbury (9) Mirfield (5) Deighton (4) and Slaithwaite (6).

Now Northern Rail has launched a campaign to crack down on fare dodgers across West Yorkshire.

The company has launched two online videos and a series of station and train posters showing two scenarios where someone takes something for free.

Northern has revealed that in West Yorkshire, the most common journey where people are caught travelling without a ticket was from Leeds to Manchester Piccadilly.

Managing director Alex Hynes said:

“We know from talking to our customers they have a real problem when they see others not paying for their journey.

“We don’t want to see passengers get into trouble and want to make sure they understand the implications of taking a free ride.

“The videos show two situations that we know people wouldn’t do, and show that not paying for a train ticket is the same, so why do it?

“We hear all sorts of excuses from passengers as to why they don’t have a ticket – they don’t have any money or a conductor did not come down the train and sell them one.

“It’s the passenger’s responsibility to buy a ticket, so they must seek out the conductor to get one or if that is not possible, then buy a ticket at their destination station.”

New ticket barriers installed at Huddersfield last year will help reduce the problem and Northern Rail also plans to invest in more ticket machines.

Fare evasion continues to be a huge issue for the rail industry, costing £240million per year.

See the videos at northernrail.org/getaticket

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“Huddersfield’s Ale Trail study in ‘De-Marketing’, a book about deliberately LOSING customers”

Posted on December 31, 2013 by admin

[From the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 30th December 2013]

A controversial pub crawl is a case study in a book about why successful businesses deliberately try to lose customers.

The Ale Trail, which brought extra trade – and problems – to Slaithwaite and Marsden, is featured in Demarketing.

The book includes an 8,000-word study of the Ale Trail by former Huddersfield University lecturer Nadio Granata and former Huddersfield town centre manager David Wyles.

The book seeks to explain why and how companies sometimes actively try to reduce their customer base.

Mr Wyles explains:

“There are many good reasons to do so. A firm cannot supply large enough quantities or wants to limit supply to a region of narrow profit margin. Or, crucially, to discourage undesirable customers – those who could be bad for brand reputation or, in the case of the finance sector, high risk.”

In 2004, for example, luxury clothing manufacturer Burberry stopped making its popular checked baseball cap because the hat had become undesirably associated with ‘chavs’ and football hooligans.

Mr Wyles said:

“De-marketing can yield effective solutions to these issues, effectively curtailing demand yet (crucially) not destroying it.

“Nevertheless, the fundamental negativity of de-marketing strategies often causes organisations to hide them from view and, as a result, they are rarely studied.”

The Ale Trail, a train tour of real ale pubs between Manchester, Huddersfield and Leeds, is regarded by some as a victim of its own success.

The trail, originally aimed at law-abiding real ale drinkers, was ‘hijacked’ by lager louts, hen and stag parties and other revellers.

Increasing anti-social behaviour in normally quiet villages like Marsden and Slaithwaite led to a gentlemen’s agreement between some pubs on the trail.

Premises such as The Riverhead, Marsden, have since refused to serve lager or fancy dress parties during peak periods.

Mr Granata said:

“Some marketing tasks are very straight forward but others, such as managing the excessive popularity of the Real Ale Trail, are highly complicated. It requires a good understanding of the root cause of the problem plus a long-term strategic view.

“Many livelihoods are at stake and simply cancelling the Real Ale Trail would not serve the needs of those pubs and other businesses that rely on the income it generates for their survival.”

Demarketing (Routledge) is available from www.routledge.com

 

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