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Think about customers not just passengers says HS2 focus group

Britain’s new £50bn HS2 railway should consider the needs of customers beyond simply providing a connection from A to B, new research from Transport Focus has revealed.

Just last week Transport Secretaty Patrick McLoughlin urged designers to put people, place and time at the heart of design and findings from the online community of 40 rail users are also asking for people to come first. The group is working with HS2 Ltd to enable the organisation to better understand the needs of passengers. “Transport Focus have created a forum where the voice of the passenger can be clearly heard. Our challenge is to listen, learn and create a great network that is for now and the future,” said Professor Andrew McNaughton, technical director for HS2.

 "HS2 has the potential to transform the travel experience between some of Great Britain’s largest cities, and stand out from regular services,”

Jeff Halliwell, chair, Transport Focus

From booking tickets, to navigating the station, and locating a seat on board to receiving real-time journey updates passengers have expressed their needs and aspirations progressively for each stage of the journey. This feedback can be explored via a digital infographic. The findings highlight a desire to be treated as valued ‘customers’ who have needs beyond simply getting from A to B alone. HS2 should consider how customers feel, in addition to understanding their practical needs said the panel. Music, design and culture could help create an uplifting setting for all to enjoy, not just rail passengers.

They expect HS2 to design world-class stations which are modern and tasteful with only very subtle regionalisation but more effort to include local businesses in retail opportunities and other events. Pannelists pointed to stations with great architecture such as Grand Central Station, St Pancras and Blackfriars and also praised airports such as Schipol and Singapore.

Transport Focus chair Jeff Halliwell said that by listening to the views of passengers HS2 has the potential to transform travel experience. “For many, operators cannot be trusted to deliver anything more than a service that gets them from A to B in a reasonable amount of time. HS2 has the potential to transform the travel experience between some of Great Britain’s largest cities, and stand out from regular services,” he said. “But if it does not place the views of passengers at the heart of its investment there is a danger it will become just ‘another train operator’ and fail to deliver on the vision it has started to create.”

Other findings included observations that the role and approach of staff alongside proactive, accurate communication is crucial for customers to feel valued and customers want to be able to tailor their experience to their specific needs from commuters, leisure and business travellers all have different needs. HS2 also needs to be affordable and offer value for money, by providing a reliably good service said the panel which also had ambitious ideas on how HS2 can offer value by means of technology and innovation.

The panel expect new technology to transform their rail travel experience, including the end of paper ticketing with current ticketing machines where codes have to be remembered and entered described as frustrating and stressful.

Research is still on-going and the panel will run until March 2016.

If you would like to contact Bernadette Ballantyne about this, or any other story, please email bernadette.ballantyne@infrastructure-intelligence.com:2016-1.

Comments

This article seems to be quite a long way from reality. It says 'They expect HS2 to design world-class stations which are modern and tasteful', but almost half the stations on HS2 are out-of town parkways in places that no one wants to go. If they seriously want to consider how passengers feel, they should first get rid of those ridiculous parkways which imply having to change to get anywhere useful. It is a well known fact he people do not want to change trains often and through services attract far more customers than those with changes. And also get rid of those separate stations at Birmingham Curzon Street and Leeds New Lane which act a barrier that discourages onward travel by rail.
This article seems to be quite a long way from reality. It says 'They expect HS2 to design world-class stations which are modern and tasteful', but almost half the stations on HS2 are out-of town parkways in places that no one wants to go. If they seriously want to consider how passengers feel, they should first get rid of those ridiculous parkways which imply having to change to get anywhere useful. It is a well known fact he people do not want to change trains often and through services attract far more customers than those with changes. And also get rid of those separate stations at Birmingham Curzon Street and Leeds New Lane which act a barrier that discourages onward travel by rail.