6.6 C
London
Friday, March 29, 2024

Watchdog finds too many passengers in Wales are being ‘kept in the dark’

Listen to this article

Passenger Focus is calling for real-time information at every unstaffed station as a minimum standard, waiting area improvements and encouragement of community-station partnerships following passenger research in Wales.

The independent passenger watchdog with the Wales Transport Research Centre has investigated why passenger satisfaction with stations in Wales is consistently lower than the Great Britain average. Passenger Focus has discussed its findings with the Welsh Assembly Government during the course of the research, so has welcomed its recent promises to address information and accessibility issues, particularly as part of future franchise considerations. However, the watchdog is pushing for action to be taken sooner rather than later.

One passenger commented: “Real-time information would be good, I was once stuck for 30 minutes at the station, there had been an accident affecting the line, but I had no way of getting any information.”

The new research also revealed passenger issues with ticket buying, shelters and waiting facilities, having security concerns and accessibility problems. Ashwin Kumar, Passenger Focus rail director, said: “Passengers tell us repeatedly that when disruption occurs, they need accurate and timely information. However, there are still too many instances where passengers are left standing on isolated stations, waiting for a delayed train with no idea when or if their train will show up.” Owen Clark, research fellow at the Wales Transport Research Centre, University of Glamorgan added : “Unstaffed stations are a vital gateway to the rail network. All stations should be accessible, provide a secure environment and have modern enclosed shelters, and allow passengers to access real-time information.”

Stella Mair-Thomas, Passenger Focus board member in Wales, agrees: “Passenger satisfaction with stations in Wales has traditionally lagged behind the rest of Britain. Although this gap has started to close in recent years with greater investment, innovative solutions to give passengers better information would be a welcome step forward.”

1 COMMENT

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Rail News

ORR review leads to 50% reduction in maximum fees for ticket refunds

New rules will mean that from 2 April the maximum fee that train operators and ticket retailers can charge...

More like this...