Six Recommendations For a UK Rail Revolution

The UK rail industry has been under serious scrutiny over the past few years, with rising ticket prices, driver shortages, and service-paralyzing strikes placing the plight of train travel at the front and centre of the national consciousness. 

Even before the pandemic brought the leisure and business travel industries to a halt, train-operating companies had started to uncover cracks in an aging rail infrastructure. Passengers increasingly felt shortchanged by cancelled services and route delays on trains in desperate need of refurbishment. The ruptures caused by COVID-19 were just a few drops in a volatile concoction that had been brewing for years.

While other industries have recovered admirably post-lockdown, the rail industry has continued to lag behind. According to figures sourced by the Business Travel Association (BTA), rail passenger kilometres travelled between September 2022 to September 2023 – a good litmus test for the health of rail service usage – only recovered to around 85% of the levels seen in the pre-pandemic year leading up to September 2019. Compare this to road traffic levels in the same periods and you start to see the problem – road usage is just 2.7% below pre-COVID levels.

In light of these damning statistics, amplified by widespread media coverage of perceived failings across the UK rail industry, the BTA has published a whitepaper titled: “Getting Our Trains Back on Track! Putting Passengers First” which outlines their recommendations for a positive, passenger-led revolution for train travel. In this article, we take a deeper look at their analysis and give an overview of their key findings and advice.

2.

Lessons need to be learned from international rail companies about how to improve train travel

“Business travellers and all rail passengers are entitled to ask for a British railway system that clearly and consistently compares itself to global best practice.”

The BTA have expressed their belief in the importance of asking questions which attempt to tackle concerns about why some rail services work better abroad. The train travel experience in Japan is often considered the gold standard for rail services across the globe, its reliable efficiency serving as a stark reminder of the failings often seen across the UK network. Indeed, Japanese inter-city trains run almost to an exact minute of arrival and departure while British trains continue to be plagued by delays. 

According to the BTA, business rail travel across Europe and worldwide is on the rise thanks to consistent funding of rail product offerings, competitive pricing, and the seamless integration of multi-modal transport in the customer journey. This points to an idyll for UK rail that is obtainable rather than existing in the realms of fantasy, its integration beginning with passengers holding service providers to the same high standards as their international counterparts.

4.

The rail ticketing system needs to be simplified

Reforms are needed to turn the rail ticketing system around to a position where it starts and ends with the passenger experience.

Based on the feedback gathered by the BTA from its members, it is evident that the current array of ticketing options is overly complex. As a response, the BTA  is calling for a simplified and streamlined rail ticketing system in which the definitions of peak and off-peak times are made consistent and flexible enough to adapt to ever-evolving demands.

They have denounced the current systems as being almost deliberately designed to catch passengers out stating that “railway companies are trying to protect themselves and their income against their passengers rather than delivering a smooth, comfortable, and efficient service.” As such, there is a pressing need to transform the experience into something far more user-friendly for the everyday worker who relies on train travel for business trips. In fact, the average corporate traveller pays four times the ticket value of a leisure traveller.

In their recommendation, the BTA has suggested that rail companies need a “clear mandate” in agreement with Network Rail/Great British Railways and the UK Government Treasury to drive revenue through “growth and yield improvements, not through ticket price rises.”

6.

Passenger champions need to be appointed to provide a much-needed voice for train users

“Passenger champions “should be put at the heart of railway decision making alongside a specific business travel champion”.

Customer feedback and suggestions could be boosted and monitored using quick QR code surveys at all stations, with a strong focus on the timeliness and quality of train information, train cleanliness, seat comfort, conditions for working and Wi-Fi access, and the success of buffet car catering from train to train, as well as the friendliness and welcome offered by train staff.

The aim is to trigger a positive feedback loop, perhaps visible on a digital display, of comments and implemented improvements, hopefully encouraging train operator/rail company competition to put into practice customer ideas that could work quickly.

Lateral thinking is particularly needed on improvements to the component services of rail journeys, such as on-board catering with well-known cooks like Nadiya Hussain and Andi Oliver, to be asked to work with passengers, rail and station operators on what can be achieved with better fresh food offerings in small spaces.