Rail retailing and training |
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World views and developments in the rail industry with some focus on retailing and training. Compiled by Railskills. Link: www.railskills.co.uk
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Thursday, June 06, 2002
Rough ride for fare dodgers By Staff Reporter, Birmingham Post Fare dodgers who cost the Midlands rail industry at least £130,000 a month are in for a rough ride as barrier checks are tightened at major stations this spring. In April and May, Central Trains staff will police the exits of Birmingham New Street, as well as other notorious blackspots such as Shrewsbury, Worcester, Nuneaton and Tamworth. It was also confirmed by Central Trains that permanent barriers will be in place at New Street within the next 12 to 15 months. At a meeting in Birmingham yesterday of the rail watchdog, the Midlands Rail Passengers Committee, RPC chairman Coun Phil Davies challenged Central Trains to take immediate action to clamp down on fare dodgers. He said he had unwittingly travelled for free last Saturday from Telford to Shrewsbury, due to the booking office being closed and no ticket collector being present. "Anyone could ride on that train and avoid paying, yet Central Trains is in such deep financial problems that it has just received £50 million from the Government to stop it going bust," said Coun Davies, the Labour leader of Telford and Wrekin Council. "Shouldn't they be doing more to collect fares from passengers? "In the end, honest passengers are paying more if tickets aren't checked and others ride free. We shall be asking Central Trains to once again look at its policies." Central Trains' commercial director Mik Rail link to hugely benefit region Apr 6 2002 By Sarah Probert, Birmingham Post A high-speed line linking London with the North through the Midlands will have huge benefits for the region, rail passenger groups said yesterday. The multi-billion pound plan, to be completed by 2015, has been proposed as a solution to the increasing congestion on Britain's roads. The Strategic Rail Authority, which is responsible for the long-term plans for the country's rail network, said the route would carry trains reaching speeds of 190mph. It would be Britain's first attempt to emulate France's domestic TGV network and cut journey time from London to Scotland from nearly five hours to three. The scheme has been put forward in a feasibility study commissioned by the SRA to entice drivers off congested roads and on to public transport. It will also generate stiff competition for the airline industry. A detailed route has been kept confidential by WS Atkins, the consultants commissioning the research, but it is expected the main spine would run between the heavily congested West Coast Main Line and the East Coast Main Line, with spurs to cities including Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. John Balmforth, deputy chairman of the Midland Rail Passenger Committee, said he was certain the project would go ahead, bringing massive benefits to the region. He added: "It is something that is very necessary. "It is something that is really being looked at in depth2 Attacks on train staff rise Apr 11 2002 By Staff Reporter, Evening Mail Railway staff are running a growing gauntlet of violence and hostility since tragedy has dogged the train network. Verbal and physical attacks on staff have soared by 20 per cent since the Hatfield disaster which claimed the lives of four people. But a new action group launched today will try to get to the root of the causes of the rising tide of violence. The RMT union and Central Trains are to look at how to stop people getting attacked through the working party. The RMT says that rail workers are facing increasing violence and hostility from passengers in the wake of disasters such as the Hatfield crash. Birmingham union spokesman David Jones said: "Overall there has been an increase in assaults of about 20 per cent. "The public seem to hold people working on the railways in low esteem and staff have become in some ways an open target." The RMT wants operators such as Central Trains to champion the cause of workers who have been assaulted and prosecute those responsible, through the civil courts if necessary. Mr Jones added: "We want to see what security measures can be brought into effect." In the last 12 months 33 staff were subjected to assaults serious enough to be recorded, according to Central Trains. Spokesman Ged Burgess said: "We have to make sure we do the best we can to protect our staff. They are coming in to do a job and they More trains mean more hassle May 8 2002 By Staff Reporter, Birmingham Post New trains to be introduced by Virgin CrossCountry later this year are going to further stretch capacity at two Midland stations, according to a new survey by a rail passengers group. A report by the Rail Passengers Committee for the Midlands and North West, has investigated changes to the Virgin timetable, which includes four extra high speed trains an hour from Birmingham New Street to Wolverhampton. It said the introduction of more Voyager and Super Voyager Trains running would inevitably mean more and more passengers using New Street and Wolverhampton stations. Also, it said a number of trains would be unable to go straight through the Midlands without stops, forcing platform changes and putting people off travelling. The passenger survey suggests that 22 per cent of people would choose alternative means of travel rather than change trains, with most using cars. John Balmforth, deputy chairman of the RPC, said: "The increase in the number of destinations being served is particularly welcome but passengers have serious concerns as to how the changes will affect those who will need to change trains en route." The survey looks at both stations' ability to cope with extra passengers and, in particular, those seeking to change trains. It said: "The ability to maintain intended cross platform connections at New Street must also be considered doubtful, particularly in view of2 £150m boost for New Street Station May 8 2002 By Campbell Docherty, Birmingham Post Railtrack is planning a £150 million revamp of Birmingham New Street Station to combat a looming capacity crisis at the hub of Britain's rail network. The company's Major Stations division has put forward proposals which will more than double the size of the current concourse to accommodate all passenger waiting rooms and other facilities. Meanwhile, in a separate move to ease the crippling train congestion in Birmingham, a group of private developers are hoping to get the green light to build a brand new station at Proof House Junction, one mile out of the city centre from New Street. The 17-platform station, called Birmingham Grand Central Station (BGCS), would operate in conjunction with New Street. Businessman Murray Rayner, who is heading the BGCS team, said: "This exciting project is still in the early stages. We are of the opinion that this could bring considerable benefits to Birmingham. "But before taking the project further we are keen to continue discussions with the railway authorities and the train operating companies." Mr Rayner was the concept designer for the new Bullring before the project was taken over by Birmingham Alliance. However, BGCS would be in direct competition for government money - through the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) - with plans to create a tunnel underneath New Street to separate local and express services. That proposal Rail hope for town May 28 2002 By Neil Elkes, Evening Mail A Midland town hopes to revitalise itself with a £3 million rail link to Birmingham. Coleshill, in north Warwickshire, would eventually have a half-hourly train service to Birmingham and Nuneaton if a new station is given the go ahead. The plan is for a two-platform rail station, bridge, small bus station, taxi rank and car park at the end of Station Road. The bridge will also offer a direct link between the town and the nearby Hams Hall industrial park, but a barrier will allow only buses, cyclists and pedestrians to use it, preventing "rat-running" by local traffic. It is hoped the link will offer commuters a better alternative to car transport and give the town's population easier access to jobs in Birmingham and other towns. It will also offer a park and ride facility for people going to the airport and NEC. North Warwickshire Borough Council's head of planning, Coun Ray Sweet said: "I fully support the development of this scheme as it will bring significant benefits to people in north Warwickshire. "I hope this will be the first in a series of new stations in the area, including Kingsbury." Most of the funding will come from money set aside for public transport links for the Hams Hall development. MP Mike O'Brien, council officials and Hams Hall representatives will meet tomorrow to discuss submitting bids for funding from the Strategic Rail Authority2 Line may get Bard on board Jun 4 2002 By Paul Dale, Birmingham Post The railway line between Birmingham's Snow Hill station and Stratford-upon-Avon could be upgraded and renamed The Shakespeare Line as part of a major rebranding exercise. A marketing plan by local authorities and train companies says the track - officially known as the North Warwicks Line - must change its identity, become more attractive to the public, operate later into the night and tap into a booming tourism market. Frequent and faster commuter services are also proposed along with tourist steam trains in the summer to link with the reopening of Birmingham Moor Street Station. A report into the 19-mile line by consultants Steer Davies Gleave found that services between Birmingham and Stratford do not enjoy a good reputation and are perceived by the public to be slow and few and far between. "The all-stopping nature of the service emphasised the perception of lengthy journey times. It is clear that the service on the North Warwicks Line needs to be more frequent, faster and offered over a longer day," the consultants said. The fastest train journey between Stratford and Birmingham takes 56 minutes and a standard adult day return costs £5.10. A car trip takes 45 minutes, according to the report, which means that four adults can travel more quickly and more cheaply by taking the road. The report concluded that the tourism and leisure market in Stratford and Birmingham offers hug icBirmingham - Eight injured in train crash Eight injured in train crash Jun 5 2002 Rail investigators have launched an inquiry into a train derailment at a seaside area in Northern Ireland in which several people were injured. Three carriages of the Londonderry to Belfast service were shunted off after colliding with a boulder that plummeted down a cliff on to the track at Castlerock strand in the north-west of the province. Eight people were taken to hospital following the crash which left one coach embedded in the beach and the others perched precariously on the line. Trains still running late Jun 6 2002 Almost a quarter of Midland trains are still running late, according to a report released today. The Strategic Rail Authority's latest punctuality figures show that generally, companies were improving, but they were still falling well short of providing reliable services. Virgin Cross Country, which has its main operating hub through Birmingham's New Street Station, ran 72.4 per cent of trains on time in the first three months of the year. This represents a big improvement on the previous quarter which saw 58.3 per cent on time. One year ago - after the Hatfield crash - punctuality was just 28.5 per cent. Central Trains managed to run 77.2 per cent of trains on time, compared to 67.3 per cent in the last quarter of 2001, and 76.7 per cent 12 months ago. Chris Green, Virgin Trains chief executive, said the introduction of new Voyager trains had meant much more punctual services in the two months since the latest figures. He said: "We have continued to see dramatic improvements in the past two months with both the West Coast and Cross Country hitting 90 per cent on good days." Virgin says 58 out of 78 of the £1.2 billion Voyager fleet are now in service. Ged Burgess, of Central Trains said: "We are delighted that the performance figures have made such a recovery. "It has taken a lot of hard work, and Railtrack have been a lot better, because a lot of the delays are dow Potters Bar crash not sabotage, say inspectors By David Harrison, Transport Correspondent (Filed: 19/05/2002) The first scientific tests carried out by the official investigation into the Potters Bar crash have found "no evidence" of sabotage, The Telegraph can reveal. The examinations carried out by "international experts" employed by the Health and Safety Executive strongly suggest that the crash was instead caused by negligence, according to investigators. The results contradict the claim by Jarvis, the firm responsible for maintaining the track at Potters Bar, that the points were tampered with by someone with inside knowledge of the railways. A senior HSE investigator said yesterday: "We will carry out more tests over the next two weeks, but the first indications are that sabotage played no role in the Potters Bar disaster." He was unable to say exactly what tests had been carried out or what their findings were, but added: "The work is being done by highly-qualified scientists who are subjecting the points and other hardware from the test site to intense scrutiny." The points were removed from the crash site last week and taken to the Health and Safety Laboratories in Buxton, Derbyshire, for scientific analysis. Jarvis said on Friday that it had "evidence from metallurgists" to suggest that nuts on the points had been removed deliberately. The company admitted, however, that its investigators had examined only photographs of the points Release regarding Potters Bar incident. DescriptionThis announcement incorporates the text of three separate press releases made over the weekend of 11/12 May 2002 by both Railtrack plc (in Railway Administration) and Jarvis plc. These press releases relate to the rail accident which occurred at Potters Bar on Friday 10 May 2002 and are released for the purpose of information. ContentRAILTRACK Railtrack PLC (in Railway Administration) Alan Bloom, Chris Hill, Scott Martin and Mike Rollings were appointed Joint Special Railway Administrators of Railtrack PLC on 7th October 2001 The Joint Special Railway Administrators act as agents of the company and without personal liability PR020323 11 May 2002 6 pm RAILTRACK SAY POINTS ARE THE FOCUS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO POTTERS BAR ACCIDENT Railtrack today said that the investigation into the set of points just prior to Potters Bar station show significant damage and lead to a likely conclusion that there was a fracture in one of the supports (front stretcher bar) as the train passed over them which caused the points to move and derail the train. How this came about is being investigated but initial evidence suggests that nuts that held two other supports in place were detached from the points which resulted in the front stretcher bar bearing all the stress and finally breaking under the pressure. Why the nuts were detached is not known. All inspection reports show that as recently as Thursday2 The road out of traffic congestion From Mr James R. Davies Sir, Sir Richard Branson and Sir Christopher Foster (letters, June 1) made some interesting and quite pragmatic points about the nation’s transport infrastructure. However, the solutions, though making short-term political sense, do not tackle the longer-term implications. Surely we need to ask the question: why are we travelling further to work than ever before? Also, why do we as a nation work longer on average than our continental friends? Are we indeed working smarter and harder or just longer? Financial investment is rightfully needed to put us on a par with the Continent. However, the scale of the investment required to implement these improvements (whether through the public or private sector) will still take many years to come to fruition. In the meantime the nation is becoming more frustrated and I believe we will, socially, pay a high price. Employers should take more advantage of the age of the internet. Maybe the solution to reducing congestion is to travel only when absolutely necessary. I’m not suggesting that we all work from home, but we need to work smarter and only employers can make this happen. By Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent London Underground recorded a record peak-time performance last month largely because of the impact of new women drivers such as Carrie Simpson THEY have endured taunts from male colleagues and abuse from passengers, but the army of women drivers recruited by the London Underground have proved that they are better than men at making Tube trains run on time. The number of women driving Tube trains has almost doubled in the past year, and managers believe that their influence has helped to end a culture of absenteeism and militancy in the workforce. For the first time last month, London Underground recorded a week in which none of its 5,000 peak trains were cancelled because a driver had failed to turn up for work. Until recently, dozens of trains were left sitting in sidings each day because drivers had called in sick or simply never arrived. Cancellations lead to long gaps in service, resulting in overcrowding and increased journey times. The improved performance follows an 18-month recruitment drive that has concentrated on attracting female drivers with half-page advertisements in Cosmopolitan. The Underground has also ended the practice of recruiting only among station staff for the well-paid driver positions. An Underground spokeswoman said that much of the improvement could be attributed to the female recruits. “They have come from all walks of life and are keen and motivated. There is evidence that suggests that women are very reliable employees and they do tend to have a very good work ethic,” she said. There are now 176 female Tube drivers, compared with less than 100 in April last year. Carrie Simpson gave up her job as a primary school teaching assistant 18 months ago and said she has tripled her salary as a driver on the Jubilee Line: “I was earning £10,000 and had no pension and now I get £29,000 plus a pension and about £1,000 in overtime.” She and seven female colleagues were quickly accepted by the men at Wembley Park depot but some passengers are taking time to adjust. “I told one man running past me at North Greenwich that there was no need to rush because I was his driver and the train couldn’t leave without me. He said, ‘It’s all right, I’ll wait for the next one’.” Ms Simpson, 41, said some passengers would step further back behind the yellow line when they saw her at the controls of a train. “They seemed to think they might be in danger because a woman was driving,” she said. Ms Simpson has also noticed that her male colleagues were much more likely to challenge the rules, often on small matters such as the uniform. “I don’t know whether it’s the male ego or whether they feel they need to assert themselves,’ she said. “If you give a woman something to do they just get on with it. Women are less likely to call in sick and are more punctual.” Kerry Hamilton, Professor of Transport at the University of East London, said: “The transport industry has a very male culture that feeds on itself. But as happened with the legal profession, more women lead to a more congenial and productive culture in which people have more compassion for their colleagues.” The first female Tube driver, Hannah Dadds, began working on the District Line 24 years ago, but few followed her lead until recently because of the macho culture among drivers. In 1998, the Underground was forced to pay £25,000 in damages to two women, a manager and a driver, who were hounded from their jobs on the Bakerloo Line. The pair were subjected to offensive innuendo in an unofficial magazine, Scum, that was produced by male staff. Managers admitted that tougher action should have been taken to stop the harassment. The Tube, however, is well ahead of the mainline railway. Less than 2 per cent of the 12,000 mainline train drivers are women, compared with 6 per cent of Tube drivers. Tests from the Underground Aspiring Tube drivers must sit the following tests: 1. English language: tests ability to understand instructions. 2. Communications exercise: candidates interpret information and have to make an intelligible public address announcement for travellers. 3. Hand-eye coordination: tests reaction times. 4. Computer exercises: test concentration levels. 5. Fault diagnosis: candidates pick likely faults from diagrams. Those who pass the five tests then go forward to be interviewed. ""> No arrival Bus and rail operator Arriva is keen to rent out its fleet. Lucky, then, that the sides of its own vehicles provide a ready-made advertising hoarding. Then again ... On Shaftesbury Avenue the other day, Observer spotted one of its buses bearing a "Hire Me" plea - along with a contact number (prefixed with an antediluvian 0181 code). The good news? It was stationary, giving passers-by plenty of time to note down the number. The bad news? It had broken down. Wednesday, June 05, 2002
Times OnlineRail fare discounts From Dr G. W. Bernard Sir, I hope the new Transport Secretary will use his influence to persuade the rail operating companies to abandon their unwelcome jubilee present to rail passengers in London and the South East rail region (which stretches as far as Oxford, Salisbury and Cambridge). Since June 2, when current holders of Network Railcards (which for a £20 annual fee offer a 33 per cent discount on off-peak travel) have come to renew them, they have found that they face a minimum fare of £10 for any journey made on Mondays to Fridays. The 33 per cent discount will apply only to journeys for which the full fare is £15 or more. Passengers wishing to make journeys which cost £10-£15 will have to pay £10, so receiving much smaller discounts. Those wishing to make a journey the full cost of which is £10 or less will in future receive no discount at all. In other words, an off-peak rail journey that previously cost £4 will now cost £6, one that cost £6 will now cost £9. There have been no discernible improvements in the quality of service that could conceivably justify raising fares by as much as 50 per cent. It is hard to understand how reducing so drastically the concession can possibly encourage travel by rail rather than by car. Yours faithfully, GEORGE BERNARD, 92 Bassett Green Village, Southampton SO16 3NB. June 3. Times OnlineRail firms criticised for big fare rises By Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent THE Strategic Rail Authority has condemned train companies for imposing 50 per cent price increases on many off-peak fares from next week. Richard Bowker, the authority’s chairman, said he could not understand why companies had decided to abolish most of the benefits of the Network Card, which gives a one-third discount on trains after 10am across the South East. From tomorrow, anyone purchasing a Network Card will no longer obtain any discount on weekday fares under £10. The full discount will apply only to fares above £15. The Association of Train Operating Companies said its members would gain up to £10 million a year by forcing people to pay the full fare. The companies argue that the 30 per cent growth in off-peak travel in the past five years proves they can attract enough passengers without offering a discount. The Rail Passengers’ Council said the rule change would mean huge increases for some passengers. Transport 2000, the environmental group, said that the railcard would be invalid on 90 per cent of journeys in the South East. FT.com | Search | ArticleNATIONAL NEWS: Northern passengers 'could face months of rail strikes' By Christopher Adams Financial Times; Jun 01, 2002 Rail travellers in the north of England could suffer sporadic strikes until February, a rail operator has warned, as unions launched fresh strike action today in a pay dispute. Arriva Trains Northern said last night it was "disappointed and frustrated" that travellers were to suffer in another one-day stoppage called by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union. Ray Price, managing director, said the 4 per cent pay rise it had offered rail workers 10 days ago was fair and a "genuine attempt" to resolve the dispute. "[The union] rejected our offer, despite giving strong indications that it would be acceptable, and did not take the opportunity to put it to a vote by its members." The stoppage comes on the first day of the jubilee weekend. Arriva, which runs a trans-Pennine network, said it hoped to provide more than 55 per cent of its services today, ensuring that three-quarters of the network was covered. The company warned that, if there was no resolution, it would be faced with the "intolerable" prospect of strike action continuing until its franchise ran out in February. The row centres on union demands that the company close the pay gap between conductors and train drivers. * Local government unions yesterday revealed plans to ballot members on a 24-hour strike on July 17 as part of their pay dispute. FT.com | Search | ArticleOBSERVER: Train in vain Financial Times; Jun 03, 2002 Train in vain It is just days since Alistair Darling impaled himself on the bed of nails known as the transport secretary's job. But his in-tray seems to get fuller by the hour. Take South West Trains, (or Short Wonky Trains, if you are a had-it-up-to-here passenger). Even the government's enforcement agency, the Strategic Rail Authority, has now noticed that service is "consistently poor". Great news. So what action is the SRA taking? Rumours that Stagecoach, which runs the SWT franchise, could be stripped of its new 20-year contract were unfounded, said an SRA official. But he assured Observer that the authority was taking the issue "very seriously". Yes, yes, but what are you doing about it? Finally comes the answer: "a couple of taskforces" have been set up to examine the problem. How reassuring to know they are all going to have a jolly good talk about it. FT.com | Search | ArticleStagecoach preferred partner for NZ rail service By Toby Shelley FT.com site; Jun 05, 2002 Stagecoach Group, the transport company, announced its first move into rail services outside of the UK as it was named joint venture partner with Wellington Regional Council to buy and operate the New Zealand capital's passenger rail service. Heads of agreement on the public-private partnership will be signed later this month with national rail company Tranz Rail. A conditional sales agreement is expected in the Autumn and the purchase going through next spring. The company was selected as joint venture partner against competition from Connex of the UK and Transdev of France. For Stagecoach, which has eyed rail operations in the US in the past, the move is of strategic importance, demonstrating it can develop from bus operator to bus and rail operator outside of the UK. It is New Zealand's biggest bus operator and already runs services in Wellington. No figure for the rail acquisition was given ahead of the heads of agreement being signed but it is not likely to be financially significant for Stagecoach. The joint venture will probably operate a vertically integrated rail system, controlling track and trains. Brian Souter, Stagecoach chairman, is an enthusiast of vertical integration for rail. The company already runs an integrated rail system on the Isle of Wight, Britains smallest rail franchise. The venture will come under Stagecoach's rail division, headed by executive director Graham Eccles. Travel Fujitsu Services provides focused service offerings that demonstrably enable the UK rail industry to meet its real business priorities: improving the service to passengers, growing passenger volumes, and reducing costs. Fujitsu managed services provide the primary infrastructure supporting Ticket Retailing and Information Distribution for the National Rail network in the UK. Fujitsu's Rail Journey Information Services (RJIS): 7 x 24hr operation for over 4000 terminals in Stations, Booking Offices and Call Centres The primary reference source for Rail Industry data, including details of over 55 millions fare and routing combinations The journey planning system for the Rail Industry's new web based retailing services, such as www.qjump.co.uk Fujitsu's Travel Trade and Warrants Service (TTWS): Back Office processing for £450m of ticket sales per annum Processes 1.8 million paper transaction per year, plus 7m electronic transactions Supports over 1200 travel agents and warrant account holders The Transys consortium was set up to provide new revenue collection and ticketing systems for Transport for London. Fujitsu is a founding member and supplies new ticketing machines, electronic point of sale terminals, central computing, smart card management and station accounting software. The project will introduce contact less smart cards as the principal ticket medium on 500 underground trains and 600 buses. Rail Safety ATE and Station Staff Security At the invitation of a major rail operator we reviewed retail safety/security issues in an urban transport setting, including typical issues such as school children, major sports events, political rallies, drug and alcohol abuse, social problems and verbal and physical assault, and their effect on retail staff morale and performance. We concluded that much of the problem related to retail staff interpersonal skills development and management communication failings, particularly in feedback on reported incidents. Staff training and information What the consultation document said 4.1 The consultation document sought views on how retail and enquiry staff could be better supported to achieve accurate and impartial retailing, in particular through training and the provision of better information. What respondents said 4.2 Respondents had no shortage of ideas. TOCs gave the greatest emphasis to improved staff training and discipline. A distinction was made between general retailing skills - which many considered could be helped through applying national standards, particularly National Vocation Qualifications (NVQs) - and product knowledge, which TOCs considered could best be done locally. 4.3 Another dominant theme was the need to improve the quality of information provision on a national, centrally co-ordinated basis. The need for guidance and training in the use of existing systems and manuals was frequently mentioned. A number of respondents suggested that prioritising key competitive flows for training purposes would have more than proportional benefits. Some also supported the proposition that TOCs should provide staff with a simple list of the fares types available and mentioned that TOCs needed to give greater product support to their retailing 'agents'. 4.4 There was a significant measure of agreement on the need to improve the quality of information available to staff. Since the consultation document was published, ATOC and Railtrack have established a joint working group whose remit includes co-ordinated action Extract from Wessex Trains A Guide for Customers with Disabilities Valid until 31 December 2002 Training Wessex Trains recognises the importance of making all staff aware of the wider issues of disability. We recognise the importance of training in both awareness of the effects of disabilities which may include, for example, those suffering from arthritis, limited vision, speech impediments and learning difficulties, and in the skills to overcome some of the difficulties faced by customers with disabilities. We will provide skills development training to our conductors, platform, retail and managerial staff. All staff serving customers are given training in equipment that they are likely to be required to operate, including wheelchair ramps and induction loops... Training modules are being developed as part of the company's training programme for new and existing staff... RAIL TICKETING SURVEY - ACCURACY REMAINS HIGH 11 June 2001 A survey of ticket retailing at Britain's railway stations has achieved a 95.6% accuracy rate - the second highest result ever achieved. During the year 2000, researchers carried out more than 10,500 transactions at 698 railway stations around the country and scored all the train operators on sales transactions at their ticket offices. Scores for the operators ranged from 100% to 91.9%. (A complete table of scores for all the train operating companies is attached). Philip Benham, Commercial Services Director at the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) said: "The results are the second highest since this survey started in 1997. All credit to the train companies and their staff who are continuing to set high standards of customer service. "Although the level of accuracy remains very high it can still be improved. Train companies that have not done particularly well will be launching their own investigation into why and reporting back to ATOC on their findings and methods to improve customer retailing. "What is of particular concern is the level of accuracy achieved for wheelchair passengers (45.1%). ATOC will be working with all train operators with an aim to improve staff knowledge of the ticket types available to wheelchair users and investigating whether the fares structure can be simplified." Actions the train companies are undertaking in order to improve ticket selling include: No grounds to suspect Virgin of breaking competition law on West Coast fares The Rail Regulator has received a number of complaints from passengers and passenger representatives regarding the scale of increases of the unregulated fares on Virgin's West Coast Trains. The Rail Regulator has therefore been considering carefully whether it would be appropriate to undertake a formal investigation under the Competition Act 1998, and, in particular, what competition law requires to be established when looking at whether a particular fare charged by a franchise operator is excessive. The Competition Act 1998 powers conferred on the Director General of Fair Trading, the Rail Regulator and the other sector regulators are not a means for general control of prices. Rather, they are aimed at protecting competition. The Rail Regulator has concluded that, in the absence either of evidence of excessive profit being generated across a franchise as a whole, or of other evidence that the level of a particular fare has no reasonable relationship to the real costs or the real value of the product offered, there are no reasonable grounds for suspecting a franchise operator of a breach of the Competition Act 1998. Against these criteria, the Rail Regulator has concluded that there are no reasonable grounds for suspecting Virgin of having infringed the Competition Act 1998. It is therefore not possible to proceed to open an investigation. Tom Winsor, the Rail Regulator, said today: "While passengers o No grounds to suspect Virgin of breaking competition law on West Coast fares The Rail Regulator has received a number of complaints from passengers and passenger representatives regarding the scale of increases of the unregulated fares on Virgin's West Coast Trains. The Rail Regulator has therefore been considering carefully whether it would be appropriate to undertake a formal investigation under the Competition Act 1998, and, in particular, what competition law requires to be established when looking at whether a particular fare charged by a franchise operator is excessive. The Competition Act 1998 powers conferred on the Director General of Fair Trading, the Rail Regulator and the other sector regulators are not a means for general control of prices. Rather, they are aimed at protecting competition. The Rail Regulator has concluded that, in the absence either of evidence of excessive profit being generated across a franchise as a whole, or of other evidence that the level of a particular fare has no reasonable relationship to the real costs or the real value of the product offered, there are no reasonable grounds for suspecting a franchise operator of a breach of the Competition Act 1998. Against these criteria, the Rail Regulator has concluded that there are no reasonable grounds for suspecting Virgin of having infringed the Competition Act 1998. It is therefore not possible to proceed to open an investigation. Tom Winsor, the Rail Regulator, said today: "While passengers on certain of Virgin's West Coast services are facing significantly higher prices than previously, we have no reason to suspect that Virgin is breaking competition law. The regulation of fare increases is rightly a matter for the Strategic Rail Authority, and it is clearly for the Strategic Rail Authority, on the Government's behalf, to keep the impact and extent of its controls under review." Even where there are reasonable grounds for suspecting an infringement of the Competition Act has occurred, in exercising his functions under the Competition Act 1998 the Regulator would need to have regard to other factors, such as the seriousness of the alleged infringement, the probability of finally establishing the existence of the infringement, and the time and resources required to complete the investigation. Relevant considerations in respect of franchise operators' fares would include the fact that there are already specific controls on fares built into the Strategic Rail Authority's franchise agreements, and the practical difficulties of attributing fixed and common costs to particular fares. The Rail Regulator's findings are consistent with the approaches in excessive prices cases taken by Office of Fair Trading and by the European Commission and Courts. |